As annoying as it is, we’re used to everything being a subscription now. And while we all have a few favorites that are worth it for us, there are some subscriptions I can’t believe people pay for.
8
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Office is ingrained into many people’s minds as the standard for an office suite, which is understandable given how long it’s been around and its presence in work and school environments. And while the Microsoft 365 Family plan is a significantly better deal since up to six members get 1TB of OneDrive space each, most people do not need to pay for Office.
The full versions of Word, Excel, and other apps are overkill for the infrequent letters, resumes, budget spreadsheets, and similar documents that many of us create at home. If you’re used to the MS Office layout, Microsoft 365 Online gives you all the basics at no cost. And if you want something different or need to work offline, I’ve become a fan of OnlyOffice for the rare times I need desktop office tools.
If you’re in it for the cloud storage, many cloud apps offer good value and aren’t tied to Office.
7
Expensive mobile providers
While a mobile phone plan isn’t a subscription in the same sense we think of them now, it still fits this discussion since it’s a fee you pay every month. And for a long time, I haven’t been able to understand how people pay big carriers like Verizon $70+ every month.
My first solo phone plan was Google Fi (then Project Fi), where I paid $20/month for unlimited calling and texting, plus $10 per gigabyte of data. When I rarely used more than 1GB/month, this worked well for me. , I switched to Mint Mobile, where I now pay $15/month ($180 annually) for a plan with 5GB of data/month. This has increased from 3GB when I joined, at no extra cost.
If you use more data, Mint has 10GB, 20GB, and unlimited data plans for a max of $30/month. Or you can consider other MVNOs like Visible, which offers unlimited data for $275/year ($23/month). Given that Verizon’s cheapest unlimited plan for one person is $65/month ($780/year), there’s huge potential to save here.
With an MVNO, you won’t get all the fancy perks of the big carriers (though these usually serve to inflate the price), and sometimes your connection doesn’t have priority. But I’ve never found this to be a noticeable issue. Any minor hiccups are well worth it when your annual mobile bill is less than what big carriers charge for three or four months.
6
Cable TV
While streaming services were supposed to be the replacement for cable, old-school TV packages are still around. But even if you yearn for the old days before everything was split across three dozen streaming services, the cost of cable is ridiculous.
In my area, the cheapest Comcast Xfinity cable plan offers ~10 channels for $63/month. If you want the full suite of 125+ channels, you have to pay over $100/month.
You could subscribe to at least six streaming services for that cost, and don’t forget that cable channels have regular commercial breaks. This also goes for TV streaming services like YouTube TV; $83 a month (and rising all the time) is barely better than cable.
It’s much smarter to save money on streaming by rotating your subscriptions each month. And if you love the cable experience of flipping through channels, FAST streaming services are a suitable replacement. Many of these are built into your TV (such as LG Channels or Samsung TV Plus). While the content isn’t always top-quality, and there are ads, it gives you a buffet to choose from without the exorbitant cost.
5
Reddit Premium
While Reddit is often a good place to have conversations about any topic or look for answers to specific questions, the company apparently thinks people will want to pay $6/month or $50/year for Reddit Premium to make that experience slightly better.
Premium removes the ads on Reddit, allows you to ask 100 questions per day on Reddit Answers (up from 20 for logged-in users), and gives access to a secret subreddit that’s only for paying members. In addition to all that, you get exclusive ways to dress up your Reddit avatar and more icon choices for the Reddit mobile app.
None of this strikes me as remotely worth paying for. There are other ways to remove ads on Reddit, and while Reddit Answers is useful, 20 queries per day should be enough. You can search Reddit on-site or via Google, or ask another AI tool for help.
A lounge only for paying Reddit customers isn’t interesting, since the point of Reddit is to form communities around common interests. And Reddit’s avatars are awful; why would you care about dressing them up?
4
Discord Nitro
Whether you use it for general chatting or voice communication while gaming, Discord has a lot of functionality that’s upgraded with its Nitro subscription. However, most of this isn’t worth the cost, and the rest of it feels like perks that should be included or available for a one-time upgrade.
Discord Nitro has two tiers: Basic and regular. Between the two, the only features I find useful are the higher file-sharing limit, HD streaming, and the two “free” Boosts (since upgrading a server results in higher-quality streams and more soundboard slots). Almost everything else is frivolous and cosmetic, such as using custom emojis anywhere, unlimited super reactions, and Discord theme colors.
For the Discord server I have with my friends, we love the soundboard, but I’m not paying $10/month for more soundboard slots. We sometimes stream to each other to watch replays or if someone is waiting to join, and while higher-quality streams are great, I can live with SD for free. And for file uploads, it’s another step to upload via a different app, but at least it doesn’t cost anything.
3
SiriusXM satellite radio
Before music streaming services let you pick what you wanted to listen to and easy options for playing in the car existed, I could understand the value of satellite radio. However, I don’t see the point now.
Streaming services let you make as many playlists as you want and save them offline, so a lost signal doesn’t mean your music is gone. If you prefer the radio experience, Spotify has radio stations that create personalized mixes based on songs or artists you like. And to go even further, Spotify’s AI DJ picks out music for you and talks after every few songs.
SiriusXM is integrated into most new cars, which gives it a huge potential subscription base. And while the stations are more varied than standard FM radio, they still have the radio issue of playing the same songs if you listen to them regularly.
$10/month for SiriusXM isn’t outrageous, but music streaming is a better value and provides a superior experience.
2
Telegram Premium
Similar to Discord, Telegram’s subscription is another where the core app includes everything you need, but limits several convenience features to a subscription. And while I can understand wanting to support the development of Telegram, its subscription value is too low.
At $4/month or $29 a year, it’s one of the cheapest subscriptions on this list. You get a variety of perks, including voice message transcription, faster download speeds, larger file uploads, and premium stickers.
While I would appreciate a few of these—particularly the chat management features that let you set VIP as the default tab instead of All chats—they aren’t worth the cost. I rarely use stickers or the other visual flairs of Telegram, and the functional upgrades are few.
1
Any AI subscription
This one is more personal, as I dislike almost all AI. While I occasionally use Perplexity for a quick question or article ideas, I don’t make it a habit to talk to AI chatbots or use features like image generation.
Through Xfinity Rewards, I got a free subscription to Perplexity Pro last year, and I’ve hardly noticed a difference between it and free tools. Most AI tools include a few free uses of their advanced tools each day, which is enough unless you use AI all day.
I’m not convinced of the general usefulness of AI, at least for what I do, so I can’t imagine spending money to use it more. I recognize that many people get value out of these advanced tools, but I’m not one of them.
When everything is a subscription, you have to be picky about the ones you spend money on. Plenty of them are worth the cost; keep more money in your wallet by skipping the above ones and only paying for those that provide true value.
