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How to cancel Claude, and what you do not get back.
Subscribe on January 25th and Anthropic's own worked example puts your deadline on February 23rd, a full two days before the anniversary of the day you signed up. That follows from a clause which does not say "cancel before your renewal date". It says "cancel your subscription at least 24 hours before the last day of the Initial Term or any Renewal Term". Cancelling takes under a minute once you hold that date. A reader who cancels on renewal day is already too late, and on annual Pro that mistake costs $200, charged up front, for a year they had decided not to have.
The answer, in Anthropic's own words
Three clauses in section 6 of the consumer terms decide everything about cancelling. They are worth reading whole, because the summaries circulating elsewhere tend to drop the sentence that costs money.
How you cancel, and by when. "If you subscribed via our website, you may cancel your Subscription for any reason by using a method we may provide to you through our products ... or by notifying us at support@anthropic.com. If you subscribed via an app, you'll need to cancel via the App Distributor according to the App Distributor's terms. To avoid renewal and charges for the next Renewal Term, cancel your subscription at least 24 hours before the last day of the Initial Term or any Renewal Term."
What cancelling gets you, and what it does not. "In the event of a cancellation, your fees will not be refunded, but your access to the Services will continue through the end of the Initial Term or any Renewal Term for which you previously paid fees."
What renews, and for how long. "Your Subscription will last for the Initial Term and will automatically renew, and your Payment Method will be charged, at the end of the Initial Term for an additional term equal in duration to the Initial Term and will continue to renew and incur charges for additional terms equal in duration to the Initial Term."
Leaving is easy, leaving is free of penalties, and leaving returns nothing. What renews is a term "equal in duration" to the one you chose: pick a month and you risk $20, pick a year and you risk $200 in a single charge.
The 24-hour rule, which is the actual trap
Most subscriptions let you cancel at any point before the renewal lands. This one does not. Anthropic writes the example out in the terms:
You subscribed on the 25th; the intuitive deadline is the 25th. Anthropic's own worked example says the 23rd. The rule is not measured against the renewal date, it is measured against the last day of the term, and then a further 24 hours is taken off. Cancel on the anniversary and you are two days late, not one.
There is a genuine inconsistency between two of Anthropic's own pages. The pricing FAQ puts the same rule more loosely: "You can cancel anytime, and your plan stays active until the end of your current billing period. To avoid the next charge, cancel at least 24 hours before your renewal date." Measured that way, the January 25th subscriber's deadline is the 24th; measured the way the contract measures it, the 23rd. The contract governs, so treat the 23rd as real.
Set a reminder for three days before the anniversary of your sign-up, on the day you sign up. Cancelling early costs nothing, because your access runs to the end of the term you paid for either way.
Do this, in this order
- Check where the charge actually comes from before you touch anything. Web and desktop signups cancel in Settings, Billing. "If you subscribed through the App Store or Google Play, cancel from that app under Billing, Manage subscription, or directly in your Apple or Google Play account." People lose money by cancelling inside Claude and assuming an Apple charge stopped.
- Work out the last day of your current term, not your renewal date. For a monthly plan that is roughly the day before the monthly anniversary of your sign-up; for an annual plan, the day before the yearly one.
- Subtract at least 24 hours, then subtract another day for safety. Anthropic's own example puts the deadline on the 23rd for a subscription taken out on the 25th. Aim for the 22nd.
- Cancel in Settings, then Billing, then Cancel. The consumer terms add a fallback: you may cancel "by notifying us at support@anthropic.com". An email sent before the deadline is a cancellation under the terms.
- Keep the confirmation. Screenshot the billing screen, or keep the support email. If your evidence that you cancelled in time is your memory, you have no evidence.
- Carry on using it until the term expires. You have already paid, and access continues to the end of the term. Stopping early buys you nothing.
- Decide separately whether you also want the account gone. Closing an account is email-only: "You may close your Account at any time by contacting us at support@anthropic.com."
What you do not get back, and what you keep
The money question and the data question have different answers.
| Fees for the current term | Not refunded |
|---|---|
| Unused months on an annual plan | Not refunded, not prorated |
| Access for the rest of the term | You keep it |
| Your chats, projects and files | Kept with the account |
| The account itself | Moves to the Free plan |
| Anthropic terminates you for a breach | No refund at all |
| Anthropic ends your subscription for its own reasons | Pro rata refund, if bought on the website |
On the data side the pricing FAQ is specific: "Canceling doesn't delete your data. Your chats, projects, and files stay with your account, though some features aren't available on the Free plan. For Pro and Max, your account moves to the Free plan once the period ends." The separate risk: on termination of your account or access, "we may at our option delete any Materials or other data associated with your Account". Export anything you would miss before closing the account.
