Published February 24, 2026 · 18 min read

Cancel These 20 Subscriptions and Save $3,000+ Per Year (Free Alternatives Inside)

The average American spends $219 per month on subscriptions — and most people underestimate their spending by 2-3x. That is over $2,600 per year on software, streaming, and services, with a significant chunk going to tools that have completely free alternatives that work just as well.

We went through the 20 most common paid subscriptions among professionals, freelancers, and small business owners and found a free replacement for every single one. Many of these free alternatives are tools we built right here on spunk.codes. Others are established free or open-source tools that most people simply do not know about.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: you are probably paying for at least 5-8 of these subscriptions right now. Cancel them today, switch to the free alternatives below, and save $3,000+ per year.

Design Tools ($2,400/yr saved)
SEO & Marketing Tools ($2,988/yr saved)
Writing & Content Tools ($588/yr saved)
Developer Tools ($1,188/yr saved)
Business & Productivity ($1,548/yr saved)
Total Savings Breakdown
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Design Tools — Save $2,400/Year

1. Cancel Adobe Creative Cloud $659.88/yr

What you pay: $54.99/month ($659.88/year) for the full Creative Cloud suite. Even individual apps like Photoshop cost $22.99/month ($275.88/year).

Free alternatives:

Photopea (browser-based Photoshop clone) — opens PSD files, has layers, filters, and most Photoshop features. Completely free.
GIMP — open-source image editor with professional-grade capabilities.
Figma (free tier) — replaces Illustrator and XD for UI/UX design.
DaVinci Resolve (free) — replaces Premiere Pro for video editing. Hollywood-grade color correction included.
SpunkArt Image Editor — quick edits, resizing, filters, and format conversion right in your browser.
SpunkArt Color Palette Generator — replaces Adobe Color.

Annual savings: $659.88

Try Free Image Editor

2. Cancel Canva Pro $149.99/yr

What you pay: $14.99/month or $149.99/year for Canva Pro. The free tier is limited with watermarks on premium content.

Free alternatives:

Canva Free (still excellent for 90% of tasks)
SpunkArt Social Post Generator — create social media graphics instantly.
SpunkArt Logo Maker — professional logos in seconds.
SpunkArt Thumbnail Generator — YouTube thumbnails, blog headers, social images.
Penpot — open-source design platform with Canva-like templates.

Annual savings: $149.99

Try Social Post Generator

3. Cancel Figma (Paid) $144/yr

What you pay: $12/editor/month ($144/year) for Figma Professional.

Free alternatives:

Figma Free (3 projects, unlimited personal files) — sufficient for freelancers and small teams.
Penpot — fully open-source design tool with no file limits.
SpunkArt Wireframe Builder — rapid wireframing and prototyping.

Annual savings: $144

Try Wireframe Builder

4. Cancel Loom Pro $150/yr

What you pay: $12.50/month ($150/year) for Loom Business.

Free alternatives:

Loom Free (25 videos, 5 min limit) — enough for quick demos.
OBS Studio — free, open-source screen recording with no limits.
ShareX (Windows) — screen capture, GIF recording, instant sharing.
SpunkArt Screen Recorder — browser-based, no install, no time limits.

Annual savings: $150

Try Screen Recorder

5. Cancel Stock Photo Subscription $348/yr

What you pay: $29/month ($348/year) for Shutterstock, iStock, or Adobe Stock.

Free alternatives:

Unsplash — 3M+ free high-resolution photos.
Pexels — free stock photos and videos.
Pixabay — free images, vectors, videos, music.
SpunkArt AI Image Generator — generate unique images from text descriptions.

Annual savings: $348

Try AI Image Generator

Design Tools Savings: $1,451.87/Year

By switching to free alternatives for design tools alone, you save nearly $1,500 per year. And the quality difference? For 90% of professional work, you will not notice one.

SEO & Marketing Tools — Save $2,988/Year

6. Cancel Ahrefs $1,188/yr

What you pay: $99/month ($1,188/year) for the Lite plan. Standard is $199/month.

Free alternatives:

Ahrefs Free Webmaster Tools — limited but includes site audit and backlink data for your own sites.
Google Search Console — direct ranking data from Google itself.
Ubersuggest (free tier) — keyword research with 3 daily searches.
SpunkArt Keyword Research Tool — find low-competition keywords instantly.
SpunkArt SEO Analyzer — full site audit with actionable fixes.
SpunkArt Backlink Checker — analyze your backlink profile.

Annual savings: $1,188

Try Keyword Research Tool

7. Cancel SEMrush $1,560/yr

What you pay: $129.95/month ($1,559.40/year) for the Pro plan.

Free alternatives:

Google Search Console + Google Analytics — the primary data sources SEMrush pulls from anyway.
AnswerThePublic (free tier) — question-based keyword research.
Google Trends — trend analysis and seasonal keyword data.
SpunkArt SEO Analyzer — site audits, keyword tracking, competitor analysis.
SpunkArt Meta Tag Generator — optimize title tags and descriptions.
SpunkArt Content Planner — plan SEO-driven content calendars.

