Turn off all automatic renewals and switch to manual renewal upon expiry

What you’ll save is exactly the money spent on subscriptions you no longer use but are still being charged for each month. It takes less than 20 minutes to go through the automatic payment lists in Alipay, WeChat Pay, Apple, and Android. By regulation, merchants must provide a clear notice before charging you, along with an easy-to-find and readily accessible option to cancel at any time.

Cost

No cost at all. Simply review the lists of automatic payments in Alipay, WeChat Pay, Apple, and Android — this takes only 10 to 20 minutes. From then on, you’ll need to manually initiate each renewal yourself.

Benefit

The amount saved equals the total cost of those subscriptions you no longer need yet continue to pay for. This varies from person to person, so there’s no single universal figure. Regulatory rules also require merchants to give you a clear pre-charge notice and a simple, cost-free option to cancel at any time (China, effective since 2021).

Notes

For services you actually use regularly, annual subscriptions are generally cheaper than monthly ones, so keeping automatic renewal on for these is more cost-effective. You should only turn off automatic renewal for those subscriptions you’ve long forgotten about yet are still being charged for.

Sources · 1

1. 国家市场监督管理总局 (2021, 2025 修正). 网络交易监督管理办法（总局令第 37 号，第十八条）. samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2025/a…