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Cancel newspaper and magazine subscriptions

Checked on 4 October 2026

Digital and print subscriptions often start with a cheap or free trial and then continue at the full price. How quickly you can leave depends on your contract and on the law where you live.

Here you’ll find the checked cancellation routes and the rules that apply in the EU and the UK.

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Notice period and minimum term

Digital subscriptions can usually be cancelled in your account on the provider’s website. If you subscribed in an app, check whether you pay through Apple or Google.

Monthly subscriptions can often be cancelled at any time and then run until the end of the current billing period. The exact end date is in the provider’s terms and in the confirmation you receive.

Notice periods depend on the law of the country you live in and on your contract, so there is no single answer for every reader. This site has detailed guides for Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain, with the rules that apply there.

In short: in Germany, contracts concluded since 1 March 2022 may require at most one month’s notice and can be cancelled monthly after the first term (§ 309 No. 9 BGB). In the Netherlands, after a tacit extension you can cancel at any time with at most one month’s notice (Art. 6:236 (j) Dutch Civil Code); newspaper and magazine subscriptions may instead renew for up to three months at a time (Art. 6:236 (p) and (q)). In France, the provider must remind you of the renewal deadline (loi Chatel), and contracts concluded online must be cancellable online. In Spain, you can end a contract the same way you entered it, without penalties (Art. 62 of the Spanish consumer law).

If you signed up online or by phone, you can usually withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason. In the EU this comes from the Consumer Rights Directive (Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 9); in the UK from the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.

Special cancellation rights

  • Withdrawal in the first 14 days: Contracts concluded online or by phone can usually be withdrawn within 14 days without a reason (Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 9; in the UK the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). Withdrawing is not the same as cancelling: it undoes the contract. Under the EU directive, the right can end earlier for digital content and services that start straight away with your consent.

Common pitfalls

  • Trials don’t end by themselves: A cheap or free start usually turns into a regular subscription. Cancel before the trial ends.
  • Print and digital separately: If you booked print and app access separately, cancel both.
  • Paid through Apple or Google? Subscriptions bought through Apple or Google are cancelled in the subscription settings of that account, not with the service itself.
  • Retention offers: A discount after you cancel can mean a new term. Read the conditions.

Cancellation letter template

Copy the text into an email or a letter and replace the details in square brackets. You’ll find your customer and contract numbers on your invoice or in your account.

Cancellation of my contract “[Provider]”

[First name Surname]
[Street and house number]
[Postcode and town]
[Email address]

To: [Provider]
[Postal or email address of [Provider]]

[Place], [Date]

Customer number: [Customer number]
Contract number: [Contract number, if any]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hereby give notice to cancel my contract “[Provider]” at the earliest possible date.
Please confirm in writing that you have received this cancellation and the date on which the contract ends.

Yours faithfully,
[First name Surname]

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your contract and the law of the country you live in decide. If there is a dispute, your national consumer organisation or, in the EU, the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) can help.