How to Cancel Medium Membership in 2026 - Keep Your Stories
Cancel Medium membership on web, iPhone, or Android. Your published stories stay live. Refund policy, free reading options, and writing platform alternatives.
To cancel your Medium membership, go to Medium.com, click your profile picture in the top right, select Settings, click Membership and payment, and then click Cancel your membership. Medium will ask you to confirm and may show a brief reason survey. The process takes under a minute with no aggressive retention screens. At $5/month or $50/year, Medium gives you unlimited access to paywalled stories from thousands of writers. The annual plan saves $10 compared to paying monthly. If you are a writer on Medium, cancelling your membership does not affect your published stories, followers, or earnings from the Partner Program. Your stories remain live and accessible to paying Medium members even after you cancel your own membership. The main question is whether you read enough paywalled content to justify the cost. Medium shows 3 free member-only stories per month to non-paying users, so if you only read occasionally, the free tier might be enough.
What you'll learn
- How to cancel Medium membership on web, iPhone, and Android
- What happens to your published stories and follower count
- Medium refund policy and billing details
- Free reading options after cancelling membership
- Writing platform alternatives to Medium
If you are a writer on the Medium Partner Program, cancelling your membership does not remove you from the program. You can still earn money from your paywalled stories. You just lose the ability to read other people's paywalled content for free.
Medium Plans and Pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price | Savings |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $5/mo | - |
| Annual | $50/yr ($4.17/mo) | Save $10/yr |
Medium pricing is the same globally - there are no regional pricing tiers for India or other countries. The membership includes unlimited access to all member-only stories, audio versions of articles, and the ability to highlight and respond to member-only content. Medium also offers a Friend Link feature that lets any member share a paywalled story for free with non-members, which is useful if you only want to read specific articles shared by friends.
How to Cancel Medium Membership on Web
- 1Go to medium.com and sign in
- 2Click your profile picture in the top right corner
- 3Select Settings from the dropdown
- 4Click Membership and payment in the left sidebar
- 5Click Cancel your membership
- 6Confirm the cancellation when prompted
How to Cancel Medium Membership on iPhone (iOS)
If you subscribed through Apple's App Store, cancel through your iPhone settings:
- 1Open Settings on your iPhone
- 2Tap your Apple ID name at the top
- 3Tap Subscriptions (or iTunes & App Store - View Apple ID - Subscriptions on older iOS)
- 4Find Medium and tap it
- 5Tap Cancel Subscription and confirm
How to Cancel Medium Membership on Android
If you subscribed through Google Play, cancel through your Google account:
- 1Open Google Play Store on your Android device
- 2Tap your profile icon and go to Payments & subscriptions
- 3Tap Subscriptions
- 4Find Medium and tap it
- 5Tap Cancel subscription and confirm
Not sure how you subscribed? Check your email for the original Medium membership confirmation. If it mentions Apple or Google billing, cancel through those platforms. You can also check your bank statement to see who is charging you.
What Happens After You Cancel Medium Membership?
Your membership benefits stay active until the end of your current billing period. After that, you revert to a free account with access to 3 member-only stories per month. All your published stories remain live on Medium and continue to appear in search results and recommendations. Your followers, claps, highlights, and responses are all preserved. If you are in the Partner Program, you keep earning money from your existing paywalled stories based on member reading time. Your profile, bio, and publication memberships stay intact. The only thing that changes is your ability to read unlimited paywalled content from other writers. You can still read, write, and publish free stories without any limitations.
Medium Refund Policy
Medium does not offer refunds for the current billing period. Your access continues until the end of the period you already paid for. For annual plans, this means you might have several months of remaining access after cancelling. If you were charged by mistake or experienced a billing error, contact Medium support through the Help section on their website. Apple subscribers can request refunds at reportaproblem.apple.com, and Google Play subscribers can request refunds through the Play Store within 48 hours.
Medium in India - Key Notes
Medium charges $5/month globally with no India-specific pricing. At current exchange rates, that is roughly Rs 420/month or Rs 4,200/year for the annual plan. Your card is charged in USD, and your bank may add a foreign currency conversion fee of 1-3.5%. Indian writers on Medium can earn through the Partner Program, but payouts are through Stripe which requires a US bank account or Stripe Atlas setup. Some Indian writers use Payoneer or similar services to receive Stripe payouts. Medium has a growing Indian writer community covering tech, startups, personal finance, and career advice.
Alternatives to Medium
For reading, Substack hosts thousands of free newsletters and paid publications covering every topic Medium does. Many popular Medium writers have moved to Substack for better monetization. Hashnode and Dev.to are free alternatives specifically for tech writing. For general blogging, WordPress.com offers a free tier with custom domains on paid plans. Ghost is an open-source alternative that many independent publications use. For reading long-form journalism, apps like Pocket and Instapaper let you save articles from any source for offline reading. Use RecurStop to track Medium and any other content subscriptions so you get reminded before each renewal and can evaluate whether you are reading enough to justify the cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do my published stories disappear if I cancel Medium membership?
No. Your published stories stay live on Medium regardless of your membership status. They continue to appear in search results, recommendations, and your profile. Other paying Medium members can still read your paywalled stories. Cancelling membership only removes your ability to read unlimited paywalled content from other writers.
Can I still earn money on Medium after cancelling my membership?
Yes. The Medium Partner Program is separate from your membership subscription. If you are enrolled in the Partner Program, your existing paywalled stories keep earning based on member reading time. You can also publish new paywalled stories without a membership. You just cannot read other members' paywalled content for free anymore.
How many free articles do I get on Medium without a membership?
Medium allows non-members to read 3 member-only stories per month. This limit resets monthly. Additionally, any story that a writer publishes as free (not behind the paywall) is accessible without limits. Writers can also share Friend Links that bypass the paywall for specific stories.
Is the Medium annual plan worth it over monthly?
The annual plan costs $50/year compared to $60/year on monthly billing, saving you $10. If you have been a consistent Medium reader for at least 3 months and read multiple paywalled stories weekly, the annual plan makes sense. If your reading is sporadic, monthly billing gives you the flexibility to cancel without losing prepaid months.
Can I export my Medium stories before cancelling?
Yes. Go to medium.com/me/export to download all your stories as HTML files. Medium processes the export and emails you a download link, usually within a few minutes. Your stories are also accessible through Medium's API. This export works regardless of your membership status, so you can do it anytime.