Annual savings: $1,560

Try SEO Analyzer

8. Cancel Mailchimp Paid $240/yr

What you pay: $20/month ($240/year) for the Essentials plan.

Free alternatives:

Mailchimp Free (500 contacts, 1,000 sends/month) — sufficient for small lists.
Brevo (Sendinblue) Free — 300 emails/day, unlimited contacts.
MailerLite Free — 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails/month.
SpunkArt Email Sequence Builder — plan your sequences before sending.

Annual savings: $240

Try Email Sequence Builder

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Writing & Content Tools — Save $588/Year

9. Cancel Grammarly Premium $144/yr

What you pay: $12/month ($144/year) for Grammarly Premium.

Free alternatives:

Grammarly Free — catches 90% of errors. The free version is excellent.
LanguageTool (free tier) — open-source grammar checker with browser extension.
Hemingway Editor — free readability analysis.
SpunkArt Grammar Checker — instant grammar, style, and clarity analysis.
SpunkArt Readability Scorer — check reading level and complexity.

Annual savings: $144

Try Grammar Checker

10. Cancel Jasper AI $468/yr

What you pay: $39/month ($468/year) for the Creator plan.

Free alternatives:

ChatGPT Free — free tier with GPT-4o handles most content generation.
Claude.ai Free — free tier with excellent writing capabilities.
SpunkArt AI Writer — blog posts, product descriptions, ad copy, and more.
SpunkArt Headline Generator — viral headlines on demand.
SpunkArt Blog Post Generator — full blog post outlines and drafts.

Annual savings: $468

Try AI Writer

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Developer Tools — Save $1,188/Year

11. Cancel GitHub Copilot $120/yr

What you pay: $10/month ($120/year) for individual. $19/month for Business.

Free alternatives:

Codeium — free AI code completion for 70+ languages in any IDE.
GitHub Copilot Free — 2,000 completions/month included in free GitHub.
Supermaven — fast, free AI code completion.
SpunkArt Code Generator — generate code snippets, functions, and boilerplate.

Annual savings: $120

Try Code Generator

12. Cancel Postman Paid $168/yr

What you pay: $14/user/month ($168/year) for the Basic plan.

Free alternatives:

Postman Free (limited but functional).
Hoppscotch — open-source API testing, fully featured.
Bruno — offline-first, open-source API client.
SpunkArt API Tester — test REST APIs directly in your browser.
SpunkArt JSON Formatter — format, validate, and convert JSON.

Annual savings: $168

Try API Tester

13. Cancel Vercel Pro $240/yr

What you pay: $20/month ($240/year) for Vercel Pro.

Free alternatives:

Vercel Free (Hobby tier) — generous for personal projects and small sites.
Cloudflare Pages — free hosting, unlimited bandwidth, 500 builds/month.
Netlify Free — 100GB bandwidth, 300 build minutes/month.
GitHub Pages — free static hosting directly from your repo.

Annual savings: $240

14. Cancel 1Password / LastPass $60/yr

What you pay: $36-$60/year for premium password managers.

Free alternatives:

Bitwarden Free — open-source, unlimited passwords, all platforms.
KeePassXC — local-only, open-source, maximum security.
SpunkArt Password Generator — generate secure passwords instantly.

Annual savings: $60

Try Password Generator

15. Cancel Notion Paid $120/yr

What you pay: $10/month ($120/year) for Notion Plus.

Free alternatives:

Notion Free — unlimited pages, blocks, and basic features for individuals.
Obsidian — free local-first note-taking with powerful linking.
Logseq — free, open-source knowledge management.
SpunkArt Notes — quick browser-based note-taking.

Annual savings: $120

16. Cancel Zapier Paid $240/yr

What you pay: $19.99/month ($239.88/year) for the Starter plan.

Free alternatives:

n8n (self-hosted) — unlimited workflows and tasks, completely free.
Zapier Free (100 tasks/month) — enough for basic automations.
Make.com Free (1,000 ops/month) — visual automation builder.
SpunkArt Automation Builder — plan and visualize automations.
SpunkArt Zapier Alternative Finder — find the best free automation tool for your use case.

Annual savings: $240

Try Automation Builder

Business & Productivity — Save $1,548/Year

17. Cancel Monday.com / Asana Paid $348/yr

What you pay: $9-$29/seat/month for paid project management.

Free alternatives:

Trello Free — unlimited personal boards, 10 team boards.
ClickUp Free — 100MB storage, unlimited tasks and members.
Asana Free — up to 10 team members, basic features.
SpunkArt Project Planner — visual project planning and tracking.
SpunkArt Kanban Board — drag-and-drop task management.

Annual savings: $348

Try Project Planner

18. Cancel Calendly Pro $120/yr

What you pay: $10/month ($120/year) for Calendly Standard.

