The Unsubscribe Movement: How to Actually Cancel Your Big Tech Subscriptions

Published February 14, 2026 · 8 min read

NYU professor Scott Galloway just launched the Resist and Unsubscribe campaign, calling on consumers to cancel subscriptions to 9 major tech companies. Within 24 hours, his post got 250,000+ pageviews.

The message is simple: Tech CEOs have gotten too cozy with power. The most effective protest in a capitalist society is hitting their revenue. Wall Street watches subscriber numbers obsessively — when they drop, stock prices follow.

But here's the problem everyone's running into: actually canceling 9 subscriptions is hard. Companies designed it that way. Dark patterns, buried settings, phone-call requirements, guilt-trip retention offers — it's exhausting by design.

So we built this guide. Every cancel link. Every step. Every trick they'll try.

The 9 Targets: Cancel Links & Instructions

The Real Math: What You'll Save

Let's add it up. If you're subscribed to all 9 at their most common tiers:

• Amazon Prime: $14.99/mo
• Apple One (Individual): $19.95/mo
• Netflix (Standard): $15.49/mo
• YouTube Premium: $13.99/mo
• Microsoft 365: $6.99/mo
• Uber One: $9.99/mo
• ChatGPT Plus: $20/mo
• X Premium: $8/mo

Total: ~$109.40/month = $1,312.80/year

And that's just the 9 Galloway targets. Most people have 15-25 active subscriptions when they actually check. The average American spends $219/month on subscriptions and underestimates by 2.5x.

What Galloway Got Right (and Wrong)

Right: Companies DO watch subscriber numbers. A mass cancellation wave would send shockwaves through Wall Street. His math checks out — a single ChatGPT cancellation destroys ~$10K in market cap at current multiples.

Wrong: Asking people to cancel 9 things simultaneously. That's not how behavior change works. Start with one or two you barely use. See how it feels. Then keep going.

The Harder Truth: You're Probably Paying for Stuff You Forgot About

The Unsubscribe movement focuses on the Big 9, but the real money drain is the subscriptions you've completely forgotten. That meditation app from January. The VPN trial from last summer. The streaming service you signed up for one show.

The average person has 12 subscriptions they don't actively use. That's $50-200/month in pure waste — money that leaves your account on autopilot while companies count on your inertia.

Free Alternatives to Every Target

• Instead of Amazon Prime: Buy directly from brands. Most offer free shipping over $35. Use Temu or AliExpress for cheap goods.
• Instead of Netflix: Tubi, Pluto TV, Kanopy (free with a library card), YouTube.
• Instead of YouTube Premium: Brave browser blocks ads for free. Or use NewPipe on Android.
• Instead of Microsoft 365: Google Docs/Sheets (free) or LibreOffice.
• Instead of ChatGPT Plus: Free tier of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity.
• Instead of Apple One: Cancel individual services. Keep only what you actually use weekly.
• Instead of Uber One: Compare prices per ride — the discount rarely covers the subscription cost.
• Instead of X Premium: Use X for free. The blue check isn't worth $96/year.

The Bottom Line

Whether you're joining Galloway's movement for political reasons or just tired of overpaying, the first step is the same: find out what you're actually paying for.

Most people are shocked when they see the full list. That's by design — subscription fatigue is a feature, not a bug, for these companies.