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Design Examples
Reducing churn in subscriptions
Cancellation and retention flows from Strava, Uber One, Yazio, Komoot and more, including plan swaps, trial reminders and in-feed nudges that quietly reduce churn.
Real world examples:
Updated: 21/08/2026, view all 1,446 examples
Examples on Built for Mars include
Strava reframes cancelling as losing goals
Uber One shows your savings when you cancel
Komoot's trial reminders stop early cancels
If you go to cancel your subscription, Strava will use both Loss Aversion and Framing to remind you about your goals.
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i.e., "don't leave your goals behind, Strava will help you make progress more likely, and faster".
After reaching the limits of the free tier, Clearspace gives you an option to upgrade, or to swap your new selection for an older one.
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This helps deliver a little extra value instead of people just backing out of the upgrade prompt (i.e., it may reduce churn).
If you attempt to cancel your subscription during the free trial, you'll be reassured that you'll get a notification 2 days before you're charged.
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To make this slightly better, they could remind the user about the benefits of the service on this screen.
If you're cancelling your Strava subscription because of price, they'll dynamically remind you that you can save money by switching to the annual plan.
If you go to cancel Uber One, they'll remind you how much money you've saved so far that month.
More context
This is clearly likely to reduce churn, if the savings is above (or near to) the monthly subscription fee.
There are more than 1400 UX Bites like this
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There are more than 1400 UX Bites like this
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There are more than 1400 UX Bites like this
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FAQs
What's the best way to handle a price objection mid-cancellation?
Giving price-sensitive people a cheaper route keeps the subscription alive: Strava reads the cancellation reason and, for price, offers a switch to annual at a 49% saving. The open A/B test is whether a one-time discount beats the plan swap on lifetime value, and worth remembering that plenty of people type nonsense into cancellation surveys.
Why do benefit reminders only work when they're specific?
A number tied to the individual is harder to dismiss than a generic list of features. Strava leans on stats like "twice as active" and "54% more personal records", and YouTube Premium reminds you that you listened to six hours of uninterrupted music last month. Naming the user's actual goal beats "don't forget your goals".
Why do people cancel a trial they'd otherwise keep?
Most of it is fear of forgetting and getting charged. Nibble kills that anxiety by promising a notification two days before payment, and Komoot repeats the same promise twice after signup, which makes doing nothing (i.e., letting it renew) the default.
What should happen when a free user hits a paywall limit?
Offering a free workaround beats a dead end. Clearspace pairs its upgrade prompt with the option to swap the new selection for an older one, so people who won't pay still get some value instead of backing out of the screen.
Where can retention messaging live besides the cancel flow?
Value is easier to defend before someone starts cancelling. YouTube Premium slots benefit reminders into the homepage feed during normal browsing, and Yazio adds an entire menu item of reasons to stay once a subscription is set to expire, triggering Loss Aversion.