Tech News: New App Automatically Cancels Subscriptions After Free Trials

Free Trial Surfing is a new app being developed that promises to help users avoid paying for services past free trial periods if they do not wish to. The app is the brainchild of developer Josh Browder, who got his start developing apps as a teenager with Do Not Pay, a service that continues to help users fight parking fines.

According to the BBC, Browder started working on the idea for Free Trial Surfing when he discovered a charge for a gym membership he hadn’t used for some time.

“The idea for this product came when I realized I was being charged for a $21.99 gym membership from over a year ago that I was never using,” he said. “In fact, I had completely forgotten that I had signed up for a free trial in the first place. Constantly trying to keep track of when a ‘free trial’ period ends is annoying and time-consuming.”

Browder hails from the U.K. but is currently based in the U.S., where he says around 10,000 users have signed up for this new service. The app won’t link with users’ banks or credit cards, but it is being supported by a partnership with a major bank. Browder declined to name which bank.

The app is currently available exclusively in the Apple app store, but a web version is on the way. The app works by assigning users a virtual card number registered to Browder’s company, and a fake name, with which users can sign up for free trials. The number does not work if used to pay for something.

Browder claims that some companies have attempted to find out which cards were associated with Free Trial Surfing so that they can be blocked. However, he claims that the bank they have partnered with will help prevent this from happening.

“Our bank is so big they would have to screw a lot of customers to stop the product. They would have to end the entire free-trial program,” Browder said.

According to Browder, the most common subscription that Free Trial Surfing has been used for are pornography sites, followed by Netflix.