Subscription scramble: how to take control of your streaming, gaming, delivery subscriptions

Between streaming song services, digital TV shows, all-you-can-play games, cloud photo libraries, e-book and audio book access, fitness apps, delivery passes, and subscriptions to keep your digital doorbell in the loop, your money can quickly disappear.

And research shows the predicament is becoming more common among Australian consumers, with subscription services forecast to rise by more than 58 per cent between 2020 and 2024.

There are ways you can take back control of your digital spending, however, and they range from old-school, manual cutbacks to new apps.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said Aussies were quick to embrace digital entertainment, and adoption accelerated last year during lockdowns and requests to stay at home.

Between 2020 and 2024, he said, entertainment subscriptions were expected to rise from 37 million to 58 million, and it wouldn’t all be about streaming TV shows.

“It’s not just video — it’s going to be gaming too,” he said. “In the past, people would go to a restaurant or the cinema. When they’re locked up or their movements are limited, casual gaming is a huge attraction.”

Retail delivery subscriptions offering free or discounted freight costs on everything from supermarket groceries to UberEats meals and clothes from ASOS were also becoming increasingly popular, Mr Fadaghi said, while Australians were also being offered subscriptions to items ordered automatically by connected devices, like coffee beans and printer ink.

Some smart home products, like connected doorbells, cameras and baby monitors, also require subscriptions to work at their full potential, and fitness apps like Sweat from Kayla Itsines, Centr from Chris Hemsworth, and Apple’s Fitness+ also require an ongoing commitment, like the gym membership they could replace.

If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed by digital subscriptions, there are ways to keep tabs on how much you’re spending.

Apple will let you check ongoing subscriptions in the menu of an iPhone or iPad under your iCloud account, for example, and you can cancel items from there. It’s worthwhile noting the company also bundles its services into Apple One subscription packages.

Subscriptions ordered through Google can be managed in the settings of your Android phone or in a dedicated menu at play.google.com.

Other ways to track your subscription spending include signing up to an account at TrackMySubs.com where you can also sign up for renewal reminders, and in the personal finance app Pocketbook, where you can lump all subscription charges into one category.

Even though they’re a regular cost, Mr Fadaghi said some subscriptions may deliver good value and be worth keeping.

“It comes down to the utility of those subscriptions,” he said.

“If people are using them regularly, it can make good financial sense.”