Ask someone how much they spend on subscriptions each month and you will usually get a quick, confident number. Ask them to list every charge, and that number tends to grow.
That gap is the most consistent finding in subscription research. Recent US surveys put typical reported spend at roughly $90–$111 a month, while studies that walk people through every category one by one land closer to $200+. Here is what the main surveys actually say, why the numbers differ, and how to work out your own figure in a few minutes.
Quick answer
| Survey | What it measured | Monthly figure |
|---|---|---|
| CNET subscription survey (2026) | Reported spend, US adults who paid for a subscription in the past year | ~$111/month (~$1,332/year), up from ~$90 in 2025 |
| CNET (2026) | Spend on subscriptions people don’t use | ~$21/month (~$252/year) |
| C+R Research (2022) | 10-second guess vs itemized total, 1,000 US consumers | ~$86 guessed vs ~$219 itemized (a ~$133 gap) |
| Deloitte Digital Media Trends (2026) | Paid streaming video only, per subscribing US household | ~$69/month for about four services |
Different methods, different numbers. The pattern underneath is the same: people undercount what they pay for, and the more carefully a survey itemizes, the higher the total gets.
Why the averages disagree
It is tempting to pick one headline number, but each study counts something different:
- Self-reported spend (like CNET’s annual survey) captures what people remember paying. It is a good trend line — CNET found spend up about 23% year over year — but it inherits the same blind spots as a quick guess.
- Itemized spend (like C+R Research) asks people to break charges down by category: streaming, food, apparel, cosmetics, software, and more. That surfaces the forgotten lines, which is why its average is far higher.
- Category-only spend (like Deloitte) looks at one layer — paid streaming video — so it is a floor, not the full picture.
- What counts as a subscription varies too. Some surveys include meal kits, retail memberships, and app-store charges; others stick to digital services.
So the honest takeaway is a range, not a single magic number: about $90–$111 a month as people report it, and potentially around double that once everything is itemized.
The underestimation gap
C+R Research gave respondents 10 seconds to estimate their monthly subscription spend, then later asked them to itemize it. The guesses averaged about $86. The itemized totals averaged about $219 — more than 2.5× higher. Almost a third of people were off by $100 to $199 a month.
The same study found that about 74% of consumers said it was easy to forget about recurring charges, 42% had stopped using a service but forgot they were still paying, and 72% had their subscriptions set to auto-pay. A separate West Monroe survey of 2,500 US consumers reported that 89% underestimated their monthly subscription spending.
None of this is about carelessness. Auto-pay is convenient by design, and small monthly amounts don’t feel like much on their own. The problem is the total.
Where the money actually goes
Streaming is usually the biggest and most visible layer. Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends found the average subscribing US household spends about $69 a month on paid streaming video, flat year over year even as prices rose, partly because more people moved to ad-supported tiers. CNET’s 2026 survey also found streaming was US adults’ top subscription category.
But video is only part of the bill. A full monthly total usually includes:
- Streaming video — Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime Video, Hulu, and similar
- Music and audio — Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Premium, audiobooks
- Productivity and creative tools — Microsoft 365, Adobe, Canva Pro
- Cloud storage and AI — Google One, iCloud+, ChatGPT Plus, Claude
- Gaming, fitness, and news — game passes, gym and wellness apps, digital newspapers
- Memberships and deliveries — retail memberships, meal kits, subscription boxes
- Annual renewals — domains, VPNs, antivirus, and other once-a-year charges that are easy to forget because they only show up once
Annual plans deserve a special mention: they don’t appear on your monthly statement at all, so they rarely make it into a quick estimate. Divide each annual price by 12 to see its real monthly weight.
What “wasted” spend looks like
CNET’s 2026 survey found US adults spend about $21 a month on subscriptions they don’t use — about $252 a year — with millennials and Gen Z wasting the most. That is the easiest money to get back, because cancelling something you don’t use costs you nothing.
Common culprits are free trials that quietly converted, a second streaming service kept “just in case,” storage upgrades nobody remembers choosing, and app-store subscriptions that sit outside your main card statement. Our breakdown of how many subscriptions the average person has covers how many services a typical stack holds, and the 30-minute subscription audit shows how to find the forgotten ones.
How to find your real monthly number
You don’t need a bank login to do this. Set aside 15–20 minutes:
- Pull 60–90 days of card and bank statements. Mark every charge that repeats.
- Check app stores. Apple and Google Play both list active subscriptions in your account settings.
- Search your email for “receipt,” “renewal,” “invoice,” and “your subscription.”
- Convert annual plans to monthly (annual price ÷ 12) so everything is comparable.
- Add it all up, then compare it with the number you would have guessed.
- Mark each line keep, downgrade, or cancel. Downgrading — for example moving to an ad-supported streaming tier — often saves money without losing the service.
If your total surprises you, you are in good company. That surprise is exactly what the surveys keep finding.
Keep the number honest with GetRenewal
GetRenewal is a subscription tracker that shows your real monthly and yearly spend and reminds you before each renewal — without connecting your bank. Add your streaming, music, software, cloud, and annual plans in one place, see the total, and decide what stays before the next charge hits. See what GetRenewal tracks.
FAQ
How much does the average person spend on subscriptions per month? CNET’s 2026 survey found US adults who paid for subscriptions spend about $111 a month (around $1,332 a year), up from about $90 in 2025. Itemized studies such as C+R Research’s have found totals closer to $219 a month once every category is counted.
Why do people underestimate their subscription spending? Most subscriptions run on auto-pay, small monthly amounts don’t stand out, annual renewals only appear once a year, and charges are spread across cards and app stores. In C+R Research’s survey, people guessed about $86 a month but itemized about $219.
How much do people spend on streaming subscriptions specifically? Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends reports the average subscribing US household spends about $69 a month on paid streaming video, across an average of about four services.
How much money do people waste on unused subscriptions? CNET’s 2026 survey put it at about $21 a month (roughly $252 a year) for US adults, with younger adults wasting more on average.
What is a reasonable monthly subscription budget? There is no universal right number. A practical approach is to list everything, convert annual plans to monthly, and keep only what you used in the last month or two. Most people find at least one line to cut or downgrade.
Do I need to link my bank to track subscription spend? No. You can list services manually from your statements, app stores, and email receipts. GetRenewal is built for that: track spend and renewal dates without a bank connection.
Figures come from published surveys (CNET 2025 and 2026 subscription surveys; C+R Research 2022; Deloitte Digital Media Trends 2026; West Monroe). Methods and definitions differ, and numbers change year to year — treat them as benchmarks, not exact targets.