You're probably overpaying for your subscriptions. Most people and businesses are paying full price for stuff they could get 50-90% off, and sometimes free.
There are massive savings to be found on apps, tools and software when you know where to look.
The average person has 12+ subscriptions but only thinks about the cost when they check their bank statement.
If you're running a business or side hustle, it's not just $15 streaming services anymore. SaaS tools add up fast, easily hundreds or even thousands per month.
But for those in the know, there are big savings everywhere:
Startup programs
Student discounts
Seasonal sales
Retention offers
Hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in savings that most people never even know about.
We've saved thousands ourselves on tools like Notion, Auth0, AWS, Canva, and TradingView, just by knowing where to look.
This guide covers how to pay less for your subscriptions. Whether it's streaming services, productivity tools, or your entire SaaS stack, and the Saas discounts that come with it.
Same tools. Less money spent.
How to Audit Your Current Subscriptions
Before hunting for deals, it’s first good to know exactly what you're paying for.
On average it’s shown that most people underestimate their subscription spend by 2-3x. You think you're spending $50/month, but it's actually likely $150.
That gap is often where most of the money quietly disappears.
Quick ways to audit:
Check your bank statement for the last 3 months. Or can use the Orbit Deal finder tool to find them by uploading a CSV or PDF.
Use our subscription audit quiz tool to discover forgotten subscriptions
Look for duplicates, do you really need two cloud storage services?
Check for forgotten free trials that converted to paid
If you're on a team, look for unused seats as these can really add up fast. This can be found in emails or by login in and checking billing and seats.
If you need to cancel any unwanted subscriptions, take a look at our cancel hub filled with 100s of guides on cancelling subscriptions, or use the subscription cancel tool to make it easier with direct links to cancel pages.
No point finding deals on new subscriptions if you're still paying for stuff you don't use. This is often the fastest way to reduce subscription costs.
Creating a Subscription Wishlist (Before You Buy)
Once you know what you have, think about what you actually need.
Is there a tool you've been eyeing off? Software that would really help your work or business?
Make a wishlist.
Then ask yourself:
Do I need this now or later? If it's not urgent, you can wait for a seasonal deal.
For business tools especially, it's worth comparing alternatives before committing.
Is there a free tier that's good enough? Sometimes the paid upgrade isn't worth it for your use case.
Having a clear wishlist helps you make the most of getting deals as you can research them in advance, and stops you signing up for things you don't actually need.If you’re a new business and you know you need a specific set of software tools, you might be able to get a lot of these for free or steeply discounted in the first year.
Where to Find Subscription Deals and Discounts
There are huge deals to be found on subscriptions and SAAS if you know where to look, but most discounts aren't advertised on the homepage. Companies often prefer that customers pay full price.
Deals usually exist for two reasons: to acquire new users, or to retain existing ones. They're a marketing tool, not a gift.
That's why they're buried, trying to reach brand new users..
But here's where to actually find subscription deals:
SaaS Startup Programs and Credits
Companies like Notion, AWS, HubSpot, Stripe, AI tools and others offer massive discounts to startups, often 50-90% off, free periods or free credits worth thousands.
These are usually reserved for:
Pre-funding companies
Startups going through accelerators
Companies that have raised their first round
If you qualify, startup software deals are essentially free money and can take a lot of pressure off runway.
They usually like to offer these to newly funded companies as they know these have a greater chance of becoming large companies and becoming big spenders in the future. The free access or discounts become customer lock-ins.
Dive deeper on eligibility and how to get discounts through startup deal programs.
Student and Education Discounts
If you can verify enrollment at a school, college, or university, you unlock a huge range of discounts. Spotify, Adobe, Notion, GitHub, Tinder, Canva, most major tools offer 50%+ off for students.
Usually requires a .edu email or student ID verification. Student subscription discounts are some of the most generous available.
Read our full guide on how to access and find student subscription discounts.
Partner and Accelerator Perks
Some accelerators and membership communities collect exclusive deals for their members. Y Combinator, Techstars, On Deck, they all have deal pages. Even some co-working spaces and industry groups offer partner discounts for their members.
