How to cancel ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro (and what happens when you do)

You cancel in the same place you signed up. If you subscribed on the website, cancel in the website’s settings. If you subscribed through the iPhone or Android app, cancel through Apple or Google instead. Either way you keep the paid features until the end of the period you’ve already paid for, and your account stays open on the free plan.

Where did I subscribe?

This is the bit that catches people out. Not sure which applies to you? Look at your bank or card statement:

• A payment to OpenAI or Anthropic (the companies behind ChatGPT and Claude) means you subscribed on the website.
• A payment to Apple means you subscribed in the iPhone or iPad app.
• A payment to Google means you subscribed in the Android app.

How do I cancel if I subscribed on the website?

ChatGPT: go to the ChatGPT website and sign in. Open the menu with your name on it, choose Settings, then look for Billing or Subscription. You’ll see a Cancel option there.

Claude: go to the Claude website and sign in. Click your name or initials, choose Settings, then Billing. You’ll see a Cancel option there.

Follow the prompts until it confirms you’ve cancelled. You may be asked why you’re leaving, or offered a reason to stay. You can skip past both.

How do I cancel if I subscribed through the app?

On an iPhone or iPad: open the phone’s own Settings app (not ChatGPT or Claude). Tap your name at the top, then Subscriptions. Choose ChatGPT or Claude, then Cancel Subscription.

On Android: open the Google Play Store app. Tap your profile picture, then look for Subscriptions. Choose ChatGPT or Claude, then Cancel subscription.

Two things people often assume, wrongly:

• Deleting the app does not cancel. The payments carry on.
• You don’t need to delete your account. Cancelling is enough to stop the payments.

When should I cancel?

At least a day before your renewal date. Both companies say to leave at least 24 hours, or the next payment may still go through.

There’s no penalty for cancelling early. You keep everything you’ve paid for until the end of the current period. So if you renew on the 20th and cancel on the 3rd, you still have the paid plan until the 20th.

What happens after I cancel?

On your renewal date, your account quietly moves to the free plan. In practice:

• Your account stays open. Same sign-in, same app.
• Cancelling doesn’t delete your chats. Cancelling stops the payments; it isn’t the same as deleting your account. If there’s anything you couldn’t bear to lose, copy it somewhere safe first, just as you would with anything important.
• You go back to the free limits. You’ll see “you’ve reached your limit” more often. See what that message means.
• Some extras are locked or limited. Projects exist on the free plans but with tighter limits. Paid-only features, like the in-depth research tools, will stop or be restricted.
• ChatGPT’s free plan may show adverts.

You can sign up again whenever you like. Nothing stops you paying for one busy month and cancelling again afterwards.

Can I get a refund?

Don’t count on one, but there is one useful exception.

Normally, payments aren’t refundable. Cancelling stops future payments. It doesn’t give you money back for the month you’re in.

The exception: if you live in the UK and you cancel within 14 days of buying, both companies say you can ask for a refund. It’s usually reduced to reflect the days or use you’ve already had. It isn’t automatic, so you have to ask:

• Subscribed on the website: use the help or support option on the ChatGPT or Claude website and say you’d like a refund.
• Subscribed through Apple: ask Apple, using its “report a problem” page. The AI company can’t refund an Apple payment.
• Subscribed through Google: contact the AI company’s support, and have your Google Play receipt handy.

Asking for a refund and cancelling are two separate steps. Do both, or the subscription will renew.

If you think you’ve been charged wrongly and can’t get it sorted, Citizens Advice has clear guidance on your rights with subscriptions.

Before you go: is something cheaper a better fit?

If the price is the problem, not the tool, you have options:

• ChatGPT has a cheaper plan called Go, which sits between free and Plus.
• The free plans of both tools cover a lot of everyday use.

Our guides Is ChatGPT Plus worth it? and Do you need to pay for AI? will help you decide.

Next step

Find your renewal date now (it’s on the same Billing or Subscriptions screen as the cancel button) and put a reminder in your calendar two days before it. Then you can decide in your own time, not the night before.