How to cancel a dating app subscription

How to cancel a dating app subscription bought through Apple

Apple cancels any subscription bought with an Apple ID, and the apps say so in their own terms. Tinder's terms read: "if you subscribed using your Apple ID, cancellation is handled by Apple, not Tinder." SCRUFF's operator, Perry Street Software, says it cannot cancel or refund an iOS subscription for you.

Plenty of Fish, eharmony and SCRUFF give the iPhone route as Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions. Match gives a different one: the App Store, the profile icon, Subscriptions, then Cancel Subscription. The deadline matters more than the route. DOWN, SCRUFF, Pure and eharmony say auto-renew has to be off at least 24 hours before the period ends, and DOWN and SCRUFF add that the current period itself cannot be cancelled.

Google Play and other app stores

Google handles subscriptions bought in Google Play. Tinder's terms send you to the Google Play app settings. Plenty of Fish names Payments and subscriptions in the Play app, then cancel subscription, and eharmony names the Google account, My subscriptions, Manage, Cancel Subscription. Pure also lists AppGallery as a store route.

SCRUFF's Android timing differs from the iPhone. Its help centre says subscriptions renew unless cancelled at least 48 hours before the period ends, and its terms name Stripe as the Android payment processor.

Card, PayPal and website subscriptions

When the app takes the payment itself, the app cancels it. Tinder's terms say to log in to the website or app and open the Account section. Badoo puts card and PayPal cancellations in the app under Plans, or on its website under Settings, Payment settings. AdultFriendFinder describes website billing only. Feeld asks for two steps on a direct purchase: an email to Feeld support and a cancellation in the app settings.

What cancelling does and does not do

Cancelling stops the next renewal and leaves the current period running. Tinder's terms say you keep your subscription benefits until the end of the subscription period, and Bumble, Hinge, HER, Badoo and eharmony describe the same thing for their plans. Coffee Meets Bagel, Feeld and Grindr say a cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period. Bumble and Grindr add that a partly used period is not refunded.

Cancelling also leaves the profile alone. Tinder's terms say cancelling a subscription "does not remove your profile from our Services", Plenty of Fish says the same, and SCRUFF's terms say cancelling or deleting the app may not close the account, so the profile may stay visible to others. The usual trap runs the other way: deleting the account or the app does not cancel a store subscription. Grindr, HER, HUD, OkCupid and Tinder say so, and Badoo tells members to cancel any subscription before deleting. The guide to deleting a dating app account covers the account side.

HUD's 7-day free trial converts to a paid plan unless cancelled at least 24 hours before it ends. Match has no subscription pauses, and an add-on such as Private Mode is deactivated separately and then does not renew. eharmony's US terms say installment plans stay payable in full after cancellation.

Refunds by billing channel

For App Store purchases the refund comes from Apple. Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Match, OkCupid and Plenty of Fish say Apple handles refunds on an Apple ID subscription. eharmony says it cannot process refunds for purchases made through Apple, and Coffee Meets Bagel says Apple purchases are refunded at Apple's discretion. Ashley Madison says the store decides on refunds for purchases through the Apple or Google apps.

The pages say less about Google Play. DOWN, eharmony, Badoo and happn send refund requests to the store. Grindr is the exception: it says Google Play and direct purchases go through Grindr customer support. How Google's own refund process works is not in any of these pages.

Direct purchases follow the app's own terms, and most call purchases final. Tinder says other buyers can ask Tinder Customer Service for a refund. Badoo says a direct in-app subscription can be refunded if the account is locked after failed photo verification. AdultFriendFinder gives no refund for unused days.

The exceptions come from law. Coffee Meets Bagel, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish and HER give subscribers in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland a full refund in the first 14 days. Bumble's window outside the US is 6 days for a weekly plan and 14 days for a monthly or longer one, minus the part used, and renewals are not refunded. Feeld's UK terms give a 14-day right to change your mind, with used subscription time not refunded. In the US, AdultFriendFinder, eharmony and HER name the same twelve states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Wisconsin) where a subscriber can cancel before midnight of the third business day.

Cancel routes by app

• AdultFriendFinder bills through its website, so a AdultFriendFinder subscription is stopped by turning auto-renewal off on the Billing History and Credit Card Info page.
• Ashley Madison's terms let a member end the Ashley Madison membership in the account on the site or app, or by written or email notice. The pages checked do not give per-store steps for stopping auto-renewal.
• Badoo plans are cancelled where they were bought: Apple Subscriptions, Google Play Subscriptions, or the app and website routes above.
• Direct Bumble subscriptions are cancelled in the payment settings under the profile, store ones in the store account.
• A Coffee Meets Bagel subscription is cancelled through the store or payment provider that billed it, Apple App Store or Google Play.
• DOWN plans are bought through the App Store or Google Play and renew until auto-renew is switched off in the store account settings.
• Web purchases of an eharmony subscription are cancelled under Data & Settings, Manage profile, Amend Subscription, then the cancellation link. Apple and Google purchases use the store routes above.
• A Feeld subscription bought through the App Store or Play Store is cancelled in that store's Subscriptions screen and ends with the current period.
• Grindr plans are cancelled at the place of purchase: the Apple account, the Google Play account or the Grindr account.
• happn subscriptions are cancelled in the store that billed them, or inside the web app or Android app for card payments. They renew automatically.
• A HER premium subscription bought in the App Store or Google Play is cancelled in that store account, even after the app or the HER account is deleted. One bought in the app or on the website is cancelled in the app under Settings, Manage Premium Subscription.
• Store-bought Hinge subscriptions are cancelled in the store account. Direct ones are cancelled in Account Settings in the app or on the website.
• HUD subscriptions are bought through the App Store or Google Play and cancelled there by turning off auto-renew. California residents who cancel within 3 business days after the trial ends, and UK and EU residents within 7 days after it ends, may be refunded.
• For a Match subscription, turn off auto-renewal. Other billing is handled from Manage Subscription on desktop.
• OkCupid subscriptions are cancelled through the billing store: Apple ID subscriptions in the iPhone Subscriptions settings, Google Play ones in the Play app.
• A Plenty of Fish membership is cancelled in the App Store (cancel POF), in Google Play (cancel subscription) or on the website under Manage Account, Membership, Account Type, cancel membership.
• In the app, a Pure subscription is cancelled under Settings, Purchases, Manage subscription, Cancel subscription. Web subscriptions are cancelled under Settings, Subscription, at least 24 hours before renewal.
• An iPhone SCRUFF subscription is cancelled under Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions. The terms bar cancelling the current period.
• A Tinder subscription bought with an Apple ID is cancelled through Apple, one bought on Google Play in the Google Play app settings, and one paid by card on the website or in the app from the Account section after logging in.

Price rows for each app are on the dating app prices explained pages, and the other how-tos are in dating app guides.