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Founder notes · Operator note

The Software Subscriptions I Would Cancel First

How I audit software spend, and which categories usually go first.

By Chris G Jones · · 3 min read

The quarterly audit

Every quarter I list every subscription, who uses it, and what breaks if it disappears. Anything nobody can answer for gets cancelled.

Most businesses find between 10% and 30% of spend is dead.

Usual candidates

These go first, in this order.

  • Second tools doing a job an existing tool already does
  • Analytics dashboards nobody opens
  • Social scheduling tools when posting stopped months ago
  • Premium tiers bought for one feature used twice
  • AI subscriptions duplicating each other

What I never cancel

Accounting, CRM and anything that captures customer proof. Those protect revenue rather than assist it.