US · settled · ~5 min read
Noom automatic-renewal class settlement
2016–2022 · digital health apps, subscription apps, startups and growth companies, negative-option billing
Noom’s growth machine—free trials into auto-renew plans—sparked a class action that settled for about $62 million. Even without an FTC caption, subscription startups can face bet-the-company consumer litigation.
The story
Noom marketed behavioral weight-loss coaching through an app. Trials converted into multi-month prepaid plans. Plaintiffs said the path out was far harder than the path in, and that ‘risk-free’ messaging conflicted with steep nonrefundable renewals.
Rather than try the case to verdict, Noom negotiated a large settlement fund while denying liability. For a still-maturing tech brand, the cash and brand hit rivalled many agency fines.
Paired with ABCmouse, Noom shows the two tracks startups face: public FTC enforcement and private class actions covering the same cancel/renew playbook.
Why it matters
Private suits can exceed agency penalties for mid-stage companies.
Trial-to-paid UX is a board-level compliance issue.
Health and wellness apps face heightened consumer scrutiny.
What was claimed
Deceptive trial and auto-renewal practices.
Unfairly difficult cancellation.
Unauthorized or unexpected recurring charges.
The other side
Noom denied wrongdoing and said disclosures and cancel processes complied with law.
Settlement is not an admission of liability.
What it means for you
Price cancel friction as a legal risk, not a retention feature.
Budget reserves if you run aggressive trial funnels at scale.
Align marketing claims with the actual cancel path before launch ads.
Bottom line
Noom’s class settlement proves growth-stage consumer apps can face eight-figure market-conduct costs without being monopolists.
Timeline
2016–2021
Hypergrowth subscriptions
Noom scaled trial funnels and auto-renew Healthy Weight plans; consumer complaints about cancel difficulty mounted.
2022
Class settlement
Parties filed a preliminary settlement valued around $62 million in cash and credits.
Key dates
- Class period (alleged)
- 2016 onward
- Settlement announced
- February 2022
Formal snapshot
Summary: Weight-loss app Noom—a high-growth startup at the time—agreed to a roughly $62 million class settlement over claims that ‘risk-free’ trials rolled into pricey auto-renewing plans that were hard to cancel. Private consumer enforcement can hit scaling companies as hard as agency actions.
Regulator / plaintiff argument: Plaintiffs alleged deceptive trial-to-paid conversion and cancellation friction that locked consumers into months of nonrefundable charges.
Outcome: February 2022 proposed class settlement reported at about $56 million cash plus $6 million in subscription credits; company denied wrongdoing while resolving the case.
Remedies: Cash and credit fund for class members; practice changes negotiated in settlement.
Conduct tags
Laws referenced
- FTC Act §5 — 15 U.S.C. §45
Companies
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