I signed up for ChatGPT Plus and now I want to cancel but can’t find where to do it in my account settings. Has anyone else gone through this process? Would appreciate step-by-step help to avoid an extra charge next month.
Ugh, been there – OpenAI sure didn’t exactly slap a giant CANCEL button on the front page, did they? Took me a solid 10 mins the first time to find the secret passageway out of ChatGPT Plus land. Anyway, here’s how you escape the clutches before they charge you another month:
- Log in to ChatGPT (make sure you’re using a browser, not the app – the cancellation seems hidden way better in the app for ~some reason~).
- Bottom left, click your name or the little hamburger menu (those three lines).
- Select Settings (yep, it’s small. Like, tiny.)
- Under “Settings,” find “Plan” or sometimes it says “ChatGPT Plus” (honestly, depends if they changed the layout again).
- You’ll see a section mentioning your Plus subscription. Right under that, there should be a “Manage my subscription” link/button – click that.
- It takes you to a Stripe page (the payment processor), not OpenAI directly. This always freaks me out for a sec.
- On this billing page, there’s an option for “Cancel Plan” or “Cancel Subscription.” Click that, and follow through to confirm. They love to ask, “Are you SURE???”
Heads up, your Plus features stick around till your current billing period ends, so you don’t lose anything right away.
Extra tip: Sometimes you gotta refresh after canceling to make the Plus badge disappear. Keep your cancellation confirmation email until you’re sure you’re not getting billed again. Don’t trust the system!
Yes, others have absolutely hit this wall, and frankly, I wish OpenAI made it even a tiny bit easier, but… gotta keep those subscriptions rolling, right? At least you don’t have to call a robot on the phone or something.
Hope you get out before the next charge hits ya!
I see @sternenwanderer’s rundown, but honestly, even if you do everything “right” sometimes OpenAI’s billing logic is still stuck in 2021. Like, the interface changes every couple months and suddenly the Manage Subscription button is somewhere else for no reason. If you’re on mobile, you might not even see the Stripe redirection and it just complains until you use a desktop browser. Seriously.
Here’s my random twist: If that Stripe/payment screen doesn’t load, check your adblockers or privacy extensions—or just try Incognito mode, because sometimes even that part is touchy (I once had uBlock Origin block the “cancel” widget… I mean, really?).
Also: Don’t rely on getting a cancellation confirmation email. I didn’t get mine until like 3-4 hours later—so don’t panic if it’s not instant. Last time, I screenshotted every step of the cancel just in case support tried to play dumb when I got re-billed (yep, it happened).
Not tryna be tinfoil hat here, but with these recurring subscriptions, it’s always worth double-checking your statement after the fact. I get why it’s buried (my Netflix and Spotify are just as bad), but yeah, OpenAI could make this less of an Escape Room. Pro tip: set a calendar reminder for next month to make extra sure.
Anyway, refreshing and logging out/in sometimes helps too if you’re still seeing the Plus badge. Not sure why that thing clings like a haunted sticker.
The process should be smoother, but here we are. Sigh.
For real, the most chaotic part of canceling ChatGPT Plus isn’t the labyrinthine menu—it’s making sure it actually sticks. Sure, both @vrijheidsvogel and @sternenwanderer nailed the ritual for desktop, but what if you only have your phone (and you’re allergic to desktop browsers)? You’re basically playing on nightmare difficulty.
Here’s an honest twist: As of this writing, the mobile app (iOS/Android) sometimes lets you manage subscriptions directly via the App Store/Google Play. If you bought ChatGPT Plus through the app, your Apple/Google account bills for it—not OpenAI through Stripe. So, their “Settings > Plan > Manage” steps won’t even show up—total blackout. For App Store: Go to your phone’s Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions > ChatGPT and break up that way (similarly on Google Play). Much simpler—when it works.
But, heads up: If you signed up on desktop and now only have a phone or tablet, you get looped in circles between “Go to web” and “Use desktop.” No amount of menu spelunking helps. In those cases, hunting down a desktop/laptop is unfortunately the quickest way. This fragmented system is the #1 con of ChatGPT Plus—it’s not one subscription pipeline to rule them all.
Pro: OpenAI isn’t the only one playing hide-and-seek with cancel buttons. Try canceling Netflix, Adobe CC, or even Substack. All of them make you click through three layers of pop-ups.
Con: ChatGPT Plus cancellation is easier than calling a cable company, but way harder than it should be for a tech-forward brand. Stripe’s interface is passably clear, yet if the “Cancel” button is grayed out or invisible, ad blockers or browser extensions usually are the offenders (another troubleshooting step, totally not user-friendly).
Bonus: Double-check your emails AND the “Manage my subscription” page confirmation. It’s not paranoia if you’ve been ghost billed before. In my case, the Plus badge only faded after a full browser refresh—not even after logging out. That badge has commitment issues.
Competitors like Microsoft’s Copilot have equally gap-filled cancellation protocols, but at least with ChatGPT Plus you get transparent billing dates before they hit your card.
All in, ditching ChatGPT Plus is a little quest, not an ending credits scene—just make sure you use your time left, screenshot everything, and set a reminder to spy on your next statement. Also, the product’s main pro is still faster AI with improvements, if you genuinely use it heavy—making that escape effort almost worth it, but only if you really need those features.