This is an opinion piece. The views are the author’s own.
Signing up for a subscription takes one tap and a card number. Canceling can take a phone call, a hold queue and a retention offer you did not ask for. That gap is not an accident, and in 2026 it is still legal in too many places to leave it that way.
The Federal Rule Is Gone
The FTC finalized a “click-to-cancel” rule in October 2024. The Eighth Circuit vacated it in full in July 2025 on procedural grounds, according to the consumer site SubTracker. The court found the FTC had skipped a required preliminary regulatory analysis, as law firm Jones Day describes it. The rule was never found wrong on the merits of whether cancellation should be easy.
The FTC has since restarted the process. Jones Day reports it issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in March 2026, with comments due April 13. Both sources say no replacement rule has been adopted. I found no sign of one as of this writing.
What Still Protects You
Not nothing. The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, passed in 2010, still requires online sellers to disclose terms clearly, get your informed consent, and provide a “simple mechanism” to stop recurring charges. The catch, per Jones Day, is that the law does not define what a simple mechanism is. Jones Day also says about 30 states have their own automatic-renewal laws, and it names California’s as requiring an annual reminder of the renewal, the price and how to cancel.
Enforcement exists, too. Jones Day says the FTC used ROSCA and its general deceptive-practices authority to get a record $2.5 billion settlement from Amazon over Prime enrollment and cancellation. But a lawsuit that takes years is a poor substitute for a clear rule that a company can read on day one.
My Simple Standard
If you can start a subscription in the app, you should be able to end it in the app. Same number of screens, same place, no call required. Let the company make one honest offer to keep you. Then let people go.
Companies that believe in their product do not need a maze. Those that rely on one are telling you something about how many customers would stay if leaving were easy.
Until a federal rule returns, the practical advice is to check your state’s law, keep a note of when you tried to cancel, and use a credit card dispute if a charge continues after you canceled. Our guide to disputing a credit card charge explains the deadlines.
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