Methodology
How we calculate your streaming savings
SubSwitch uses one savings formula across the entire product — on the /savings calculator, the pricing pages, and your in-app dashboard — so the number you see anywhere is computed the same way as everywhere else.
The formula
Annual Savings = (Current Monthly Cost − Optimized Monthly Cost) × 12
Both inputs are in U.S. dollars per month.
The two inputs are intentionally simple and reproducible:
- Current Monthly Cost — what you pay right now across all paid streaming services. Add the monthly price of every service you have an active subscription to, regardless of how much you watch it.
- Optimized Monthly Cost — the average monthly cost under a SubSwitch rotation plan, which keeps 2–3 services active at a time based on your watchlist. The other services are paused for the months where they have nothing on your list to watch.
Worked example
Consider a household currently paying $112/month across 4 streaming services and rotating under a SubSwitch plan to $46/month by keeping only 2–3 services active each month.
Current
$112/mo
4 services, all active
$1,344/year
Optimized
$46/mo
2–3 services active at a time
$552/year
Saved
$792/yr
$66/mo × 12
Why $792/yr: $112 − $46 = $66 saved per month. Multiplied by 12 months, that's $792 saved per year on streaming subscription costs.
Where you'll see this number
The same formula feeds every savings number SubSwitch shows you:
- The /savings calculator — your projected annual savings, computed from your entered monthly spend.
- The pricing page — the "$600+/yr" headline reflects the typical savings projected from this formula using average household inputs.
- Your in-app dashboard — the running savings total, recalculated as your rotation plan evolves.
Limitations
To keep the formula credible, note what it does not include:
- The SubSwitch subscription cost ($4.99–$9.99/mo depending on tier) is not subtracted from the savings — these are streaming-service savings only.
- The formula assumes you actually rotate per the plan. If you re-subscribe to a paused service mid-month because new episodes dropped unexpectedly, the realized savings will be lower than the projection.
- Pricing is based on standard monthly rates. Annual prepay deals, bundle discounts (like the Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle), or promotional pricing can shift the actual number up or down.
- Cable-to-streaming savings (e.g. for the cable-cutter flow) use the same formula — but the "current cost" is the cable bill, not a streaming bill.
The methodology is intentionally conservative: it's the math that holds up whether you're a single streamer or a five-person household, and it's the same math the SubSwitch team uses to set targets for the product.