Worth checking if you're part of any community or program.
Deal Aggregator Sites and affiliates
Affiliates, bloggers, influencers, newsletters, sometimes get exclusive coupon codes to share. Part of their commission gets passed on as a discount. This can be generous with some affiliates ranging from 50-90% of the cost of the subscription.
These can be found through newsletters, blogs and Youtuber videos.
Affiliates can also be aggregated alongside other available discounts on deal aggregator sites, these serve to surface many discounts under a single membership, some of these include:
AppSumo
JoinSecret
Founders Pass
SaaS Mantra
And others
Quality varies, but worth checking before paying full price.
We built our Subscription Deal Finder to track 725+ deals across multiple sites in one place.
Annual vs Monthly Billing Savings
Simple but effective: paying annually instead of monthly often saves 20-40%.
The trade-off is commitment. Worth it for tools you know you'll use long-term. Less smart for something you're still testing or if cashflow is tight.
[Use our Annual vs Monthly Calculator Tool →]
Retention Offers (The Hidden Discount)
Here's one most people miss: when you go to cancel a subscription, many companies offer a discount to keep you.
These aren't advertised. They vary by how long you've been a customer, your geography, and sometimes just luck. But they exist.
Sometimes the offer appears when you click cancel. Sometimes it comes via email days or weeks after you leave.
We put together a crowdsourced thread on subscriptions that offer cancel discounts.
And check out our deeper guide on how to get these cancel discount offers.
Recently we have seen the OpenAI chatGPT memberships doing this regularly post cancellation.
Seasonal Sales (Black Friday, New Year)
Black Friday, New Year, end of quarter, these are the times SaaS companies actually run sales.
If you're not in a rush, waiting for a seasonal deal can save 30-50%. And if you're on annual billing, you can time your renewal to catch next year's sale too.
These are hard to keep track of manually. We are building seasonal deal tracking into Orbit as a future feature to make this easier with less manual work.
Coupon Sites and Reddit
Hit and miss, but occasionally you'll find working codes on coupon sites or Reddit threads. Worth a quick search before checkout, just don't expect miracles. We’ll also be aggregating some of these into the deal finder tool.
Deals do exist. They can range from 20% off to completely free. They're just buried. Knowing where to look is half the battle.
We've built a tool to help discover over 725+ Subscriptions deals and discounts in one place
Also check out our hub for subscription deal pages.
Types of Subscription Discounts (and Who Qualifies)
Not all discounts are available to everyone. Some are open to anyone, others require you to meet specific eligibility criteria.
Here's the breakdown:
Discounts Available to Everyone
Annual vs monthly billing Most subscriptions offer a discount for paying upfront. Typically 15-40% savings. Works if you're confident you'll stick with the tool past a few months.
Seasonal sales: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, New Year sales. Not every company participates, but many do who don’t often have sales at any other times. Best time to buy or renew annual plans.
Referral credits Many services give you credits for referring friends. Dropbox, Uber, countless SaaS tools. Free money if you're already recommending stuff.
Retention offers The "please don't leave" discount. Go to cancel, see what they offer. Worst case, you still cancel.
Free tiers Sometimes the free version is genuinely enough. Don't upgrade just because they ask you to. Evaluate if you actually need the paid features.
Discounts That Require Eligibility
Student discounts Usually requires a .edu email or verification through services like UNiDAYS or SheerID. Discounts often 50% or more. Available while you're enrolled.
Startup deals For early-stage companies. Requirements vary, some want you under 2 years old, some require accelerator membership, some have funding thresholds. Often the biggest discounts available.
You can get free years of SAAS worth thousands.
These often require submitting an application form to gain access or sometimes even speaking with a sales rep.
Non-profit discounts Registered charities and non-profits (501c3 in the US, equivalents elsewhere) often get significant discounts or free access.
Regional pricing Some companies charge less in certain countries. This is why some people use VPNs to sign up, though this can violate terms of service, so tread carefully.
