What Is an Early Termination Fee?

Early termination fees appear in contracts that lock you into a minimum term, such as 12- or 24-month wireless, internet, or security-system plans, gym memberships, car leases, and apartment leases. The amount and the rules must be disclosed in the agreement you signed. Some fees are a flat amount; others prorate — declining as you get closer to the end of the term — or equal the remaining balance owed on a discounted device or waived installation.

Ordinary streaming, software, and app-store subscriptions billed month to month generally carry no early termination fee. You cancel, and you keep access until the end of the period you already paid for; most monthly plans are not prorated for the unused days. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription — on an iPhone you cancel under Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions, and on Android in the Google Play Store under Payments & subscriptions.

Canceling is not the same as a chargeback or blocking your card. Card networks run 'account updater' services, so a recurring charge can follow you to a replaced or reissued card, and a chargeback disputes a past charge rather than ending the agreement. If a company keeps billing, the CFPB says you can revoke authorization and ask your bank for a stop-payment order — but you should still cancel the underlying contract so you don't leave an unpaid balance.

Federal cancellation rules are in flux: the FTC's 'click-to-cancel' rule, which would have required canceling to be as easy as signing up, was vacated by a federal appeals court in July 2025, and the agency is rewriting it. Existing FTC enforcement and many state auto-renewal laws still apply. Canceling a normal subscription does not affect your credit; the narrow exception is an unpaid balance — such as a gym or contract debt — that a company sends to collections.