Academia Opiniões 815

Dark pattern subscription trap. I signed up for what appeared to be a $1 trial. On the last day today, April 24 without any reminder email, they charged $99 for a full year. When I contacted support requesting a refund within their own 30-day refund window (which is stated in their Terms of Service), they sent me the exact same automated response 3 times: "we're unable to process refunds for subscription renewals." Ticket #985831. I work for $4/hour. This $99 charge is nearly 4 days of my salary. Academia.edu deliberately targets researchers and academics people who need access to papers and traps them with hidden subscriptions. The $1 "trial" is designed to look like a one-time purchase. There is no reminder before the charge. Support is a bot. This is predatory billing targeting the academic community. Avoid at all costs.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Academia edu

At the last minute before an exam, I paid for access to a specific research article that I urgently needed. Instead of receiving the promised content, I was given a completely empty document. This was highly frustrating and unacceptable. I couldn’t imagine the page to take a single dollar more of my money, because of what I received and already paid for - a blank document.
I had to contact the original researcher to get the article.

Today I discovered that I had been automatically enrolled in a premium subscription without clear or transparent consent, and 123,75 USD was reserved from my account. This was neither clearly communicated nor fairly presented. Which I can read is the problem for many people.

I have not used the service since this incident, and I didn’t even get the service a already paid for.

It is unacceptable to charge users for content that is not delivered as advertised, while also enrolling them into subscriptions without explicit and informed agreement. I will never understand that people in their right mind can get them selves to mislead and take advantage of people and their money like this. It is so wrong.

I do not intend to use the platform again and strongly encourage others to be cautious.

I have contacted them through email and will be updating this

This was partly my problem for not checking reviews. I assumed they were associated with universities. Initially I purchased 1 paper for $3 Aus. Somehow with this purchase they kept my card details and a few days later, without my knowledge, took $191.47 from my credit card account.

I contacted Academia immediately. Asked for a refund. The company spiel said - refunded within 30 days if not happy.

They replied within 24 hours to say NO refund. I had purchased a Premium Account! I still dont know how this happened, its set-up very covertly. Why anyone wants to make money in this devious manner actually shocks me.

Im changing my credit card to ensure they have no access.

I subscribed to Academia.edu for a $1 trial, and a year later I was charged $99 without any warning or reminder.
What’s worse, I had already canceled my subscription, yet it somehow renewed anyway. When I reached out, they refused to issue a refund. The whole flow feels misleading and poorly designed, making it far too easy to get charged unintentionally.
The “.edu” branding is also confusing and gives a false sense of legitimacy. Overall, this experience feels deceptive and very frustrating.
Be extremely careful — what looks like a cheap trial can quietly turn into a $99 charge with no heads-up.

Der letzte Dreck, Abzocke! Kündigung wird geschickt in den Spamordner geleitet, damit man keinen Nachweis hat. Aber ich habe es rechtzeitig bemerkt!

I was charged for a subscription renewal that I did not want. I had already canceled my subscription, but somehow it renewed anyways. Then they wouldn't refund me, I assume because they have a nice embezzlement scheme going with this type of UI snafu. Very annoying. Also EDU is misleading, bad marketing.

Jacked up annual subscription costs by almost 100% in one year. I didn’t see the email. Fortunately my credit card tagged the renewal as suspicious and declined it. Goodbye forever, Academia, for being so greedy and avaricious. Look that up in your scholarly articles.

Friday, 04/10/2026 - Allegedly from 2/01 until (today) the writing of this review), I went and removed a pre-paper I wrote on the Traditional Mount Sinai, that had been on Academia.edy for several years. I removed it because I had a book coming out and was ready to start promoting it around 2/10/2026. However, it kept popping back up for people kept reading it up to even today. I figure this cost me at least allegedly a good faith Estimate of $10,000.00 in book sales.

