I kind of trust my subscriptions and smoke alarms in the same way. Once I’ve set them up, I stop thinking about them and assume they’re doing their job. However, when I got three renewal emails for 1Password, NordVPN, and McAfee, it made me pause and think about what I was actually paying for.

I realized I was paying for specific capabilities that I could handle differently for free. Since then, I’ve saved more than $300 and haven’t missed the parts of these services I actually used because I found options that fit my setup.

Password manager subscriptions

KeePassXC put my vault back in my own hands

I used 1Password’s $2.99-a-month Individual plan ($35.88 a year) until April, when I canceled and switched to KeePassXC. I thought of the subscription as paying for password security, but when I broke it down, I was really paying for four different things: somewhere to store the vault, syncing across my phone and laptop, autofill, and breach alerts for my credentials.

KeePassXC approaches password storage differently. There isn’t a company holding a copy of my vault, and there isn’t a KeePassXC account either. What it offers is a single encrypted .kdbx file held on my machine under my control. I keep this file in a synced folder so I can access it from my different devices, but the syncing, backup, and recovery are now my responsibility

This switch saved me a yearly subscription but also takes away the safety net I had with 1Password. I don’t have a provider holding another copy of my vault if something happens to my .kdbx file. Since I’m the only recovery option, backing it up and maintenance are entirely up to me.

But I didn’t lose the parts that meant the most to me. Autofill works fine. KeePassXC still generates passwords and handles my 2FA codes as expected. Terminating my password manager subscription meant I was no longer paying someone else to manage the storage and syncing I was willing to handle myself.

VPN subscriptions

WireGuard answered a question NordVPN was never being asked

There was more cost-cutting with NordVPN, since the subscription set me back $179.88 a year. I had to ask myself what I was actually using it for before I canceled it.

A VPN can do two distinct jobs. One function routes internet traffic through provider servers; the other creates an encrypted tunnel into your home network. All along, I had been paying for the first when, in reality, I was mainly using my VPN to reach one of my services at home.

This was a job that I could do with WireGuard. My setup only required me to run a WireGuard endpoint at home and configure my devices to connect to it. Now my devices can connect back to my home network when I’m away without a commercial VPN subscription.

Now, I have to admit that WireGuard doesn’t fully replace what NordVPN does. I was giving up the VPN provider’s exit servers (the commercial VPN’s network for routing traffic). But WireGuard provided the service I needed: moving traffic between two points I control.

The other caveat is that I’m responsible for keeping the service online, which is a job I didn’t have with my commercial VPN.

But I canceled NordVPN because I was paying for an entire toolbox when I needed just one tool, and now I pocket the difference instead.

Antivirus subscriptions

McAfee+ Advanced was billing me for tools I’d already replaced

My $89.99-a-year McAfee+ Advanced Individual plan was the last to go. When I read all I was paying for, cutting this subscription became easier, and this wasn’t because the subscription itself was bad.

The plan I was paying for wasn’t just antivirus. It bundled unlimited-device coverage, a VPN, identity monitoring, and its own password manager. I only noticed after I replaced two of those functions with tools I already used. I wasn’t using the VPN, nor was I using the password manager, with KeePassXC managing my vault.

The only thing I was using was the antivirus, but that raised a real question: isn’t Windows’ built-in protection enough on its own? AV-TEST’s Windows 11 test for May–June 2026 shows Microsoft Defender scored 6 out of 6 for protection, 5.5 out of 6 for performance, and 6 out of 6 for usability. It also detected 100% of the widespread malware samples in both months and 100% of the zero-day threats tested in June.

Of course, identity monitoring and theft coverage are also nice features, but if I could get malware protection for free, identity monitoring and theft-coverage features don’t justify the $89.99-a-year subscription for me. Windows 11 already provides the malware protection I need for free.

What “at least $305.75” actually cost me

Added up, these three subscriptions cost $305.75 a year. This may sound like serious savings, and it is, but it’s not entirely free.

I was taking on the responsibilities that money usually covered: backing up my password vault, managing WireGuard keys, checking that my WireGuard endpoint was running, and deciding whether Windows’ built-in protection covered what I needed.

If the reason you have these subscriptions is to outsource those responsibilities, free tools may not be a good trade. But for me, it’s a relief to cut those recurring expenses for services I can manage myself.