To cancel a Planet Fitness membership, you have three options: cancel online through your account at planetfitness.com or the app, walk into your home club and sign a cancellation form, or send a signed cancellation letter to your home club by USPS Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested. Whichever route you pick, timing controls whether it works. Your request has to reach the club by the 10th of the month to stop the next monthly charge, and by the 25th of the month before your annual fee posts if you want to avoid that yearly hit too.
Cancel Online
Planet Fitness rolled out online cancellation across all locations in 2025. Log in to your account at planetfitness.com or through the Planet Fitness app and look for the cancellation option under your membership settings. The system walks you through confirming your identity and acknowledging any remaining fees. Screenshot the confirmation screen before you close the tab. That screenshot is your only proof the request went in.
Cancel in Person at Your Home Club
Walking into your home club and asking to cancel at the front desk is the most direct option. Bring a valid photo ID and your membership key tag or ID number. The staff will pull up your account and hand you a cancellation form asking for your name, address, membership number, and signature. Stay at the desk until the representative confirms the cancellation is reflected on your account, and ask for a printed or emailed receipt before you leave.
One detail trips people up constantly: it has to be your home club, meaning the specific location where you originally signed up. A different Planet Fitness across town can’t process the cancellation for you. If getting to your home club isn’t practical, call first and ask whether they can handle the request by phone or whether you need to transfer your membership before canceling.
Cancel by Certified Mail
If visiting isn’t practical and you’d rather not use the online option, mail a cancellation letter to your home club using USPS Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number, email, membership ID number, and a clear statement that you want to cancel. Date and sign it.
Certified Mail gives you a tracking number, and the return receipt comes back with a signature from whoever accepted delivery at the gym. Keep both. If the club later claims it never received the notice, that signed receipt ends the argument. Consumer protection agencies routinely advise holding on to this kind of proof for at least a year.
The Two Deadlines That Decide Whether You Get Charged Again
Planet Fitness runs on two separate billing deadlines, and mixing them up will cost you money.
- Monthly dues: Your cancellation has to reach the club by the 10th of the month. If it arrives after the 10th, you’ll be charged on the 17th for one more month. There is no partial refund for that final cycle.
- Annual fee: Your cancellation has to reach the club by the 25th of the month before your annual fee posts. The annual fee is billed roughly two months after your original signup month, so a January signup usually sees the annual fee around April 1st.
The annual fee runs $49 at most clubs, with a handful charging $39. It’s billed once a year on top of your regular dues and is generally not refundable once posted. Work backward from your annual fee date and give yourself at least a week of margin. Dropping a letter in the mail on the 24th and hoping it gets there by the 25th is a bet you’ll lose.
Commitment Plans and the $58 Buyout Fee
Planet Fitness offers two membership structures. Month-to-month plans let you cancel any time as long as you meet the notice deadlines. Commitment-term plans lock you in for an initial period, usually 12 months.
If you’re on a commitment plan and want out before the term expires, you’ll owe a $58 buyout fee. It settles your remaining obligation under the contract and should show up as a one-time charge on your bank statement after the cancellation processes. To check which plan you have and when the commitment period ends, log in on the website or app, or call your home club.
When You Can Skip the Buyout Fee
Three situations get you out of a commitment plan without the $58 charge:
- Relocation more than 25 miles from any Planet Fitness location. Bring proof of your new address, such as a utility bill, lease, or updated driver’s license.
- A documented medical condition that prevents you from using the gym. You’ll need a letter from your doctor on official letterhead stating your name, a general description of the condition, why exercise is not advisable, and a recommendation to cancel, along with the doctor’s signature and contact information.
- Active-duty military deployment. A copy of your deployment orders is enough.
Even with a qualifying reason, you still submit the cancellation through one of the standard methods and attach or present the supporting documentation with it.
Freeze It Instead If You’re Not Sure
If you might come back, freezing the membership pauses monthly billing while keeping the account active. A freeze locks in your current rate and avoids the re-enrollment fee you’d pay if you canceled and later rejoined at a higher price.
The standard freeze allows up to two consecutive months per year with no monthly dues during that window. The annual fee still applies, so if your annual fee date falls during the freeze, expect that $49 charge to post anyway. Freeze through the app, the website, or in person at your home club.
Clear Any Past-Due Balance First
Planet Fitness generally won’t process a cancellation while your account is past due. If you’ve missed a payment or had a charge decline, bring the account current before you try to cancel. Call the home club to confirm the exact amount owed so you don’t waste a trip.
Don’t try to shortcut this by blocking the charges through your bank and walking away. The membership doesn’t disappear. The club keeps attempting to charge, the balance grows, and the debt eventually gets handed to a collection agency, where it can end up on your credit report. Cleaning up a collections entry is far more work than paying a final month of dues and canceling the right way.
Stopping Payments at Your Bank as a Backup
Federal law gives you a separate tool if the gym keeps billing after a valid cancellation. Under Regulation E, you can stop a preauthorized recurring payment from your bank account by notifying your bank or credit union at least three business days before the next scheduled transfer. The bank has to honor the stop-payment request whether you make it by phone or in writing. If you give the order verbally, the bank can require written confirmation within 14 days, and the verbal order expires after that if you don’t follow up.1eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.10 – Preauthorized Transfers
A stop-payment order protects your bank account. It does not cancel your membership. Use it as a backup after you’ve already submitted a cancellation, not as a substitute.
Confirm the Cancellation Actually Went Through
Don’t assume it worked. After submitting a cancellation by any method:
- Get written confirmation. Ask for an email or printed receipt at the time of cancellation, screenshot the confirmation page if you canceled online, and hold on to your certified mail and return receipts if you canceled by mail.
- Watch your bank account for the next 30 to 45 days. You should see either no further charges, or at most one final month of dues and the $58 buyout fee if it applies. Anything beyond that signals a problem.
- Log in to the website or app a few days later. Your membership status should reflect the cancellation. If it still shows active, contact the club right away.
If charges continue after you’ve confirmed the cancellation, start with the home club. If the club is unresponsive, place a stop-payment order at your bank and consider a complaint to the FTC or your state’s attorney general. Your confirmation receipts and certified mail records are what let you resolve a wrongful charge quickly.