Rocket Money (Formerly Truebill)

UPDATE 8/12/22: Truebill is being rebranded Rocket Money to match the branding of its new parent company, Rocket Companies. Our original ad alert follows.

In the age of negative-option offers, who wouldn’t love to cancel those forgotten subscriptions?

Enter Truebill, a money-management app that offers, among other services, assistance with canceling subscriptions. In its ads, Truebill tells consumers to “stop guessing how many subscriptions [they] have” and to “use Truebill and find out [their] true bill.”

If the Reddit ad above has you scrambling to your bank statement to see if you are somehow paying over $2,100 a month in subscriptions, don’t worry: Truebill’s example includes $1,800 for “insurance,” “rent” and “car.”

The app still may appeal to consumers drowning in subscriptions but there’s a catch: Truebill itself is a subscription service that may be difficult to cancel.

Though Truebill offers a free version that will tell you how to cancel various subscriptions, the premium version (which costs between $3 and $12 a month) is required for Truebill to identify and cancel subscriptions on your behalf or to access its bill negotiation services.

Other important details about the app:

• The cheapest $3 and $4 subscription options charge annually, not monthly, meaning you will be billed $36-48 even if you cancel your Truebill subscription after a short period.
• The fee for Truebill’s bill negotiation services (an optional feature that attempts to lower the price of a user’s existing subscriptions) can be hefty, ranging anywhere from 30-60% of your total annual savings. So, as the company explains in its terms of service, a $10/month “savings” could cost you anywhere from $36 to $72 upfront (Truebill says they will pro-rate a fee refund if you then cancel the offending subscription).
• If you’re trying to cancel your Truebill subscription, the “How to Cancel” link on the homepage will not help you – that just links to a list of step-by-step explainers for how to cancel “any subscription.” Notably missing from that list: Truebill.
• Truebill is owned by Rocket Companies, most known for Rocket Mortgage & Quicken Loans. According to the Rocket Companies’ privacy policy, that means all of the data you give the app – which may include your email address, home address, credit report and even your social security number – can be shared with any of the other Rocket companies and may be used to target you with third-party ads and services.
• Canceling your Truebill Premium membership does not delete your account — that’s a separate process.

When TINA.org reached out for comment, a spokesperson for Truebill stated that:

Premium users who choose to cancel their subscription can easily do so inside the app. We also provide detailed instructions for canceling the service in multiple locations on our website, including www.truebill.com/cancel/truebill.

Premium users can also fully delete their accounts off the Truebill system, which will end any paid subscription.

We all are looking for ways to save a few bucks and Truebill may fit your budgeting needs. Just make sure to always read the terms of service – otherwise, you won’t know what your savings will cost you.