In 2023 and 2024, Self Financial surveys revealed that 54.6% of U.S. respondents had at least one unused paid subscription monthly, rising to 85.7% in 2024.
In 2025, a survey of 1,138 Americans, including 1,070 with active paid subscriptions, was conducted to assess the cost of subscriptions and the financial impact of unused ones. The findings detail the most popular subscription services, their costs, and the extent of unused paid subscriptions.
📺Key findings from the survey
- The average respondent has 2.8 active paid subscriptions – down from 4.1 in 2024 and from 4.4 in 2023.
- Most people reported spending $37 monthly on average for their paid subscriptions, down from $40.39 in 2024 and $52.97 in 2023.
- 54.9% of respondents admitted they had a subscription going unused each month – at an average of 0.8 subscriptions not being used.
- The monthly average value of unused paid subscriptions is $10.57 – a decrease from $32.84 in 2024 and $25.34 in 2023.
- 45.7% of respondents admit that they would be more inclined to illegally stream TV and movies due to the increased costs of streaming services.
- ESPN+ is the most common unused streaming subscription (25.8%), Hulu is the second most (25.7%), followed by Paramount+ (24.8%).
- Caviar is the most common unused food subscription (58.9%), Grubhub is the second most (54.1%), followed by Postmates (52%).
- 64.4% of paid subscription customers share logins to save money, and 61.8% of streaming users have made changes or are looking to alter their subscription choices based on new anti-password-sharing rules.