by Esma Calis · Last updated: 2026-07-06

How to Cancel Campaign Monitor: Step-by-Step, What to Export First, and What Happens to Your Data

To cancel Campaign Monitor, export your contacts, templates, and reports first, then close or downgrade the account from your account or billing settings while signed in as the account owner. Campaign Monitor’s official help center holds the current click path and any data-retention rules, so confirm the exact wording there before you finalize.

You have already made the decision, so this guide is not here to talk you out of it. It is here to make sure you leave with everything you built: your subscriber lists, your best-performing templates, and the performance history that took months to accumulate. Cancel in the wrong order and some of that becomes hard to recover.

Below is the clean exit: what to save, how the cancellation actually works, what happens to your data afterward, and a short, honest list of where switchers tend to land.

New here? Start with our primer on Email Platform Comparisons for the fundamentals, then come back to this guide.

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What should you export before you cancel Campaign Monitor?

Export five things before you cancel: your contact lists, your segments and their rules, your email templates, your automation logic, and your campaign reports. Once an account is closed, some of this becomes difficult or impossible to retrieve, so treat the export step as non-negotiable and do it while your account is still fully active.

Work through the list in order. Each item below explains what to save and why it matters after you have moved to a new platform.

Contacts and subscriber lists

Your subscriber lists are the single most valuable asset in the account. Export every list as a CSV, including custom fields, subscription dates, and consent or opt-in status where available. Keep unsubscribed and bounced contacts in a separate file too: you are legally required to honor prior unsubscribes, and importing them cleanly into your next tool depends on knowing who they are.

Segments and their rules

A segment is a saved query, and the CSV export only captures the people in it, not the logic that defined it. Before you cancel, screenshot or write down each segment’s rules: the fields, conditions, and thresholds. Rebuilding “engaged in the last 90 days” or “opened but did not click” in a new platform is fast when you have the recipe and slow when you are guessing.

Templates and brand assets

Save your email templates so months of design work does not vanish. Export the HTML where the platform allows it, and separately archive your logo files, hero images, and any hosted images referenced by URL inside those templates. Images hosted on Campaign Monitor may stop loading once the account closes, so download local copies now and plan to re-upload them wherever you land.

Automation and journey logic

Automations rarely export cleanly from any platform, so document them by hand. For each journey, note the trigger, every wait or delay, branching conditions, and the exact order of emails. Screenshot the flow builder. This map is what lets you rebuild welcome series, abandoned-cart flows, and re-engagement journeys in a day instead of reverse-engineering them from memory later.

Campaign reports and performance history

Your reporting is your baseline. Export or screenshot open rates, click rates, and any revenue data across your recent campaigns before you lose access. You will want these numbers to judge whether your new platform performs better or worse, and to keep a record of send history for compliance and internal reporting. Once the account is gone, this history typically goes with it.

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How do you cancel Campaign Monitor step by step?

You cancel Campaign Monitor from inside your account, signed in as the account owner, through the account or billing settings. Menu labels and the precise sequence can change as the interface updates, so the reliable approach is to follow the steps in Campaign Monitor’s own help center rather than a fixed set of clicks that may drift out of date.

The general shape of the process is consistent across most email platforms, and Campaign Monitor is no exception. Here is what to expect.

1. Sign in as the account owner. Billing and closure actions are usually restricted to the owner, not standard team members. If you are not the owner, you may need to have that person cancel or transfer ownership first.
2. Finish exporting. Confirm every item on the checklist above is saved locally before you touch any cancellation button.
3. Open your account or billing settings. Look for the billing, plan, or subscription area where your plan and payment details live.
4. Choose to close or downgrade. Decide whether you are fully closing the account or moving to a lower or free tier as an interim step.
5. Confirm and save the confirmation. Complete any confirmation prompt, then keep the confirmation email or reference for your records.

Because the exact labels and screens are subject to change, follow the current click path in the official Campaign Monitor help center, which reflects any updates to account closure and billing at the time you cancel. If a step in this guide does not match what you see, trust the help center.

What happens to your data after you cancel Campaign Monitor?

After you cancel, billing stops according to your plan’s cycle and your data is retained or deleted according to Campaign Monitor’s current data-retention policy. The specific timing of both, when the last charge lands and how long your data stays recoverable, is set by Campaign Monitor and can change, so confirm the current windows in their help center before you rely on any figure.

