Wasted Subscriptions Costing Half Of Australians Hundreds Of Dollars Per Year According To Pureprofile And Compare The Market

Half of all Australians are paying for subscriptions they do not use, with the combined annual cost of wasted memberships and streaming services reaching up to $1,664 per household.

A nationally representative survey of 1,015 Australians, commissioned by Compare the Market and conducted by Pureprofile, found that unused gym memberships and streaming services are quietly draining household budgets at a time when cost-of-living pressures show little sign of easing.

The comparison service is urging consumers to audit their recurring charges and cancel services they no longer use.

Gym memberships the costliest culprit

Of the 50 per cent of respondents who acknowledged paying for subscriptions they were not using, almost six-in-10 pointed to their Netflix video streaming subscription. At a starting monthly price of around $10, that equates to at least $119 lost per year.

But it was unused gym memberships that represented the single largest financial drain. Respondents who were not actively using their gym pass reported spending around $93 per month on average, translating to a yearly cost of $1,116.

Disney+, Amazon Prime and Spotify rounded out the top five unused subscriptions. Disney+ and Amazon Prime each start at around $10 per month, while Spotify’s base plan sits at around $16 per month.

Based on the five most commonly reported unused subscriptions and their starting monthly rates, Compare the Market calculated that Australians could be losing around $1,664 per year.

The comparison service put that figure into context, noting it is equivalent to roughly 832 litres of diesel at $2 per litre, 277 cups of coffee at $6 each, or a return flight to Paris with spending money left over.

Other unused subscriptions reported by respondents included Stan (from $12 per month), Amazon Prime Video (from $10 per month) and Paramount+ (from $8 per month).

A mid-year financial check-up

Compare the Market Economic Director, David Koch, described the halfway point of the year as an opportunity for consumers to address what he called “financial leaks” in their household budgets.

“Record high fuel prices, the rising cash rate and mounting supermarket costs. It feels like Australians are being hit at every cost-of-living corner again,” Mr Koch commented.

“With around half of those surveyed admitting they’re still paying for unused subscriptions, it’s about time to scrutinise your expenses.

“If you don’t regularly go into the gym anymore or haven’t logged into Netflix in a while, it’s worth cutting ties and plugging these financial leaks.”

Mr Koch added that the process of cancelling unused services is typically quick.

“It’s usually easy to cancel a subscription and may only take a few minutes, but it could save you hundreds down the drain every year in total,” he noted.

Beyond streaming and the gym

Mr Koch urged consumers not to stop at subscriptions alone, pointing to other household expenses that often go unreviewed.

“Don’t set-and-forget on your other household bills either. For example, the team at Compare the Market often find that people pay for private health insurance inclusions they don’t need anymore, such as pregnancy cover, so it’s worth reviewing your bills,” he explained.

“This is an easy cost-of-living win amid an uncertain economic period.”

Last Updated on June 8, 2026 by Nick Ross