User Guide

1. What is Sub-Site?

Sub-Site is a free, privacy-first subscription tracker. It helps you keep track of all your recurring payments — streaming services, software subscriptions, gym memberships, and anything else you pay for regularly.

Unlike most apps, Sub-Site requires no account, no login, and no internet connection to work. Everything is stored privately in your browser.

2. Getting Started

The fastest way to get started is to add your first subscription manually or import one from a renewal email.

Adding your first subscription

1. Click + Add Subscription in the top-right corner of the Dashboard or Subscriptions page.
2. Enter the service name, cost, billing cycle (Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, or Weekly), and the next billing date.
3. Optionally pick a category (e.g. Streaming, Software, Fitness) and add notes.
4. Click Save Subscription. The subscription appears in your list immediately.

3. The Dashboard

The Dashboard gives you a live overview of your subscription spending. It updates automatically whenever you add or change a subscription.

Stats row

The stats row shows your key spending figures at a glance.

• Monthly Spend — total cost of all Active subscriptions, normalised to a monthly figure.
• Annual Spend — monthly figure × 12 (projected annual cost).
• Due This Month — number of Active subscriptions renewing in the next 30 days.
• Potential Savings — appears when you have monthly subscriptions. Shows how much you could save per year by switching to annual billing (assumes ~17.5% saving, typical for most services).

Spend by Category

A horizontal bar chart showing which categories account for the most spending.

Monthly Trend

A sparkline chart showing how your total monthly spend has changed over the past 6 months. Useful for spotting if your spending is creeping up.

Upcoming Renewals

A list of Active subscriptions billing in the next 30 days, sorted by date. Use this to make sure you have funds available before a charge goes out.

Possible Savings widget

Highlights a cheaper alternative to your most expensive Active subscription. Click it to jump to the Alternatives page for more suggestions.

Waste Alert

If your total annual spend exceeds the threshold you set in Settings, a warning banner appears at the top of the Dashboard. Use this as a prompt to review your subscriptions. You can adjust or disable the threshold in Settings.

4. Managing Subscriptions

Adding a subscription

Click + Add Subscription at the top of the Dashboard or Subscriptions page. Fill in the form and click Save Subscription.

Editing a subscription

On the Subscriptions page, click Edit on any row to open the form pre-filled with existing details. Make your changes and click Save Subscription.

Quick actions (⋯ menu)

Click the ⋯ button on any subscription row to open a quick-action menu. From here you can:

• Change status to Active, Paused, Cancelled, or Wishlist without opening the full edit form.
• Permanently delete the subscription.

Starring

Click the ☆ icon on a row to star it. Starred subscriptions are visually highlighted for easy reference — useful for your most important or frequently reviewed subscriptions.

Search, filter & sort

The toolbar above the subscription list lets you:

• Search by service name.
• Filter by category — e.g. show only Streaming services.
• Filter by status — show only Active, Paused, Cancelled, or Wishlist items.
• Sort by name (A–Z or Z–A), cost (high–low or low–high), or next renewal date.

5. Subscription Statuses

Every subscription has one of four statuses. Choose the one that best reflects your current relationship with that service.

6. Shared Cost Splitter

If you share a subscription with others (e.g. a family plan split between flatmates, or a software plan paid by your team), Sub-Site can track your individual share of the cost.

How to use it

1. Open a subscription's edit form (click Edit on any row).
2. Tick Shared plan — split cost between people.
3. Set the number of people sharing the cost.
4. Save. The subscription list and all spending totals will now show your share only.

The ÷4 badge shows that the cost is split across 4 people. Hover over the badge to see the full plan price. Your share (£7.00) is what appears in all spend calculations.

7. Quarterly Audit Mode

Every 90 days, Sub-Site prompts you to audit your active subscriptions. This is a structured review process that steps you through each subscription one by one, helping you cut anything you no longer need.

Starting an audit

When the audit prompt appears on the Dashboard, click Start Audit. You can also trigger it at any time from the dashboard banner.

Audit actions

• Keep — no change, move to the next subscription.
• Pause — marks the subscription as Paused.
• Cancel — marks the subscription as Cancelled.
• Wishlist — moves it to Wishlist (you're considering cancelling but want to keep the details).

After reviewing all subscriptions, an audit summary shows how many you changed and the potential annual saving from Paused/Cancelled items.

