Subscription cancellation rights in Austria
Austria sits between its two neighbours: the EU withdrawal right applies, the German cancellation button does not, and silence only renews a contract if you were warned properly.
The short answer
Austria is neither Germany nor Switzerland, and guidance treating the three as one gets it wrong in both directions. The EU withdrawal right applies as it does in Germany. There is no cancellation-button obligation. And a clause treating your silence as agreement to renew binds you only if the trader specifically drew your attention to it in time, which is the rule worth checking first.
Leutrim Miftaraj
Founder, SubTracker · Updated September 7, 2026
The three-way split people get wrong
Guidance written in German usually describes German law and calls it DACH. For Austria that is wrong on one central point and right on another, so it misleads in both directions.
Like Germany: the EU right of withdrawal applies to distance contracts. Bei im Fernabsatz geschlossenen Verträgen besteht ein vierzehntägiges Widerrufsrecht ohne Angabe von Gründen.
Unlike Germany: there is no cancellation-button obligation. An Austrian trader whose website has no cancellation button is breaking no rule, and the sharp German consequence — cancel at any time, without notice — does not exist here.
Unlike Switzerland: consumer protection legislation does restrict what a contract may do with your silence, which the Swiss Code of Obligations does not.
The rule that actually decides most Austrian cases
Nach § 6 Abs 1 Z 2 KSchG ist eine Vertragsklausel, die das Schweigen des Verbrauchers als Erklärung wertet — etwa als Zustimmung zur Verlängerung —, für ihn nicht verbindlich, es sei denn, der Unternehmer weist ihn zu Beginn der dafür vorgesehenen Frist besonders auf die Bedeutung seines Verhaltens hin und lässt ihm eine angemessene Frist für eine ausdrückliche Erklärung.
The whole value sits in the exception. Automatic renewal is not forbidden. It is conditional — on a specific notice, at the start of the period, drawing your attention to what your silence will mean, and on your having a reasonable window to say something.
Austrian courts have taken that requirement seriously: a mention buried at the end of an over-long subject line, or one that requires following a link and logging in before the deadline becomes visible, has been held not to meet the standard. The notice must be capable of actually catching your attention.
What to do with it: before accepting that your contract renewed, look for that notice. If it never arrived, or arrived buried, the clause it relies on does not bind you.
The order to work in
1. Check the withdrawal period first if the contract is only days old. Withdrawal unwinds the contract entirely; cancellation only ends it going forward.
2. Look for the renewal notice. This is the Austrian-specific step and the one most likely to change the outcome.
3. Cancel in writing and ask for confirmation. Without a button obligation your own evidence carries more weight than in Germany. A message to the address in the imprint, with a request to confirm receipt, is the minimum.
4. Take the notice period from your contract, not from an article about German law. Austria has no statutory ceiling equivalent to the German one, so what was agreed governs unless it is grossly disadvantageous.
If money has already been taken
Eine autorisierte SEPA-Lastschrift kann innerhalb von acht Wochen nach Belastung ohne Angabe von Gründen zurückgegeben werden; bei nicht autorisierten Lastschriften beträgt die Frist dreizehn Monate. These windows apply across the SEPA area and therefore to Austrian accounts.
The order matters: settle the cancellation first, stop the payment second. A reversal prevents a debit; it does not end a contract, and if the cancellation is disputed the outstanding claims accumulate.
Where to get help
The Verein für Konsumenteninformation and the Arbeiterkammern handle these cases as routine and know the patterns of individual traders. For anything above a trivial amount that is faster than your own correspondence.
This page gives general information and is not legal advice. What binds is the current text of the provisions cited below.
Where a tracker helps and where it does not
Every rule above is strongest before a renewal, and nearly every dispute starts with a date that passed unnoticed. Knowing the law does not help once the moment has gone.
SubTracker holds the renewal date somewhere that reaches you in time. It does not cancel for you, correspond with traders, or give legal advice — for a contested case the consumer organisations above are the right address.
Source: KSchG § 6 Abs 1 Z 2, RIS des Bundeskanzleramts, checked September 7, 2026. Source: BGB § 355, Gesetze im Internet, checked September 7, 2026.
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Start freeFrequently asked questions
Is there a cancellation button requirement in Austria?+
No. That is German law under § 312k BGB, and the sharp consequence attached to it — cancel at any time without notice — does not exist in Austria. Cancel in writing and ask for confirmation of receipt, because your own evidence carries more weight here than it does in Germany.
Can my Austrian subscription renew automatically?+
Yes, but conditionally. Under § 6 Abs 1 Z 2 KSchG a clause treating your silence as agreement binds you only if the trader specifically drew your attention to the meaning of your silence at the start of the period and gave you a reasonable window to respond. If that notice was missing or buried, the clause does not bind you.
What counts as proper notice?+
It must be capable of actually catching your attention. Austrian courts have rejected notices buried at the end of an over-long subject line, and notices requiring you to follow a link and log in before the deadline becomes visible. Check what you actually received before accepting that a renewal stands.
Does the 14-day withdrawal right apply?+
Yes, as in every EU member state, for contracts concluded at a distance. It is stronger than cancellation because it unwinds the contract entirely rather than ending it going forward, so check it first if the contract is only days old.
Is Austrian law the same as German or Swiss law here?+
Neither. Austria has the EU withdrawal right like Germany but no cancellation button; it restricts what a contract may do with your silence, which Switzerland does not. Guidance treating the three as one region gets Austria wrong in both directions.
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