If you subscribe to Medium's paid membership, you will be charged in advance and cannot get a refund for any unused portion — even if you cancel partway through a billing period.
This analysis describes what Medium's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This no-refund policy means if you forget to cancel or want to leave mid-cycle, you lose the money already paid — and Medium can raise prices with only email notice.
Paid Medium members are locked into non-refundable subscription fees with no pro-rata refund for cancellation, and Medium can unilaterally increase subscription prices with notification only by email and website posting.
How other platforms handle this
Unless you enrolled via a gift membership, prepaid membership, or scholarship, your subscription will continue and automatically renew on a monthly or annual basis unless and until you cancel your subscription, or your account is otherwise suspended or terminated pursuant to these Terms. When your s...
Shopify charges a subscription fee for use of the Services. You agree to provide Shopify with accurate and complete billing information including legal name, address, telephone number, and a valid payment method information. By submitting such payment information, you automatically authorize Shopify...
Unless stated otherwise, subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle (e.g., monthly or annually). By purchasing a Plan, you authorize Pika to charge your selected payment method on a recurring basis at the applicable rate then in effect, plus any applicable taxes, until you ca...
Monitoring
Medium has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 10 platforms.
"Medium offers a membership program (a 'Membership'). Medium memberships are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis and are non-refundable. There will be no refunds or credits for partial months of service, upgrade/downgrade refunds, or refunds for months unused with an open account. By signing up for a Membership, you agree to pay Medium the monthly or annual subscription fees indicated for that service. Subscription fees are non-refundable. We reserve the right to change the subscription fee for the Membership program. We'll notify you via email and by posting on the site.— Excerpt from Medium's Medium Terms of Service
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates FTC Negative Option Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 425), which requires clear and conspicuous disclosure of subscription terms before purchase, simple cancellation mechanisms, and advance notice of material changes. The FTC's updated Negative Option Rule (effective 2024) imposes stricter requirements on auto-renewal disclosures. California's Automatic Renewal Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17600 et seq.) requires affirmative consent, clear disclosure, and acknowledgment of auto-renewal terms. Similar statutes apply in New York (General Obligations Law §5-903) and Illinois. EU Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) and DSA impose transparency obligations on subscription terms and cancellation rights.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Watcher: 10 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
Professional Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Professional includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
This no-refund policy means if you forget to cancel or want to leave mid-cycle, you lose the money already paid — and Medium can raise prices with only email notice.
Paid Medium members are locked into non-refundable subscription fees with no pro-rata refund for cancellation, and Medium can unilaterally increase subscription prices with notification only by email and website posting.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Medium.