MasterClass has a 1.7 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot. The most common complaint? People forgot they had it and got hit with a $120+ annual renewal. The cancellation itself is simple. Remembering to do it before the charge is the hard part.
How to cancel on the web
You cannot cancel through the MasterClass app. You must use a web browser.
- Go to masterclass.com and sign in
- Click your profile icon (top right) > Settings
- In the Membership section, click Cancel Membership
- On the next screen, click Cancel Now to confirm
On mobile, go to masterclass.com in your phone's browser (Safari, Chrome). When prompted to open the app, ignore it. Tap the menu icon in the top right to access your subscription settings.
Cancel through Apple or Google
If you subscribed through the App Store or Google Play, cancelling on the MasterClass website won't stop the charges.
iPhone/iPad: Settings > tap your name > Subscriptions > MasterClass > Cancel Subscription
Android: Google Play Store > Profile icon > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > MasterClass > Cancel subscription
Roku or Fire TV: Cancel through the device's own subscription settings, not MasterClass.com.
Optus SubHub subscribers
Australian Optus customers who activated MasterClass through Optus SubHub need to cancel through SubHub, not MasterClass directly. Log in to your Optus account or the SubHub portal and manage the subscription there.
Current pricing
MasterClass bills annually in USD. Approximate AUD conversions below:
| Plan | USD/year | USD/month equiv. | AUD approx./year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $120 | $10 | ~$192 |
| Duo (2 devices) | $180 | $15 | ~$288 |
| Family (6 devices) | $240 | $20 | ~$384 |
All plans are annual. There is no monthly billing option. This means you're committing to a full year upfront every time it renews.
The 30-day refund window
MasterClass offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee on your initial purchase. If you're within 30 days of signing up, you can get a full refund by contacting their support team via live chat at masterclass.com/help-center.
Renewal charges are not refundable. If your subscription auto-renewed and you missed the window, you're paying for the full year with no partial refund. This is the critical detail: set a reminder 30 days before your renewal date or cancel early.
Your subscription stays active until the end of your annual billing period. You keep full access to all courses, downloads, and community features until that date. After it expires, you lose access to everything, including any content you downloaded through the app. Your account and watch history are preserved if you resubscribe later.
Downloaded content disappears
This catches people off guard. Any courses you downloaded for offline viewing through the MasterClass app stop working once your subscription expires. You don't keep downloaded videos the way you'd keep a purchased film. They're locked behind the subscription, and the app removes access when your membership lapses.
If there are specific lessons you want to keep notes from, write them down or screenshot key slides before your subscription ends.
Do you actually need MasterClass?
MasterClass sells the celebrity instructor angle. Gordon Ramsay teaches cooking. Martin Scorsese teaches filmmaking. The production quality is high and the classes are entertaining. But they're closer to inspirational talks than practical courses. You'll hear Ramsay's philosophy on food, not a step-by-step cooking curriculum.
If you want structured learning that actually builds skills, consider these free alternatives:
- Khan Academy for academic subjects, completely free
- Coursera offers free auditing on most courses from actual universities
- YouTube has thousands of in-depth tutorials on virtually every topic MasterClass covers, taught by practitioners, not celebrities
- MIT OpenCourseWare for university-level courses, entirely free
MasterClass is best thought of as entertainment with an educational flavour. If you've watched the courses you were interested in and haven't opened the app in months, cancelling is the right call.
That's one annual renewal handled. How many others are ticking away in the background?
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See what you're paying forChris Raad
Chris is the founder of Subtracker. He built this tool after experiencing the pain of discovering thousands of dollars in unused SaaS sprawl just before tax time.