The card statement has a dozen software charges on it, and you're not sure which ones you still need. Often the answer is that you're paying twice: you signed up for a scheduling app, a form builder or a task board years ago, and the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace plan you already pay for has quietly added the same thing since.
Here's how to spot the overlap and what to check before you cancel anything.
Check these before you pay for something separate (as of October 2026)
If you pay for one of the tools in bold, check whether the plan you already have covers the job. Plans change, so confirm against Microsoft's plan comparison or Google's pricing page before cancelling.
- Calendly or another booking tool: Microsoft Bookings is included in Business Basic, Standard and Premium. Google Calendar has appointment schedules, with some features needing a higher Workspace plan.
- Typeform or JotForm: Microsoft Forms is included in every Microsoft 365 business plan, and Google Forms comes with every Workspace plan.
- Trello, Asana or Monday.com for simple task boards: Microsoft Planner and Microsoft Lists are included in Business Basic and up.
- Dropbox or Box: every Microsoft 365 business plan includes 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user, and Google Workspace starts at 30 GB pooled per user on Business Starter.
- Separate business antivirus or device management: Microsoft 365 Business Premium already includes Microsoft Defender for Business and Intune.
- A separate email archiving or retention tool: Google Workspace Business Plus includes Vault; Business Standard doesn't.
None of these are always as polished as the paid tool. The question is whether the difference is worth a monthly bill.
You're probably already paying for project management
If your business runs on Microsoft 365 (any of the business plans), you already have Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Lists, and Microsoft To Do built into your subscription. All three are included. No extra charge. No add-on.
Planner gives you Kanban boards, basically the same view you'd see in Trello. Drag tasks between columns like "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done." Assign tasks to team members. Set due dates. It lives right inside Microsoft Teams, so you don't need to switch apps.
Microsoft Lists is the one most people don't know about. Think of it as a spreadsheet that acts like a database. You can track inventory, customer requests, content calendars, vendor contacts, anything that lives in a structured list. It has built-in templates, custom views, and conditional formatting. If you're paying for Airtable or Monday.com just to track stuff in rows and columns, Lists covers a lot of the same ground at no extra cost.
Before you sign up for the next project management tool someone recommended on LinkedIn, check what's already in your toolbox.
The meeting scheduling problem that's already solved
A common one: paying for Calendly or a similar scheduling tool. If you have Microsoft 365, you have Microsoft Bookings included in your subscription. If you use Google Workspace, you have Google Calendar's appointment scheduling built in (some extras, like taking payment for bookings, need Business Standard or higher).
Both of these do the core thing: let someone pick a time on your calendar without the back-and-forth email chain. Bookings even supports multiple staff members, service types, and automated confirmation emails. Is Calendly more polished in certain ways? Sure. But "more polished" and "worth paying for every month" are two different conversations.
The same logic applies to form builders. If you're paying for Typeform or JotForm, check out Microsoft Forms (included with 365) or Google Forms (free). For basic intake forms, surveys, and client questionnaires, they work great. They're not as pretty as Typeform, but your clients care about convenience, not animation effects.
File storage is another one
If you pay for Dropbox or Box on top of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, ask why. Dropbox isn't bad, but with 1 TB of OneDrive per user (or your pooled Google storage) already in the bill, you may be paying twice for the same thing. Check how much of each you actually use before deciding which one goes.
How to audit your subscriptions in an afternoon
Knowing you might have redundant tools and actually doing something about it are different things. Here's a practical walkthrough:
Step 1: List every subscription. Check your credit card and bank statements for the last three months. Every recurring charge from a software company goes on the list. You'll be surprised what you find. That free trial you forgot to cancel? It's been billing you ever since.
Step 2: Categorize by function. Group them: project management, communication, file storage, scheduling, forms, accounting, email marketing. If you have two or more tools in the same category, that's your first target.
Step 3: Check what's included. Find out which plan you're on first: in the Microsoft 365 admin center that's Billing > Your products; in the Google Admin console it's under Billing. Then compare it against the list above and the vendor's own plan comparison.
Step 4: Migrate one at a time. Don't cancel everything at once. Pick the most obvious overlap, migrate the data, give it two weeks to make sure it works, then cancel the redundant subscription. Repeat.
The tools that are actually worth paying for
I'm not saying every subscription is waste. Some tools genuinely do things your core platform doesn't. Your accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero) is probably necessary. Your industry-specific tools (legal practice management, CRM for sales teams) often don't have a free equivalent. Password managers like Bitwarden (its free tier is excellent) or 1Password are worth paying for; our post on credential stuffing explains why.
The point isn't to eliminate all software spending. It's to stop paying for tools you've already got. You may find a subscription or two you can cancel just by checking what's already included in the platforms you pay for. The only thing it costs you is an hour of reading your own subscription list.
One caution when you cancel: export your data first, and remove the old tool's access to your Microsoft or Google account (in Microsoft Entra under Enterprise applications, or in your Google Account under Security > Your connections to third-party apps & services). A canceled app that can still read your mailbox is a risk you don't need. If you'd like help sorting out what you have, that's part of our managed IT services.
