High-level guidance for subscription brands
If you sell subscriptions to customers in California, New York, or across the US, automatic renewal laws generally focus on:
Clear subscription terms
Real, explicit consent to recurring charges
Simple online cancellation
Reasonable reminder and change notices
Below are our recommendations on the steps to take to ensure compliance.
This article is written as general information only and is not legal advice. Work with your own legal counsel to decide what is required for your brand.
1. Understand the goal of these rules
Automatic renewal laws are designed to reduce “surprise” subscriptions and hard-to-cancel memberships.
What these laws generally aim to cover
Across laws like California’s and New York’s, you will commonly see requirements that:
Customers know they are starting a subscription, not a one-time order
Customers clearly agree to recurring charges before you bill them
Online signups can be cancelled online, without tricks or long loops
Certain renewals, long trials, and price changes come with advance notice
You can show what customers saw, how they consented, and how they cancelled
What you can do
Treat California and New York as your “high bar” states, confer with a legal representative to determine if that should be your default experience
Map your full journey (product page, cart, checkout, emails, account, cancel flow) for your records
Assume more clarity and less friction is usually safer for both legal risk and customer trust
Questions to align on internally or ask a legal representative:
Should my “high bar” state experience by my default experience?
How does my full subscriber journey align with compliance laws?
2. Make subscription terms obvious before purchase
What these laws generally require
Before the customer pays, laws like California’s and New York’s usually require that you clearly show:
This is a subscription that will renew until they cancel
How often you will bill, such as every 30, 45, 60 days, or annually
How much each renewal costs and that the price can change if that is possible
How long any free trial or introductory discount lasts
What happens after that period ends and what the first paid charge will be
How and where they can cancel
These details are typically expected to appear close to the main purchase button, in readable text, not hidden behind multiple clicks.
What you can do
Put a short, plain language summary of subscription terms close to the main checkout button
Make sure product page, cart, checkout, and policies all match on price, cadence, and cancellation
Avoid tiny fonts or long blocks of dense text that hide important details
Questions to align on internally or ask a legal representative:
Would an average customer understand this is a subscription and how it works?
3. Get a clear “yes” to recurring charges
What these laws generally require
Across automatic renewal laws, you will often see requirements that:
The customer takes a clear, intentional action to agree to recurring billing
You do not use pre-checked boxes for automatic renewal terms
Consent is tied directly to the subscription language, not only a generic “I accept the terms” checkbox
Some states also spell out recordkeeping requirements related to this consent.
What you can do
Use an unchecked checkbox or similar control that the customer must click to confirm recurring billing
Use simple text like “I understand this is a subscription and I will be charged on a recurring basis until I cancel”
Place this control near the final purchase button so customers see it at the decision point
Align with legal on what to log, for example timestamp, IP, and the version of terms or page layout that applied at the time
Questions to align on internally or ask a legal representative:
Am I logging the correct information such as timestamp, IP, and the version of terms or page layout that applied at the time?
4. Make cancellation simple and online
If customers can start a subscription on your site, laws in states like California and New York typically include requirements around online cancellation.
What these laws generally require
Common patterns in these laws include that:
If a customer started the subscription online, they must have an online way to cancel
The cancel path must be easy to find in the account area or a similar place
Cancelling cannot be significantly harder than signing up
You cannot create loops, hidden links, or long surveys that materially delay cancellation
You can present save offers and alternatives, but customers still need a clear “cancel now” option available from that flow.
What you can do
Give every subscriber a visible “Manage subscription” and “Cancel” option in their account
Keep the number of steps low and avoid making customers repeat answers
Avoid forcing customers to call or chat if they signed up on the web
Have your legal team walk through the cancel flow and flag anything that feels confusing or slow
Questions to align on internally or ask a legal representative:
After reviewing my cancel flow, does anything stand out as too much “customer friction” from a compliance perspective?
5. Decide your approach to upcoming order and renewal emails
This is where the legal baseline and your brand’s choices can diverge.
What these laws generally require
Depending on the state, cadence, and contract type, laws often include requirements that you:
Send reminder notices before certain renewals, especially for:
Long free trials or discounted intro periods that convert to paid
Initial terms of a year or more
Send clear notices about some price increases or other material changes
Send order confirmations after charges are processed
Not every monthly subscription is legally required to have an upcoming order email before each charge. The details depend on the specific statute and offer structure.
What you can do
There are two common approaches; your legal team should guide which fits your risk tolerance.
More conservative, customer-friendly default
Send upcoming order emails for long trials and annual plans
Include product, next charge date, amount, and a direct manage or cancel link
Send clear notices before price increases
More aggressive on revenue
Send only the reminders that a legal representative says are required for your specific offers and states
Rely on order confirmations plus an easy cancel path
Offer flexible refunds when customers feel surprised by charges
Questions to align on internally or ask a legal representative:
Are we aligned on where we want to sit on the spectrum between short term revenue and customer experience?
Are we aligned that the answer to where we want to sit is a brand and legal call, not something that your subscription platform decides for us?
6. Keep basic records and review regularly
Modern automatic renewal laws are not only about what you say today. In any dispute, investigation, or complaint, you will be asked to show what actually happened.
What these laws generally involve
In practice, courts and enforcement agencies tend to look for:
What the customer saw when they subscribed
How and when they consented
When you sent key emails such as trial, renewal, and price change notices
When and how they cancelled, and whether you honored that request promptly
Some states, such as California, specify minimum periods for retaining proof of consent. Others do not specify, but you are still expected to have reasonable documentation.
What you can do
Save snapshots of:
Product pages with subscription messaging
Cart and checkout screens with subscription terms and consent copy
Account and cancellation screens
Version and store:
Terms and subscription policies
Confirmation, reminder, and price change email templates
Set a regular cadence to review:
Any changes in California, New York, and other key states you sell into
Your own flows and templates against a legal representative’s current guidance
Final Reminder
This article is not legal advice. It is a high-level summary of common themes in automatic renewal rules and options you can discuss internally or with a legal representative.
Suggested next steps:
Map your live subscription journey and export your key templates.
Share them internally or with a legal representative, along with this overview.
Adjust your terms, consent language, reminder strategy, and cancellation flow based on their guidance and the level of risk your brand is comfortable with.