FTC Click-to-Cancel rule: full record
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Get the dossier: $7 instant download →Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. The FTC's rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.
The FTC receives thousands of complaints about negative option and recurring subscription practices each year. The number of complaints has been steadily increasing over the past five years, and in 2024 the Commission received nearly 70 consumer complaints per day on average, up from 42 per day in 2021.
On July 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the Federal Trade Commission's Rule Concerning Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Plans, commonly known as the Click-to-Cancel rule, due to violations of the Administrative Procedure Act during the rulemaking process.
The FTC never stopped enforcing the core principles of the Rule under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act. The FTC has secured major settlements against subscription services perceived as unfair.
On January 30, 2026, the FTC announced that it had taken a preliminary step towards a new rulemaking regarding recurring subscriptions, submitting a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning the agency's Negative Option Rule.
This transcription covers the rule's original justification, the scale of complaints that drove it, the vacatur's actual legal basis, and the FTC's continued enforcement and revival efforts. Full state-by-state automatic-renewal law citations are covered in the companion guide.
Rule: Negative Option Rule, FTC. Finalized October 16, 2024.
Case: Custom Communications, Inc. v. FTC, Eighth Circuit. July 8, 2025.
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