Subscription Lifetime Cost Calculator
See what a subscription costs over its whole life — and what that money could have grown to instead.
Optional.
Illustrative only — returns vary and aren't guaranteed.
Total lifetime cost
$719.40If invested instead
$858.40Same money, compounded monthly at your assumed return
Private — runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
This tool is for education and planning only. It is not financial advice. Your inputs run in your browser and are not stored by Recurrings.
The cost you never see at the till
You decide on a subscription once — usually based on the monthly price — and then it quietly bills for years. Nobody ever shows you the running total. This does: enter how long you've held it (or expect to), and it sums every payment across that span.
The second figure is the one that tends to land hardest: what that same money could have grown to if you'd invested it instead. It's not a reason to cancel everything — it's a way to see the trade-off you're actually making.
How this fits into your recurring money
Lifetime cost is recurring money viewed end-to-end. A $12 plan isn't a $12 decision — it's a $720-over-five-years decision, before any price increases. Most subscriptions never get re-evaluated against that number.
Recurrings is built to keep that long view for everything that repeats: what each commitment has cost you so far, what it's on track to cost, and which ones have quietly outlived their worth.
The math
lifetime cost = Σ yearly cost × (1 + increase)^(year − 1) invested instead = monthly × [ ((1 + r)^n − 1) / r ] (r = return ÷ 12, n = months)
Lifetime cost annualizes the price, then adds up each year — growing it by any expected annual increase. The invested-instead figure takes the same money you'd have paid each month and compounds it monthly at the return rate you choose.
That second number is illustrative, not a forecast: real returns vary, aren't guaranteed, and ignore taxes and fees. It's here to make the opportunity cost visible, not to promise it.
Common questions
What counts as the “lifetime” of a subscription?
However long you've held it, or expect to. Enter the number of years and the tool totals every payment across that span — the number that's easy to lose sight of one month at a time.
How is the “invested instead” figure calculated?
It takes the same money you'd have spent each month and compounds it monthly at the return rate you choose. It's an illustration of opportunity cost, not a prediction — real returns vary and aren't guaranteed.
Should I cancel everything and invest the difference?
Not necessarily — some subscriptions are well worth it. The point is to make the trade-off visible so the ones that aren't worth it stand out.
Related free tools
Annual Subscription Cost Calculator
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Subscription Cost Calculator
Total your subscriptions into one clear monthly and yearly number.
Subscription Audit Checklist
Find unused subscriptions and cut recurring waste, step by step.
What's the lifetime cost of all of them?
Recurrings tracks every recurring charge over time — so the slow, compounding cost of your subscriptions is never a surprise.
recurrings.ai is in private beta. No card required.