Subscription Creep Calculator 2026: What Your $5/Month Subs Actually Cost Over 5 Years

Updated 2026-03-02 • 8 min read

🧮 The subscription math most people never do: 12 subscriptions × $15/month average = $180/month = $2,160/year = $10,800 over 5 years. That's a used car. A semester of college. A year of retirement savings. All going to services you barely use.

The 5-Year Lifetime Cost of Common Subscriptions

Streaming

Netflix Standard: $15.49/mo → $929 over 5 years
Hulu (no ads): $17.99/mo → $1,079
Disney+ (no ads): $13.99/mo → $839
Max (ad-free): $16.99/mo → $1,019
All 4 combined: $64.46/mo → $3,868 over 5 years

Music

Spotify Premium: $11.99/mo → $719 over 5 years
Apple Music: $10.99/mo → $659

Shopping

Amazon Prime: $139/yr → $695 over 5 years
Costco Executive: $130/yr → $650
Walmart+: $98/yr → $490

Security

Norton 360: $100/yr → $500 over 5 years (replaceable with free Defender)
NordVPN: $60/yr → $300
LifeLock: $12/mo → $720 (replaceable with free credit freeze)

Fitness

Gym membership: $50/mo → $3,000 over 5 years
Peloton All-Access: $44/mo → $2,640 (plus bike cost)
Headspace: $12.99/mo → $779

The "Small" Ones

iCloud+ 200GB: $2.99/mo → $179 over 5 years
Duolingo Plus: $6.99/mo → $419
Snapchat+: $3.99/mo → $239
These "cheap" ones add up: 5 small subs = $200+/year

The Opportunity Cost

What $180/month in subscriptions could become if invested instead:

After 5 years (7% return): $12,895 (vs. $10,800 spent on subs)
After 10 years: $31,059
After 20 years: $93,681
After 30 years: $219,426

Cutting just $50/month in unnecessary subscriptions and investing it gives you $73,140 over 30 years.

The Price Hike Factor

These calculations use current prices. But subscriptions increase every 12-18 months:

Netflix: Went from $7.99 (2013) to $15.49 (2026) — 94% increase
Spotify: Went from $9.99 to $11.99 — 20% in one jump
Disney+: Launched at $6.99, now $13.99 — doubled in 4 years
YouTube Premium: $11.99 to $13.99 — up 17%
Realistic 5-year cost is 15-30% higher than today's prices

The Audit Action Plan

List every subscription — bank statement + email receipts + app store subscriptions
For each one, ask: "Would I re-subscribe today if it lapsed?"
Multiply monthly cost by 60 — that's your 5-year commitment
Cancel everything you wouldn't re-subscribe to
For keepers: Check for annual discounts (usually 15-20% savings)
Set calendar reminders for all annual renewals — audit yearly

💰 The average person can cut $50-100/month in subscriptions they don't actively use. That's $3,000-6,000 over 5 years. Upload your bank statement to JustCancel — we find every recurring charge in seconds, so you can decide what to keep and what to cut.