New members only Many of the best deals are only for first-time or non-paying customers. If you've paid before, you might not qualify. Sometimes worth signing up with a different email for a genuinely separate use case.
Common Eligibility Requirements to Check
New users only (never had an account)
New paying users only (had a free account but never paid)
Specific geographies only
Limited time windows
Requires linking a payment method
Always check the fine print before getting excited about a deal.
Free, Cheaper and Open Source Alternatives to Paid Subscriptions
Sometimes the best deal isn't a discount, it's switching to something cheaper.
This isn't about ditching everything you love. It's about knowing you have other options.
Cheaper Paid Alternatives
Before paying full price, check if there's a similar tool that costs less.
Many popular SaaS tools have competitors that do 80% of the same thing for half the price (or less):
Expensive CRM → simpler, cheaper CRM
Free or cheaper apps in the app store
Full-featured project management → lightweight alternative
Premium design tool → budget-friendly option
It's worth searching "[tool name] alternatives" before committing. You might find something that fits your needs better at a fraction of the cost.
Open Source Software Alternatives
If you're technical (or willing to learn), open source tools can replace expensive subscriptions entirely:
Notion → Obsidian, Logseq
Slack → Discord, Element, Mattermost
Trello → WeKan
Airtable → NocoDB
Figma → Penpot
Local hosted LLMs
Free forever, often with more privacy and control.
Freemium Tiers That Are Enough
Many tools have generous free tiers. Before upgrading, ask: do I actually need the paid features?
Sometimes the free version does everything you need. Don't pay for features you won't use.
Subscription Bundles That Save Money
Bundles can be cheaper than individual subscriptions:
Apple One (Music, TV+, Arcade, iCloud)
Google One (Storage, VPN, extras)
Amazon Prime (Shipping, Video, Music, more)
Microsoft 365 (Office apps, OneDrive, Teams)
If you're already paying for multiple services from one company, check if a bundle saves money.
When to Buy: Timing Your Subscription Purchases
When you buy affects what you pay.
When Annual Billing is Worth It
Worth it if:
You've used the tool for 3+ months and know you'll keep it
The annual discount is 20%+ (some are only 10%, not worth locking in)
You can afford the upfront cost
Not worth it if:
You're still evaluating the tool
Your needs might change in 6 months
The discount is minimal
Try our calculator for Annual vs Monthly subscriptions to discover the potential savings.
Best Times to Buy Subscriptions
Black Friday / Cyber Monday: The best time for SaaS deals. Many companies that never discount do sales during this window.
New Year: "New year, new tools" promotions. Less common but worth watching.
End of quarter: Sales teams have quotas. Sometimes you can negotiate better Software deals in the last weeks of March, June, September, December.
Locking in Before Price Increases
When a company announces prices are going up, they often let existing users lock in the current rate by switching to annual. If you were planning to go annual anyway, this is a good time.
The Free Trial Cancellation Trick
When you sign up for a free trial, cancel immediately. Most services let you keep access until the trial ends, you just won't auto-convert to paid.
This way you never get charged for something you forgot about. If you love it, you can always resubscribe.
How to Keep Subscription Costs Under Control
Finding deals once is good. Staying on top of your subscriptions so they don’t blow out of control is better.
One-time audits don't stick. A year from now, you'll have new subscriptions you've forgotten about and deals you missed.
Build a habit instead:
Run a Quarterly Subscription Audit
Set a calendar reminder every 3 months. Check:
What am I paying for?
Am I actually using it?
Is there a better deal available now?
Takes 15 minutes. Can save hundreds.
Check for Deals Before Renewing
Before any subscription renews, especially annual ones, do a quick search. Prices change. New deals appear. Competitors might have better offers.
Manage Free Trials Properly
Cancel immediately after signing up. Use a note or reminder to evaluate before the trial ends. Don't let them auto-convert.
Read out full guide to cancelling snd managing free trials.
Track Your Renewal Dates
Know when your annual subscriptions renew. Gives you time to evaluate, find deals, or cancel before you're charged.
