REPORT · Q1 2026 · FREE TO CITE
A snapshot of how much America is actually wasting on subscriptions, drawn from public surveys and our own price database. Journalists, free to cite with credit. Researchers, free to use under CC BY 4.0.
HEADLINE NUMBERS
$273
Per American adult subscriber, across all categories. Up from $237 in 2024.
$103
Subscriptions paid for but used less than once a week. ~38% of total spend.
$1,236
If the average subscriber switched all "high waste" services to free alternatives.
CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
| Category | Avg monthly spend | % of total | Avg waste share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Streaming TV/movies | $59 | 21.6% | 42% wasted |
| Music | $13 | 4.8% | 28% wasted |
| AI tools | $47 | 17.2% | 51% wasted |
| Productivity / cloud | $31 | 11.4% | 33% wasted |
| Fitness & wellness | $48 | 17.6% | 61% wasted |
| Security & VPN | $14 | 5.1% | 29% wasted |
| Education | $22 | 8.1% | 55% wasted |
| Business / SaaS | $39 | 14.3% | 22% wasted |
Waste share is the percentage of spend that respondents rated 1 or 2 dots in our calculator (services they barely use). "Avg monthly spend" is the per-subscriber average among Americans who pay for at least one service in that category.
TOP WASTED SERVICES
| Rank | Service | Waste share | Cheapest free alt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gym membership | 71% | Nike Training Club |
| 2 | Adobe Creative Cloud | 63% | Canva + Figma + GIMP |
| 3 | Peloton App | 59% | Peloton App Free tier |
| 4 | MasterClass | 58% | YouTube |
| 5 | Cable add-ons (Showtime, Starz) | 55% | Tubi |
| 6 | Apple TV+ | 52% | Tubi |
| 7 | Midjourney | 49% | Adobe Firefly |
| 8 | NordVPN/ExpressVPN | 46% | Proton VPN free |
| 9 | Grammarly Premium | 42% | LanguageTool |
| 10 | Coursera Plus | 41% | Coursera audit mode |
AI SPEND
AI subscriptions overtook security software in average monthly spend during Q4 2025 and continued to climb in Q1 2026. The category is now a $47/month line item for the average American AI user — and 51% of that spend is on tools the user opens less than weekly.
METHODOLOGY · READ THIS FIRST
Read this before citing any number above. The Q1 2026 report is the launch edition of an ongoing quarterly series. The headline statistics, category breakdown, and top-wasted-services rankings on this page are modeled, not measured from our own users — because the SubscriptionShame calculator launched in April 2026 and we have not yet accumulated enough usage to publish primary data.
The model combines:
From Q2 2026 onward, we will replace the modeled numbers with aggregated, anonymous patterns from real calculator usage. No individual user data is collected — only aggregate counts (e.g., "what percentage of users who added Netflix rated it 1 or 2 dots"). We will note in each future report which numbers are modeled vs. measured.
If a published statistic on this page goes stale or you spot a math error, please use the contact form and we will fix it within 48 hours.
CITE THIS REPORT
SUGGESTED CITATION
SubscriptionShame. Q1 2026 Report: How Much America Actually Wastes on Subscriptions. Published April 2026. https://subscriptionshame.com/report/
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