Subscription Cost Calculator
Turn any recurring subscription into a daily, weekly, monthly, annual and lifetime cost — and see what optional price increases compound to over time.
Total cost over 5 years
£599.40
- Daily equivalent (year 1)
- £0.33
- Weekly equivalent (year 1)
- £2.30
- Monthly equivalent (year 1)
- £9.99
- Annual equivalent (year 1)
- £119.88
- Annual cost in year 5
- £119.88
- Cumulative cost over 5 years
- £599.40
Daily, weekly, monthly and annual figures are exact conversions of the billing rate. Cumulative cost is a geometric-series sum: year-1 annual cost grows by the price-increase rate each year (collapses to a flat multiplication when the increase is 0%).
How to use this calculator
Enter the amount you pay per billing cycle, then pick the frequency that matches your bill — weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. Choose how many years you want to project (1 to 50). If your subscription has a typical annual price hike, set the increase rate; leave it at 0% for a flat-price projection. The calculator returns the daily, weekly, monthly and annual equivalents so you can compare like-for-like against other bills, plus the cumulative cost over your chosen horizon and the bill you can expect in the final year.
How the calculation works
Step one is a frequency conversion. The billing amount is converted to a year-1 annual cost using calendar-average ratios: 12 months per year, 4 quarters per year, and 365.25 / 7 ≈ 52.1775 weeks per year. The daily figure uses 365.25 days per year to absorb leap years. Step two is a cumulative sum. If the annual price increase is zero, the multi-year total is just the year-1 annual cost multiplied by the number of years. If there is an increase, the total is the closed-form sum of a geometric series: total = annual_year1 × ((1 + g)^N − 1) / g, where g is the annual growth rate and N is the number of years. The final-year cost is annual_year1 × (1 + g)^(N − 1).
Worked example
You pay $14.99 per month for a streaming service. Set frequency to monthly, horizon to 5 years, and annual increase to 5%. Year-1 annual cost = $14.99 × 12 = $179.88. Daily equivalent = $179.88 / 365.25 ≈ $0.49. Cumulative cost over 5 years with 5% annual hikes = $179.88 × ((1.05^5 − 1) / 0.05) = $179.88 × 5.5256 = $993.95. Year-5 annual cost = $179.88 × 1.05^4 = $218.65. So a "small" $14.99 monthly bill that creeps up 5% a year costs you nearly $1,000 over five years and is heading toward $18 a month by year five.
Frequently asked questions
Why use 365.25 days per year instead of 365?
Because every four years includes a leap day. Using 365 days would slightly overstate the daily equivalent of an annual cost; using 365.25 averages the leap year in. The difference is tiny — about $0.003 a day on a $1,000-a-year subscription — but it keeps the daily, weekly, monthly and annual figures internally consistent so that multiplying any of them back up gives the same annual total.
How is the multi-year cost calculated when the price goes up?
It is the standard sum of a growing geometric series. If your year-1 annual cost is A and it rises by g each year, the cost in year k is A × (1 + g)^(k−1). Adding up the costs for years 1 through N gives the closed-form expression A × ((1 + g)^N − 1) / g. When the growth rate is 0, that expression collapses to a flat A × N, which is why the calculator returns the same number either way for a 0% increase.
What price-increase rate should I use?
It depends on the service. Streaming and SaaS subscriptions have raised prices roughly 5–10% a year over the last decade — Netflix compounded at about 5%, Disney+ closer to 15% since launch. Utilities, insurance and gym memberships are usually closer to general inflation of 2–4% a year. If you genuinely do not know, run the calc twice: once at 0% for the floor and once at 5% for a realistic hike scenario. The gap between the two numbers is the cost of being wrong about price increases.
Does this work for quarterly or annual subscriptions, not just monthly?
Yes. Pick the frequency that matches how the company actually bills you. If you pay $99 once a year for a cloud-storage upgrade, pick "Per year" and enter 99. If you pay £30 a quarter for a magazine, pick "Per quarter" and enter 30. The calculator converts to a common annual base before projecting, so the breakdown numbers are always comparable across different billing frequencies.
How do I compare two subscriptions billed on different schedules?
Use the "Annual equivalent (year 1)" figure. That is the apples-to-apples number. A $14.99/month service is $179.88/year. A $159/year service is $159/year. A $39.99/quarter service is $159.96/year. Even though all three look different on the bill, the annual equivalent shows they are within a few dollars of each other. The daily and weekly equivalents are useful for relative size — "this costs the same as a coffee every other day" — but the annual figure is the right one for direct comparisons.
Why does the calculator not account for inflation on the cost side?
It does, indirectly. The "Annual price increase" input is meant to capture the rate at which the company raises its prices, which historically tracks or exceeds general inflation. If you want to think in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, set the increase rate to the price-hike rate minus your assumed inflation rate. For example, if you expect 5% price hikes and 3% inflation, enter 2% to see the cost in today's money. The math is identical; only the interpretation changes.