What is Pause Subscription?
Definition
The option to temporarily suspend a subscription and stop billing without fully canceling the account.
Understanding Pause Subscription
Subscription pausing is an alternative to cancellation that benefits both parties. For subscribers, it preserves account data, settings, and history while stopping charges during periods of non-use (vacations, seasonal needs, budget constraints). For businesses, paused subscribers are much more likely to resume than canceled ones.
Services like YouTube Premium, Peloton, and many SaaS tools offer pause options, typically for 1-3 months. Before canceling a subscription, check if pausing is available — it provides flexibility without the hassle of re-creating your account later.
Related Terms
Cancellation
The act of ending a subscription, which stops future billing and eventually terminates access to the service.
Subscription Savings
The money saved by optimizing subscriptions through cancelling unused services, downgrading plans, switching to annual billing, or using bundles.
Downgrade
Switching from a higher-priced subscription plan to a lower-priced one, typically with fewer features or reduced limits.
Retention Rate
The percentage of subscribers who continue their subscription over a given period, calculated as the inverse of churn rate.