For Teams: Review Seats and Access Regularly
If you're paying per seat, check quarterly:
Are there unused seats?
Do all users need the access level they have?
Has anyone left who still has a seat?
Keep in mind that removing users doesn’t always mean that the seats are removed. We learnt this the hard way with tools like bitwarden and Figma.
Seats can add up very fast on team plans.
Why We're Building Orbit
This is exactly why we're building Orbit, to help you stay on top of subscriptions without thinking about it.
Discover hidden subscriptions you forgot about
Get alerts before renewals
Find deals you qualify for automatically including seasonal deals.
Cancel easily when you need to
And in the future, dedicated virtual cards for even more control over free trials and subscriptions.
Beta starts soon and we're looking for early adopters to help test and refine the product.
Quick Wins: Start Saving on Subscriptions Today
Don't just read this, do something. Here's where to start:
Run a subscription audit: Find what you're actually paying for, you can use the CSV upload feature in the deal finder or cancel tool if it makes it easier.
Check the deal finder tool. See if you're missing discounts on tools you already use or for items you need/are on your wishlist.
Cancel any free trials you're not sure about, you can always resubscribe
Switch one subscription to annual if you know you'll keep it and the savings are worth it
Make a wishlist of tools you want, then wait or search for deals instead of paying full price
[Use the Deal Finder to browse all 725+ subscription deals →]
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can I actually save on subscriptions?
It depends on what you're paying for and what you qualify for. Annual billing alone saves 15-40%. Startup deals can be 50-90% off or free. Even finding one or two forgotten subscriptions to cancel saves $100+ per year. Across a full SaaS stack, we've personally and seen people save thousands.
Where do I find startup deals for software?
Most are hidden on dedicated "startups" pages, through accelerator partnerships, or via deal aggregators like JoinSecret, Founders Pass, or our own deal finder tool that aggregates a lot of these sites. Companies like AWS, Notion, HubSpot, Stripe, and Segment all have startup programs ,you just have to apply.
Do student discounts work for online subscriptions?
Yes. Most major tools offer 50%+ off for verified students. You'll typically need a .edu email or verification through UNiDAYS or SheerID. Spotify, Adobe, Notion, Canva, Tinder, GitHub, they all offer student pricing.
Is it worth paying annually for subscriptions?
If you've used the tool for 3+ months and know you'll keep it, usually yes. Annual billing typically saves 15-40%. But don't pay annually for something you're still testing, the savings aren't worth being locked into a long plan.
How do I get a discount when cancelling a subscription?
Start the cancellation process and see what they offer. Many companies have retention offers, discounts they only show when you try to leave. If nothing appears, complete the cancellation anyway. Sometimes the offer comes via email a few days later.
What's the best time to buy software subscriptions?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the best times, even SaaS companies that never discount often run sales then. End of quarter (March, June, September, December) can also be good because sales teams are trying to hit quotas.
Are deal aggregator sites legitimate?
Most are, but quality varies. Sites like AppSumo, JoinSecret, NachoNacho and Founders Pass are well-known and deals are often verified. Always check the terms, some deals are only for new users, have time limits, or require specific eligibility.
How often should I audit my subscriptions?
Every 3 months is ideal. Set a calendar reminder. It takes 15 minutes and usually surfaces at least one subscription you forgot about or no longer need.
Summary: Ways to Save on Subscriptions
Strategy | Potential Savings |
Cancel unused subscriptions | 100% on things you don't need |
Switch to annual billing | 15-40% per subscription |
Startup deals (if eligible) | 50-90% or free credits |
Student discounts (if eligible) | 50%+ |
Retention offers | 20-50% |
Seasonal sales | 30-50% |
Free/open source alternatives | 100% |
The subscription savings compound. Even 20% off across 10 subscriptions can add up to hundreds per year in software discounts. And if you qualify for startup or student deals, we're talking thousands.
Same tools. Less money. You just have to know where to look.
If you want to learn more about how to better keep ontop of your subscriptions, check out our broader guide to managing your subscriptions→