A subscription price is usually shown per month, which makes it look small. This calculator turns that price into a yearly total, a daily cost and a cost for each time you actually use the service. It can also compare your plan with an alternative, such as a yearly plan instead of a monthly one.
How the calculation works
1. Annualize the plan. The price is multiplied by the number of billing periods in a year: 12 for monthly, 52 for weekly, 365 for daily and 1 for yearly. Any start fee and cancellation fee are added once.
2. Spread it over time. Per day = annual cost ÷ 365. Per month = annual cost ÷ 12.
3. Spread it over use. You enter how often you actually use the service, per month or per week. Annual uses = uses × 12 (per month) or uses × 52 (per week).
4. Estimate unused-day cost. The calculator treats each reported use as one used day, up to 365. The remaining days of the year are unused, and the unused-day cost is the daily cost × unused days. If you use a service several times on the same day, this estimate becomes less meaningful.
5. Compare plans (optional). Enter an alternative plan price and its billing (yearly or monthly). The calculator annualizes it and tells you which plan saves money per year, and by how much. Start and cancellation fees are only added to your current plan. When your current plan is monthly and the alternative is yearly, it also shows the annual-plan price threshold: the yearly price divided by your monthly price. That is how many monthly payments the yearly plan equals.
Worked examples
Example 1 – a monthly streaming plan with a yearly option. Price 15 per month, 12 uses per month, alternative plan 144 per year, no fees.
Annual cost = 15 × 12 = 180. Per day = 180 ÷ 365 ≈ 0.49. Per month = 15.
Annual uses = 12 × 12 = 144. Cost per use = 180 ÷ 144 = 1.25.
Unused days = 365 − 144 = 221. Unused-day cost ≈ 0.4932 × 221 ≈ 108.99.
The yearly plan costs 144, so the alternative saves 36 per year. Threshold = 144 ÷ 15 = 9.6 monthly payments. If you would keep the monthly plan for fewer than about 9.6 months, the monthly plan would cost less in total.
Example 2 – a gym with a joining fee. Price 40 per month, start fee 50, 2 uses per week.
Annual cost = 40 × 12 + 50 = 530. Per day ≈ 1.45. Per month ≈ 44.17.
Annual uses = 2 × 52 = 104. Cost per use = 530 ÷ 104 ≈ 5.10.
Unused days = 365 − 104 = 261. Unused-day cost ≈ 1.4521 × 261 ≈ 378.99.
The start fee is counted in full within the first year, which is why the monthly figure is higher than the listed price.
Example 3 – a yearly app plan compared with monthly billing. Price 99 per year, 3 uses per month, alternative plan 10 per month.
Annual cost = 99. Per day ≈ 0.27. Per month = 8.25.
Annual uses = 3 × 12 = 36. Cost per use = 99 ÷ 36 = 2.75.
The alternative costs 10 × 12 = 120 a year, so the current plan saves 21 per year. The threshold line shows "Not applicable for these billing periods", because it only applies when the current plan is monthly and the alternative is yearly.
An observation
Cost per use is the figure that changes most when habits change, while the listed price stays the same. A plan used a few times a month and a plan used every day can have the same price but very different costs per use. Looking at your actual use, rather than the use you planned when you signed up, is what gives this number its meaning. The calculator does not judge whether a plan is worth keeping. It shows the figures, and the decision stays with you.