What is safe to plan around are the general behaviors that apply to most email platforms:

• Access ends or is reduced. Once closed, you typically lose the ability to send campaigns and, often, to view historical reports. This is exactly why the export step comes first.
• Hosted images and links may break. Anything served from the platform, including images embedded in past emails, can stop resolving after closure.
• Reactivation is sometimes possible for a limited period. Some platforms let you reopen a recently closed account and recover data within a window. Do not assume this applies indefinitely; verify the current terms.

The honest summary: treat cancellation as the point of no return for your data unless the official policy explicitly says otherwise. If reactivation or a grace period matters to you, read those terms carefully before you confirm, and keep your exported files regardless.

Can you get a refund from Campaign Monitor?

Whether you can get a refund, and how partial months are handled, depends on Campaign Monitor’s current billing and refund policy at the time you cancel. We are not going to publish a percentage or a rule here, because refund terms change and an outdated number could cost you money or set the wrong expectation.

What we can tell you is how to get the correct answer for your account. Check your plan type first: monthly and annual subscriptions are usually treated differently, and prepaid annual plans often follow different rules than pay-as-you-go sending. Then read the billing terms in Campaign Monitor’s help center, and if anything is unclear, contact their billing support directly and ask two plain questions: will I be charged again, and am I eligible for any refund on the current period. Keep the written answer.

Where should you go after Campaign Monitor?

The right next platform depends on why you are leaving. If pricing pushed you out, prioritize transparent, contact-based plans. If support was the problem, prioritize a vendor that answers real people quickly. If the tool felt heavier than your needs, look for something you can run without a specialist. Match your top reason for leaving to a platform’s actual strengths rather than its longest feature list.

Mailsoftly is built for teams who want exactly that: clear pricing, human support, and a hands-on migration so you are not rebuilding lists and templates alone. Plans start free with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, and paid tiers begin at $39 per month on annual billing (as of 2026-04-15) for 5,000 contacts and 40,000 emails. You can see the full breakdown on the Mailsoftly pricing page and decide whether it fits before you move anything over.

Whichever direction you choose, do the comparison honestly. Line up your must-haves, the contact volume you actually send to, and the support level you need, then pick on evidence. Our broader guide can help you weigh the options side by side without the marketing gloss.

For the broader picture on this topic, see our complete Email Platform Comparisons guide, which covers strategy, fundamentals, and advanced playbooks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does canceling Campaign Monitor delete your campaign reports?

Once the account closes you typically lose the ability to send and often the ability to view historical reports, and how long data stays recoverable is governed by Campaign Monitor’s current data retention policy. That is why the export step comes first: save your reports and lists locally before you touch the cancellation flow.

Can I get a refund from Campaign Monitor?

It depends on your plan and Campaign Monitor’s current refund policy, which is set by them and can change. Monthly, annual, and pay-as-you-go accounts are often treated differently. Check the billing terms in Campaign Monitor’s official help center and, if in doubt, ask their billing support directly whether you are eligible before you close the account. We deliberately do not quote a refund figure here because an outdated one could mislead you.

What happens to my contacts after I cancel Campaign Monitor?

Once your account is closed, you typically lose access to your contacts inside the platform, and how long they are retained afterward follows Campaign Monitor’s data-retention policy. That is precisely why you should export every list, including unsubscribed and bounced contacts, as CSV before you cancel. Treat the exported files as your permanent copy rather than assuming you can retrieve contacts later.

Can I pause Campaign Monitor instead of canceling?

Some plans allow a softer exit than a full close, such as downgrading to a lower tier, but pause and downgrade options vary and are set by Campaign Monitor. If you want to keep your data and stop or reduce billing without fully closing the account, check the available options in your billing settings or ask their support what your specific plan permits before you commit to closure.

Do I need to be the account owner to cancel?

Usually, yes. Billing and account-closure actions are generally limited to the account owner rather than standard team members. If you are not the owner, either have that person perform the cancellation or arrange to transfer ownership first. Confirm the exact permission requirements in Campaign Monitor’s help center if you are unsure who on your team holds the necessary access.

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Esma Calis

Email Marketing Specialist at Mailsoftly

Esma is an Email Marketing Specialist at Mailsoftly who focuses on design best practices, newsletter strategy, and helping brands build stronger relationships with their subscribers through compelling email content.