8. Alternatives & Suggestions

The Alternatives page suggests cheaper or free services that could replace your existing subscriptions.

How it works

• Matched suggestions — for well-known services (Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, etc.), Sub-Site suggests specific cheaper alternatives (e.g. Netflix → Amazon Prime Video).
• Category suggestions — for services without a specific match, you'll see general money-saving tips for that category.

All comparisons are based on publicly listed prices. Sub-Site cannot access your account or verify your exact plan. The suggestions are a starting point — always check the current pricing on the service's website before switching.

9. Backup & Restore

Sub-Site stores your data in your browser's local storage. This means your data will be permanently lost if you clear your browser cache, switch browsers, or reinstall your OS — unless you have a backup.

Export JSON (full backup)

Go to Backup & Restore in the sidebar and click Export JSON. This downloads a .json file containing all your subscriptions and settings. Keep this somewhere safe — iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or your Documents folder.

Export CSV (spreadsheet)

Click Export CSV to download your subscriptions as a spreadsheet. Open it in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets for custom analysis. CSV files cannot be imported back — use JSON for backups.

Importing a backup

1. Go to Backup & Restore in the sidebar.
2. Choose Merge or Replace (see below).
3. Click Choose backup file… and select your saved .json file.
4. A confirmation shows how many subscriptions were imported, and any duplicates that were skipped.

Merge vs Replace

• Merge — keeps everything you already have and adds any new entries from the backup. Duplicate subscriptions (same service, cost, and billing details) are automatically skipped.
• Replace — deletes everything currently saved and loads only the subscriptions from the backup file. Use this to fully restore from a backup on a new device.

Moving to a new device or browser

1. On your old device: export a JSON backup.
2. Transfer the file to your new device (AirDrop, email, cloud storage).
3. On the new device: open Sub-Site, go to Backup & Restore, choose Replace, and import the file.

10. Import from Email

Skip manual data entry. Click ✉ Import from Email and paste the text of a renewal email — Sub-Site extracts the service name, cost, billing cycle, and next date automatically.

Everything is processed locally in your browser. Your email text is never sent to any server.

Three ways to import

Paste email text

1. Open a renewal email in your email client.
2. Select all the email body text and copy it.
3. Click ✉ Import from Email in Sub-Site.
4. The text is automatically read from your clipboard. If not, paste it into the text box.
5. Sub-Site shows the extracted details with a confidence score. Review and click Add Subscription.

.eml file import

Save the email as a .eml file from your email client, then drag-and-drop it onto the import panel or use the file picker. Sub-Site handles MIME decoding including base64 and quoted-printable encoding.

iOS Shortcuts

Set up a Share Sheet shortcut to send emails directly from the Mail app to Sub-Site:

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone/iPad and tap + to create a new shortcut.
2. Add action: Get Text from Input (this reads from the share sheet).
3. Add action: Open URL — set the URL to https://beta.sub-site.com/?text=[Shortcut Input]
4. Tap the share icon and enable Show in Share Sheet.
5. In the Mail or Gmail app, open a renewal email, tap Share, then select your new shortcut. Sub-Site opens with the email pre-parsed.

Android (PWA)

Install Sub-Site as a PWA by opening it in Chrome and choosing Add to Home Screen. Then use the share button in your email app and select Sub-Site from the share menu.

11. Settings

Default Currency

Sets the currency pre-selected when you add a new subscription. You can still pick a different currency for individual subscriptions. Available: GBP (£), USD ($), EUR (€), CAD (CA$), AUD (A$).

Waste Alert Threshold

When your total annual spend (Active subscriptions only) exceeds this amount, a warning banner appears on the Dashboard. Set it to 0 to disable the alert, or a higher number if you have a larger subscription budget.

Danger Zone — Clear All Data

Permanently deletes all subscriptions and settings from your browser. This cannot be undone.

12. Privacy & Data Safety

• No account required — Sub-Site works without any sign-up or login.
• No server storage — all subscription data is stored in your browser's localStorage. It never leaves your device.
• No analytics — there are no tracking scripts, cookies, or page-view telemetry.
• No font CDN — Sub-Site uses your device's system fonts only.
• Feedback only — the only network request Sub-Site makes is when you submit the feedback form (which is optional).
• Email import is local — email text is parsed entirely in your browser; nothing is sent to any server.

For the full privacy policy, see privacy.