Academia.edu used to be a good service. It's no longer affordable for most people, certainly not for retired people, and many people are complaining about the grotesque price increase. It was 150%, in my case, from $200 to $499, aka $500, via a notification I never saw. I learned about the price increase when I found the shocking charge on my credit card. They refused to give a refund, and I later learned that that is illegal, according to Claude AI, under California Law AB 2863 (effective July 1, 2025), California Bus. & Prof. Code 17602 and 17603.

I'm going to file complaints with the California Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and then sue Academia.edu. Too bad. I was looking forward to continuing to patronize Academia.edu in my retirement. What a shame when a company behaves this way!

Unethical practices- charged me with for a year's subscription without my approval. I complained directly to them via email and they attempted to shame me with "all the good work we are doing"

Shame on you!!!

This is a very poor service. The automatic renewal will hit you without asking if you want to renew it. Scam.

Why aren't there negative numbers?
Academia has always been just shy of useless. Instead of suggesting new topics, I would get recommendations for the same article over and over and OVER again.
I got the trial premium membership with the intention of cancelling after I got what I needed. That's what I did. I have witnesses. So imagine my surprise when I was charged $159 for the year.
Email subject: NO
Body (emended) I cancelled this a month ago. Give me my money back.
Them: Nope, not refundable but you're helping out a GREAT organization!
Me: Give me my money back. I'm an artist, I don't have that kind of cash just lying around.
Them: You snooze you lose. But we'll cancel your autopay for next year...
Me: You know, I didn't get an email when I cancelled the first time, and I didn't get one when you cancelled the autopay. Hmmmm.
I go to Paypal and repeat this to them.
Suddenly my money reappeared as if by magic.
I will never, ever use that site again.

UPDATE: They claimed that because I cancelled so close to the registration date (It was a WEEK!), the cancellation didn't show up, and they had refunded my money because that change had only caught up with them now (or some such). Utter crap.

I 1st subscribed to Academia.edu in 2019, it cost £69/year. It gives you access to a large library of academic papers which is somewhat useful but the downside is they are not new papers and the newer ones are on obscure subjects and low rated authors. The main problem is massive price rises and they don't inform you first. Last year the subscription was £162 this year £334 and they refused to refund when I wanted to cancel the subs.

Questa è una truffa legalizzata. Non so come abbiano fatto non ho mai dato consenso a niente eppure mi hanno addebitato un costo di 157 euro direttamente nella mia carta. Premetto che ho mai consultato articoli perché non ne ho trovati di mio gradimento. Alla richiesta del rimborso mi è stato risposto che è passato più di un mese e non possono concedermelo, letteralmente il pagamento fraudolento mi è stato imposto ieri. Persone non serie ora procederò segnalando alla banca, cambiando la carta e per vie legali.

Heb abonnement tot november 2026, desondanks probeert Academia herhaaldelijk meer dan €400,-- van mijn rekening af te schrijven.

The level of coercion, the pitfalls and the greed of Academia.edu have reached such proportions that one should cease working with and submitting to this platform. It is also disgusting trying to consult Academia.edu and see how they exploit academics.

Mi è stato addebitato alle 2 della notte un abbonamento premium da più di 150 euro non acconsentito da me, considerando che non uso il sito da più di un mese non capisco come è potuto accadere, ho infatti pagato solo 1 euro al tempo. Richiedo un immediato rimborso e la conferma della disdetta dell'abbonamento altrimenti provvederò per vie legali.

Afzetterij. Op een misleidende manier schrijven ze geld af. Als zoveel mensen hiermee een probleem hebben, moet je als bedrijf echt naar jezelf kijken en concluderen dat deze manier van “subscriptions” misleidend is. Ik hoop mijn geld terug te krijgen. Dit bedrijf toont weinig integriteit.

just took £80 out of my daughter in laws
account NOT AUTHORISED

Ho aderito sfortunatamente anni fa per poi cancellare l abbonamento. Nonostante ciò ogni tanto persistono nel DERUBARE soldi sul mio conto. Evitateli. Pessimi.