You can cancel a Planet Fitness membership without going in person by mailing a signed cancellation letter to your home club by certified mail, and, depending on where you live and how you signed up, you may also have an online cancellation option under federal or state law. The certified-mail route is the most reliable because it produces proof of delivery; the online route is newer and not yet consistently offered by every club. Whichever path you take, the letter or request has to reach the gym by the 10th of the month to stop the next month’s dues.
Send a Certified Letter to Your Home Club
Certified mail is the method that has worked longest and still works everywhere. You send the letter to the specific Planet Fitness location where your membership is registered, not to a corporate address. Find the club’s mailing address on the Planet Fitness website’s club locator page.
Use USPS Certified Mail with a Return Receipt. Certified Mail is $5.30, and the Return Receipt adds $4.40 for the physical green card or $2.82 for the electronic version.1USPS. Shipping Insurance and Delivery Services For roughly $8 to $10, you get a tracking number and a signed receipt showing someone at the gym accepted the letter. Keep that receipt. If a charge posts after delivery is confirmed and inside the notice window, the receipt is what lets you dispute the charge with your bank.
What to Put in the Letter
The letter is short, but it has to include every field the gym uses to locate your account:
- Full legal name as it appears on your Planet Fitness account
- Membership ID number, found on your key tag, in the mobile app under “My Membership,” or on the PDF of your original contract
- Home club name and address
- Current mailing address, email, and phone number on file
- Date of the letter
- A clear cancellation statement, such as “I am requesting immediate cancellation of my Planet Fitness membership”
- A request for written confirmation that billing has stopped
- Your signature
If you cannot find your membership ID, open the Planet Fitness app, go to “My Membership,” then “Contracts and Files,” and download the contract PDF. The number appears at the top. If nothing is stored there, call the home club and ask them to look it up by name and email. You do not have to give a reason for canceling.
Timing: the 10th of the Month and the Annual Fee
Your cancellation has to arrive by the 10th of the month to stop billing for the following month. If it lands on the 12th, you will be charged one more month of dues. Mail your letter early enough that postal transit does not push you past the deadline.
The annual fee is a separate charge, $49 at most locations, billed roughly two months after signup on the 1st of that month. To avoid it, your cancellation must be processed by the 25th of the month before it is due. Once the annual fee posts, it is generally nonrefundable.
Monthly dues currently run $15 for the Classic plan and $24.99 for the Black Card tier. If you are inside a 12-month commitment and cancel early, Planet Fitness charges a $58 buyout fee on top of your final month’s dues. Month-to-month memberships have no buyout fee.
Online Cancellation Under Federal and State Law
The FTC finalized its click-to-cancel rule in October 2024, with most provisions taking effect in mid-2025. It is codified at 16 CFR Part 425 and covers recurring subscription and negative-option programs, including gym memberships.2Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule The rule requires that canceling be as easy as signing up.3Legal Information Institute. 16 CFR Part 425 – Negative Option Rule If you enrolled online or through the app, the company must offer a simple online way to cancel. If you signed up in person, the rule still requires a simple cancellation path but gives the business more flexibility.
Planet Fitness’s public FAQ still directs members to cancel in person or by mail, which may lag the federal rule. If you try to cancel digitally and the club refuses, citing 16 CFR Part 425 in your communications gives you a legal basis, and you can file a complaint with the FTC.
California
California’s automatic renewal law requires any business that lets consumers sign up online to also let them cancel online, without extra steps. The business must offer either a prominent cancel button in account settings or a pre-formatted cancellation email the consumer can send without adding information.4California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 17602 – Automatic Purchase Renewals If you joined Planet Fitness online while living in California, the gym must provide an equivalent online cancellation method.
New York
New York requires health clubs to accept cancellations through multiple channels, including the club’s website, email, telephone, and mail, alongside in-person requests.5New York State Attorney General. Health Clubs and Gyms That is broader than the standard national Planet Fitness policy. New York members can point to this rule if a club tries to limit them to mail or in-person cancellation.
Other states have their own health club cancellation protections. Check your state attorney general’s website if California and New York do not apply to you.
Blocking the Charge at Your Bank
Federal law gives you the right to stop a preauthorized recurring electronic payment. Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, you can order your bank to block a specific recurring charge by notifying it orally or in writing at least three business days before the next scheduled transfer.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693e – Preauthorized Transfers If you give oral notice, the bank can require written confirmation within 14 days.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation E – Section 1005.10 Preauthorized Transfers
A stop-payment does not cancel the membership contract. Planet Fitness can still treat your account as active and let an unpaid balance accumulate, which may go to collections. Use a bank stop-payment as a backup to a proper cancellation letter, not a replacement. It fits best when you have already sent the certified letter, confirmed delivery, and the gym charges you anyway.
Waiving the Buyout Fee for Relocation or Medical Reasons
If you are inside a commitment contract and would otherwise owe the $58 early termination fee, two hardship categories can waive it.
Relocation
Moving more than 25 miles from any Planet Fitness location typically qualifies you for penalty-free cancellation. Include proof with your letter: a copy of a new lease, a mortgage document, or a recent utility bill showing the new address.
Medical Inability
A medical condition that prevents you from using gym facilities can also waive the buyout fee. Include a signed letter from a licensed physician on office letterhead stating that you cannot use the gym. The letter does not have to disclose your diagnosis, only that you cannot use the facilities. Attach it to your certified mail packet with your cancellation letter.
Both waivers are part of the standard contract, not a favor at the front desk. If your documentation meets the requirements, the fee should be waived.
Why You Should Not Just Stop Paying
Walking away without canceling is the most expensive mistake in this process. Planet Fitness will keep billing, and when payments bounce or a card expires, the balance grows. The gym can send the debt to a third-party collections agency, and if that agency reports to the credit bureaus, the damage can be significant. A collections mark can stay on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of the first missed payment.
If you are already in that situation, federal debt collection law requires any collector who contacts you to send a written notice explaining the debt and your right to dispute it, and you can require the collector to communicate with you only in writing. The cheaper move is to send a proper cancellation letter now, even if you have not used the gym in months. A $10 certified letter costs far less than years of credit damage.