Free alternatives:

Calendly Free (1 event type) — sufficient for most solo professionals.
Cal.com — open-source scheduling, free self-hosted, generous free tier.
TidyCal — one-time $29 payment for lifetime access (not a subscription).
SpunkArt Meeting Scheduler — shareable scheduling links.

Annual savings: $120

19. Cancel Zoom Pro $180/yr

What you pay: $14.99/month ($179.88/year) for Zoom Pro.

Free alternatives:

Zoom Free (40 min group meetings, unlimited 1-on-1).
Google Meet — free, 60-minute meetings, integrated with Google Calendar.
Jitsi Meet — free, open-source, no account required, no time limits.
Discord — free voice/video calls, screen sharing, unlimited time.

Annual savings: $180

20. Cancel QuickBooks / FreshBooks $360/yr

What you pay: $30/month ($360/year) for QuickBooks Simple Start or FreshBooks Lite.

Free alternatives:

Wave Accounting — completely free invoicing, accounting, and receipt scanning.
GnuCash — free, open-source, full double-entry accounting.
ZipBooks Free — basic accounting and invoicing.
SpunkArt Invoice Generator — create professional invoices instantly.
SpunkArt Budget Calculator — track income and expenses.
SpunkArt Profit Margin Calculator — calculate margins on every product and service.

Annual savings: $360

Try Invoice Generator

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Total Savings Breakdown

Subscription	Annual Cost	Free Alternative
Adobe Creative Cloud	$659.88	Photopea, GIMP, DaVinci Resolve, SpunkArt
Canva Pro	$149.99	Canva Free, SpunkArt generators
Figma Paid	$144.00	Figma Free, Penpot
Loom Pro	$150.00	OBS Studio, SpunkArt Screen Recorder
Stock Photos	$348.00	Unsplash, Pexels, SpunkArt AI Image
Ahrefs	$1,188.00	Google Search Console, SpunkArt SEO tools
SEMrush	$1,559.40	GSC, Google Trends, SpunkArt SEO Analyzer
Mailchimp Paid	$240.00	Brevo Free, MailerLite Free
Grammarly Premium	$144.00	Grammarly Free, LanguageTool
Jasper AI	$468.00	ChatGPT Free, SpunkArt AI Writer
GitHub Copilot	$120.00	Codeium, Copilot Free tier
Postman Paid	$168.00	Hoppscotch, Bruno, SpunkArt API Tester
Vercel Pro	$240.00	Cloudflare Pages, Netlify Free
1Password	$60.00	Bitwarden Free
Notion Paid	$120.00	Notion Free, Obsidian
Zapier Paid	$239.88	n8n, Make.com Free, SpunkArt
Monday.com	$348.00	Trello Free, ClickUp Free
Calendly Pro	$120.00	Cal.com, Calendly Free
Zoom Pro	$179.88	Google Meet, Jitsi Meet
QuickBooks	$360.00	Wave, GnuCash, SpunkArt Invoice

Total Annual Savings: $6,657.03

That is $554.75 per month back in your pocket. Even canceling just half of these saves you over $3,000 per year.

Important: Audit Your Credit Card Statements

Studies show that 42% of people are paying for subscriptions they have forgotten about. Go through your last 3 months of credit card statements right now. Highlight every recurring charge. You will find at least one subscription you forgot you had. Use our Subscription Tracker to catalog everything in one place.

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Cancel These 20 Subscriptions and Save $3,000+ Per Year (Free Alternatives Inside)

Table of Contents

Get This List as a Printable PDF

Design Tools — Save $2,400/Year

1. Cancel Adobe Creative Cloud $659.88/yr

2. Cancel Canva Pro $149.99/yr

3. Cancel Figma (Paid) $144/yr

4. Cancel Loom Pro $150/yr

5. Cancel Stock Photo Subscription $348/yr

Design Tools Savings: $1,451.87/Year

SEO & Marketing Tools — Save $2,988/Year

6. Cancel Ahrefs $1,188/yr

7. Cancel SEMrush $1,560/yr

8. Cancel Mailchimp Paid $240/yr

Use Our Free Subscription Tracker

Writing & Content Tools — Save $588/Year

9. Cancel Grammarly Premium $144/yr

10. Cancel Jasper AI $468/yr

Subscribe for Weekly Free Tool Alerts

Developer Tools — Save $1,188/Year

11. Cancel GitHub Copilot $120/yr

12. Cancel Postman Paid $168/yr

13. Cancel Vercel Pro $240/yr

14. Cancel 1Password / LastPass $60/yr

15. Cancel Notion Paid $120/yr

16. Cancel Zapier Paid $240/yr

Business & Productivity — Save $1,548/Year

17. Cancel Monday.com / Asana Paid $348/yr

18. Cancel Calendly Pro $120/yr

19. Cancel Zoom Pro $180/yr

20. Cancel QuickBooks / FreshBooks $360/yr

Get the Complete Free Tools Directory

Total Savings Breakdown

Total Annual Savings: $6,657.03

Important: Audit Your Credit Card Statements

Free Subscription Tracker

Start Saving Today

Weekly Free Tools Newsletter

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