Shutterstock made the subscription easy to start—and hard to leave.

In May 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced a $35 million settlement with Shutterstock over alleged unfair subscription and cancellation practices. The agency said consumers were charged without informed consent and that, before 2024, some customers could not complete an early cancellation online.

Instead, they had to contact support by phone, chat or email. That turns a routine account action into a negotiation—one where the company has more time, more scripts and more opportunities to keep the charge running.

The exit is part of the price

Subscription pricing is often presented as a monthly number. The real price also includes the cost of leaving: the time spent finding the control, surviving retention offers and checking that the renewal actually stopped.

The FTC’s proposed order points toward the boring standard that should have existed all along: disclose material terms, obtain express consent and keep cancellation simple. None of those requirements prevent a company from offering a useful service. They prevent revenue from hiding inside friction.

Design the honest version

A good subscription confirms the price, renewal date and cancellation path before checkout. It keeps the exit in the same account area as the upgrade. It gives an immediate confirmation and a receipt that can be saved.

When a business needs a support conversation to stop a charge, the support conversation is the business model. The cancellation button is merely the part that has been withheld.