If Anthropic terminates your access "due to a violation of these Terms and you have a Subscription, you will not be entitled to any refund". If they end your subscription for any other reason of their own and you bought it on the website, "we will refund you, on a pro rata basis, the fees you paid for the remaining portion of your Subscription after termination". That is the only pro rata refund in the document.
The $200 question
Anthropic's pricing page lists Pro at "$17" per month "Per month with annual subscription discount ($200 billed up front). $20 if billed monthly." Max is listed as "From $100" per month, billed monthly. The free plan is listed at $0.
The annual discount is real: $204 against $240 over a year. What you buy alongside it is a twelve-month non-refundable commitment that renews for another twelve months unless you act in time. The monthly plan costs about $36 a year more and turns every forgotten renewal into a $20 mistake instead of a $200 one.
- One missed deadline on the annual plan, billed up front$200
- One missed deadline on the monthly plan$20
Anthropic’s own published prices: $200 for the year billed up front, $20 if billed monthly. The bar is what a single forgotten renewal puts at risk.
The refunds that do exist, and what we cannot tell you about them
"All payments are non-refundable" is the headline, and the exact clause is "Except as expressly provided in these Terms or where required by law, all payments are non-refundable." Both halves of that exception carry real weight, and Anthropic documents three routes that live inside them.
The EEA and UK 14-day withdrawal period. The pricing FAQ says: "If you're in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, and within your 14-day withdrawal period, you can request a refund directly in the app." This is consumer law, not Anthropic's generosity.
A 7-day change-of-mind right in four countries. "If you are a resident of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, or Taiwan, you have a legal right to change your mind and cancel the Subscription within 7 days of entering into the Subscription without giving a reason." Reimbursement comes "not later than 14 days" after being told. If you used the service during those 7 days they "may retain an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided", and the window "will not reset if you change subscription tiers or cancel and then resubscribe".
A discretionary refund request for everyone else. The pricing FAQ describes a process: "Log in, open Get help from the menu, start a message, and choose Claude Refund Request to check your eligibility." App Store purchases go to Apple, Google Play purchases go to Anthropic support "to check eligibility for an active subscription".
How this compares with the other cancellations we have read
Three of the subscriptions people most often ask us how to leave have three genuinely different rulebooks, and mixing them up is how readers get caught. Here is where Claude sits.
| Claude, the deadline | 24 hours before the term ends |
|---|---|
| Canva, the deadline | Before your renewal date |
| Adobe, the deadline that pays | 14 days from the order |
| Claude, cost of leaving early | Nothing, and nothing back |
| Canva, cost of leaving early | Nothing, and nothing back |
| Adobe, annual billed monthly | 50% of what is left |
Canva is the closest relative, with one difference: Canva imposes no 24-hour margin, so cancelling the day before a renewal works there and can be a day too late here. Our reading of Canva's cancellation clause has the section numbers.
Adobe offers a 14-day full refund window on every plan and charges a 50% early-termination fee on the annual contract billed monthly. Do not carry Adobe's assumptions across: the Adobe rules are plan-by-plan. Claude has one rule for Pro monthly, Pro annual and Max alike.
Is it worth your time?
The cancellation itself takes a minute: no phone call, no retention agent, no cancellation fee, and your work stays where you left it. On the mechanics this is one of the better subscription exits we have read this year.
What is worth your time is the date. Two minutes with a calendar removes the whole risk. If you are here because a $200 charge already appeared, use the refund request in the app before assuming it is gone, then take the monthly plan next time.
Cancellation FAQ
How do you cancel a Claude subscription?
On web or desktop, Settings, then Billing, then Cancel. The terms add a second valid route, notifying Anthropic at support@anthropic.com. If you subscribed through the App Store or Google Play, you cancel in that store instead, and its billing and refund terms apply rather than Anthropic's.
What is the real deadline?
At least 24 hours before the last day of your current term. Anthropic's own example: subscribe on January 25th to a one-month term, cancel by February 23rd. Cancelling on the anniversary is two days late, not one.
Do I get any money back?
No. The terms say your fees will not be refunded on cancellation, and that except as expressly provided or where the law requires, all payments are non-refundable. You keep access until the term you paid for ends.
What happens to a $200 annual payment?
It stays paid. You keep Pro for the remainder of the twelve months and the account then drops to Free. There is no proration and no early-termination fee in either direction.
Will I lose my chats?
Not from cancelling. Anthropic says cancelling does not delete your data and your chats, projects and files stay with the account. Closing the account is a separate email-only act, and on termination Anthropic may delete data associated with the account.
Is there a cooling-off period?
Depending where you live. Anthropic points EEA and UK customers to a 14-day withdrawal period claimable in the app, and the terms grant residents of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan a 7-day right to cancel without giving a reason. Elsewhere there is only a discretionary refund request whose eligibility rules are not published.
How to cancel other things
Every one of these is read from the company’s own document and dated. See all 59 questions we have answered.