UpGrow Scam Warning: Billing Complaints, Refund Rules and Who Runs It

UpGrow (upgrow.com) sells monthly Instagram growth plans from $69 for the first month. Billing is the loudest complaint about it. "Unauthorized recurring charges continue even after canceling subscriptions," says Sitejabber's summary of the past year's reviews. UpGrow calls itself "a legitimate, subscription-based Instagram growth service" and says canceling takes "one click" from your billing settings.

We can't rule on fraud. This page sets UpGrow's own words next to what its customers, review sites and a company with the same name report, with dates. We read UpGrow's pages through our server on October 22 and 23, 2026, and didn't sign up.

"UpGrow" gets about 5,400 Google searches a month, and "upgrow reviews" about 390, by Google's Keyword Planner on October 23, 2026.

What UpGrow says, and what the record shows

Topic	UpGrow says	The record
Price	$69 first month	Renewal price shown at checkout
Canceling	"One click"	Page "often fails to load"
Charges	Stop when you cancel	Charges months after canceling
Refunds	"Grow or money back"	Only if no growth in 7 days
Support	"24/7 live chat"	Terms: "via email" only
Followers	"Real & Organic"	Terms warn of "fake, inactive" ones
Rating	4.98 stars	About 3.6 on Trustpilot
Founders	Bryan G., Jayden T.	2023 copy: Danny N., Ryder M.
Urgency	"5 SPOTS LEFT"	On every page we read

UpGrow's pages read through our server on October 22 and 23, 2026, and its about page of December 5, 2023 from the Internet Archive. Sitejabber read October 23, 2026. Trustpilot's figure from Feedbird, July 4, 2026.

What does UpGrow charge?

Basic costs $69 for the first month, Pro $99 and Turbo $129, by UpGrow's pricing page on October 22, 2026. Billed yearly, they come to $34, $49 and $64 a month. Each plan estimates a monthly follower range, from 1,000 to 2,000 on Basic up to 3,500 to 5,000+ on Turbo.

The first month is a discount. UpGrow's review page says a plan "then renews at the standard monthly rate shown before you pay," and that the renewal price "is disclosed at checkout" for each buyer. We didn't go that far, so we haven't seen it.

Reviewers quote what they paid later. A Sitejabber reviewer wrote on February 25, 2026 of "recurring charges of $299" after canceling, plus charges of $99 and $199. A Trustpilot review quoted on upgrow-warning.com lists $69, then $99, then $199 a month from September 2025 to March 2026.

Every UpGrow page we opened carried the same banner: "5 SPOTS LEFT All plans are now 60% OFF for a limited time!" over a countdown clock. The plan cards under it said "LIMITED 50% OFF" and "3 seats left" on the same day.

Can you cancel UpGrow easily?

UpGrow's pricing FAQ says to "go to your billing settings and click the cancel button" whenever you want. Many reviewers say that button didn't work for them.

• Sitejabber's summary, written by AI from the past year's reviews, says "The subscription management page often fails to load, preventing self-service cancellation" in its own words.
• A reviewer there wrote on February 20, 2026 that the "Manage Subscription" page "would not load," after charges of about $3,700.
• Another wrote on February 25, 2026 that they canceled in March 2025, and the charges came back in November 2025.
• A July 2026 Trustpilot review, as Feedbird quoted it, says "you cannot just cancel your subscription online through your account," after six months of billing.

A site that presents itself as one customer's account, upgrow-warning.com, lists four charges from December 25, 2025 to March 24, 2026. They came months after a cancellation and total 387.22 euros, with no refund. The site says the merchant name on the statements changed from "Upgrowcrm" to "UpGrowin" between charges.

What does UpGrow's refund promise cover?

UpGrow's pricing page leads with "Grow or money back" in its headline. Its terms, last updated December 20, 2025, narrow that down. They promise "a full monthly refund under our Real Growth Guarantee if the customer does not achieve net-positive Instagram growth after the first 7 days of service." So any gain in the first week ends the guarantee.

The only other refund is for an accidental charge, if you ask within 24 hours of the payment. "Under no other circumstances are refunds guaranteed to be provided," the terms add.

Disputes go to binding arbitration, with a class action waiver. The terms also say UpGrow "is not responsible if your account is terminated, banned, removed, or blocked by Instagram" while you subscribe.

Who runs UpGrow?

UpGrow's terms never name a company. They define "The Company" as UpGrow, with no address or registered name. The contact page gives one line, "Boerne, Texas 415 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94105, USA," which joins a Texas town to a San Francisco street address.

Its about page now names "Bryan G." as CEO and co-founder and "Jayden T." as CTO and co-founder. An Internet Archive copy of the same page from December 5, 2023 named "Danny N." as CEO and founder and "Ryder M." as CTO and founder. The same five other staff names appear on both versions. Both announce a $1 million seed round, led by "GGV Capital" in 2023 and by "VGG Capital" now.

There's a second company called Upgrow, a San Diego marketing agency at upgrow.io. On May 31, 2024, its co-founder Ryder Meehan posted that upgrow.com "is in no way affiliated with our company" and had "pretended to imitate our founders and team as their own." He added: "I promise Danny and I are not the founders of this company." The agency says it gets "emails and calls almost every day from Upgrow.com customers" and that it's pursuing "trademark, legal, and other means" to stop it.

