New Year’s resolution subscriptions: gym, fitness and learning apps without the February regret

The start of a year makes people more likely to begin something new. Researchers call it the fresh start effect: in a study published in Management Science in 2014, Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman and Jason Riis found that gym visits and goal-related searches rise at temporal landmarks such as the start of a week, a month or a year.

That is good news for starting. It is also why January is the month when people sign up for the most ambitious version of a plan — the annual membership, the premium tier — on the strength of motivation that is at its peak.

Start monthly

Annual plans for fitness and learning apps are discounted because many people stop using them. If you are starting something new, pay monthly for the first two or three months. The extra cost is the price of being able to stop, and it is almost always smaller than a year of an app you opened in January only. Our annual vs monthly calculator shows how many months of use make the annual plan worth it.

Gyms are contracts, not subscriptions

Gym memberships often come with a minimum term, a notice period or a cancellation procedure that is stricter than an app’s. Before signing, find three things in the contract: the minimum term, how much notice cancellation needs, and how it must be given. Writing them down in January is far easier than finding them in March.

Set the review date now

Put a date 30 days out in your calendar with one question: did I use this at least weekly? Make the date a few days before the next charge, not after it. If the answer is no, cancel then — and if the answer is yes, that is the moment the annual plan becomes a sensible choice.

Watch for the bundle creep

A resolution often brings two or three overlapping services: a gym, a workout app, a nutrition tracker. Each one is small; together they can rival what you spend on streaming. Our page on whether fitness app subscriptions are worth it helps decide which one to keep.

If it did not stick

Cancelling is not failure; paying for something you do not use is the expensive outcome. Cancel through the channel you subscribed with, keep the confirmation, and check the next statement for a final charge.

Keeping the review date in front of you

SubTracker shows each subscription with its next charge, which turns the 30-day review into a date you will actually see. SubTracker does not connect to your bank — you add each subscription once yourself, which takes about ten minutes and is the reason nobody else sees your transactions. New accounts get renewal reminder emails for the first 14 days, which covers a January review with time to spare.