Subscription trackers are useful: they find the streaming service you forgot and the free trial that quietly became a paid plan. Most of them get there by asking you to log in to your bank through a data aggregator. From then on a third company receives every transaction you make, not only the subscriptions, and keeps it under its own terms.
The same result from records you already hold
- Collect. Download the last 6 to 12 months of statements for every card and account, personal and business. Add the card alert and receipt emails already in your inbox.
- Match. Group charges by merchant. Anything that repeats at a regular interval (weekly, monthly, yearly) with a similar amount is a subscription candidate.
- Decide. For each one: keep, cancel, downgrade, or move to annual billing. Look for the same service paid twice, on two cards or by two people.
- Keep watching. Repeat the match each quarter, or have card alerts land in one place so a new repeat charge stands out as soon as it starts.
Our subscription finder does the matching step in your browser: paste statement lines and it lists the repeat charges. Nothing is uploaded.
What our own review found
Our founder's own review used 9 statements from 6 banks, plus email receipts. It found more than 20 recurring charges and flagged up to about US$415 a year to cut, including 5 possible duplicates. It also turned up US$1,161.72 of company fees paid on a personal card, which could be claimed back. None of it needed a bank login shared with anyone.
Tips
- Yearly charges hide well. Use at least 12 months of statements, or search your inbox for "renewal" and "annual".
- Charges in a foreign currency often show a slightly different amount each month. Group by merchant first, then look at the amounts.
- Give each service its own email address (see one address for every account). Every renewal notice then tells you exactly who is charging you.
- Cancel in the service's own account settings and keep the confirmation email. Then check the next statement.