UpGrow.com's review page calls itself "a separate, unaffiliated business from the unrelated website upgrow.io" and says a charge for one doesn't apply to the other. The upgrow.com address dates to April 4, 2010 in Verisign's registry, which doesn't show when the current business began. The Better Business Bureau lists Upgrow.com in San Francisco as not accredited, in Google's preview of its page.

What do review sites say about UpGrow?

• Sitejabber, which now opens as SmartCustomer, has 156 reviews of upgrow.com and shows its rating as "currently unavailable." Its summary says "No positive aspects were mentioned in the reviews" from the past year.
• Trustpilot stood at "about 3.6 from roughly 3,400 reviews," according to Feedbird on July 4, 2026. Feedbird added that Trustpilot was "flagging guideline breaches and removing fake reviews" on the profile. Feedbird sells a social media service too, and Trustpilot keeps our reader out.
• ScamAdviser rates upgrow.com "Very Likely Unsafe," with "a very low trust score," in a report two months old on October 23, 2026.
• UpGrow's own review page shows "4.98 from 1,585+ reviews" near the top and "4.98 /5 - from 58k reviews" further down. It also says "Trusted by 55,000+ customers" in one place and "50,000+ creators" in another.
• Reddit, in Google's previews: one user wrote "Upgrow is a scam" on April 3, 2024. Another wrote on April 1, 2024 that they "spent $400 over 3 months and only saw 1,500 new followers" from it.

If UpGrow keeps charging you

1. Cancel in your billing settings, and screenshot the confirmation.
2. Email support too, and keep every reply outside UpGrow's chat. The customer behind upgrow-warning.com says their chat history was deleted.
3. Check your card statements for "Upgrowcrm" or "UpGrowin," the merchant names that customer reported.
4. Dispute any charge you didn't agree to with your card issuer, and ask for a new card number if charges continue.
5. In the US, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Elsewhere, use your national consumer body.

UpGrow says it never asks for your Instagram password. If you gave any growth service your login, change your Instagram password now. Our guide to Instagram growth services compares UpGrow's prices and guarantees with six others, and Instagram growth scams covers the wider patterns.

A Better Alternative: HCLOUT

After reading UpGrow's record, you might wonder if there's a trustworthy way to grow your Instagram presence. We think there is, and we recommend HCLOUT. We sell followers and likes ourselves, so read this section as a seller's pitch.

One-time orders. HCLOUT sells single orders, so there's no monthly plan to cancel and nothing renews.

Real Instagram Followers. HCLOUT delivers real followers to your account. They cost $2.88 per 1,000 on our price list of October 23, 2026.

No password. HCLOUT never asks for your password.

Honest Pricing. What you see is what you pay. No surprise charges and no hidden fees.

Try it free first. Claim 12 free Instagram likes or 100 free Instagram views on a public post on the free page. A short Cloudflare check runs before each claim.

A 30-day refill that's actually honored on Instagram followers. If covered numbers drop within the guarantee window, request a refill from your order page. One condition: the profile has to still carry the username you ordered with.

Responsive Support. Real human support, 24/7.

Frequently asked questions

Is UpGrow a scam?

We can't make that legal call. Many reviewers report charges after they canceled, Sitejabber's summary found no positives, and a company with the same name calls upgrow.com an imitator. UpGrow says it's legitimate and that canceling takes one click.

Is UpGrow legit?

It's a real subscription that some buyers praise on Trustpilot. Its billing record is poor, though, and its terms limit refunds to the first week.

How much does UpGrow cost?

It's $69, $99 or $129 for the first month, or $34, $49 or $64 a month billed yearly. The price a plan renews at shows at checkout.

How do I cancel UpGrow?

UpGrow says to use the cancel button in your billing settings. If that page won't load, email its support, keep every reply, and watch your card statements.

Does UpGrow give refunds?

Its terms promise one only if you see no net-positive growth after the first 7 days, or for an accidental charge reported within 24 hours. No other refund is guaranteed.

Is UpGrow the same as upgrow.io?

No, and both say so. upgrow.io is a San Diego marketing agency, and upgrow.com sells Instagram growth plans.

Conclusion

UpGrow's promises read well: one-click canceling, money back and real followers. Its own terms are narrower, and Sitejabber's reviews from the past year describe charges after canceling. If you subscribe, keep proof of every cancellation and watch your statements.

If you'd rather skip a monthly plan, try HCLOUT's free tier and see the results on your own post first.

Sources

• UpGrow's pricing page (read October 22, 2026), review, about and contact pages and Terms of Service (last updated December 20, 2025), read October 23, 2026
• UpGrow's about page of December 5, 2023, Internet Archive copy, read October 23, 2026
• Upgrow (upgrow.io), "PSA: Upgrow.com Reviews, Beware of Imitators," May 31, 2024
• Sitejabber (SmartCustomer) page for upgrow.com and ScamAdviser report, read October 23, 2026
• Feedbird, "Feedbird vs UpGrow: Pricing & Review (2026)," July 4, 2026
• upgrow-warning.com, read October 23, 2026
• Verisign registry record for upgrow.com, read October 23, 2026
• Reddit r/InstagramMarketing (April 3, 2024), r/SocialMediaMarketing (April 1, 2024) and the Better Business Bureau, as Google showed them on October 23, 2026
• Google Ads Keyword Planner, worldwide, and Google US results, October 23, 2026