Deleting the app doesn't cancel it
An app subscription is billed by the App Store or Google Play, not by the app sitting on your phone. Removing the app removes the icon. The plan keeps renewing until you cancel it in the store that bills you.
That is how a lot of forgotten charges start: the app is gone, so it feels finished, and the statement quietly says otherwise.
On iPhone or iPad
Open Settings, tap your name at the top, then tap Subscriptions. You will see the subscriptions billed through your Apple Account. Tap one and choose Cancel Subscription.
If you don't see it there, it may be billed to a different Apple Account, or paid directly to the company on its website, in which case you cancel it with them.
On Android
Open the Google Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions. Pick the subscription and tap Cancel subscription.
Check that you are signed in to the right Google account. A subscription bought on another account won't appear in this list.
What happens after you cancel
In most cases you keep access until the end of the period you already paid for, and then it simply doesn't renew. Free trials vary, so read the confirmation screen to see when access ends.
Keep the confirmation email. If the charge shows up again, it is your proof, and the store's support page is the place to ask about it.
Not everything is an app store subscription
Streaming services, gyms and software plans you signed up for on a website bill your card directly, so they won't appear in either store. For those, cancel in the company's own account settings, and if that fails, ask your card issuer to stop the payments.
If you are not sure what you are paying for at all, start with a list. Our guide to finding forgotten subscriptions walks through where to look.
The one subscription that admits it
Forget Your Credit Card is a monthly payment that says exactly what it is. You pick an amount from $1 to $1,000, Stripe bills it, and confirmed payments count toward a public Lifetime board if you choose to appear.
Nothing comes back and nothing is hidden. STOP FORGETTING cancels at the end of the current paid period, no settings menu required.