Withdrawal button vs. cancellation button — the difference explained

Since 1 July 2022, online shops in Germany have had to offer a cancellation button. From 19 June 2026, the withdrawal button is added. Many shop operators wonder: aren’t these the same buttons? The short answer is: no – they govern fundamentally different situations. This article shows you the most important differences and why many shops actually need both buttons.

Two buttons, one goal

The cancellation button and the withdrawal button share a common goal: they should allow consumers to end a contractual relationship online just as easily as they entered into it. Both are based on the principle „ending a contract should be as easy as the click on Buy“. Both require a two-step process with clear labelling, both require an immediate electronic confirmation and both prohibit hidden login hurdles.

Legally, however, they govern different phases of a contract: the withdrawal button applies in the first 14 days after the contract is concluded, while the consumer still has a statutory right of withdrawal. The cancellation button, by contrast, applies to ongoing continuing obligations, i.e. subscriptions and recurring services, where the consumer wishes to end the contract in the normal way. Both rights exist in parallel and do not exclude each other.

In many discussion forums, and even in some specialist articles, the two buttons are wrongly used as synonyms. This confusion can be expensive: anyone who labels a withdrawal button as a „Cancel“ button or vice versa fulfils neither of the two legal obligations – and at the same time risks two warning letters.

The cancellation button under § 312k BGB

The cancellation button has been mandatory in Germany since 1 July 2022 and was introduced with the „Act on Fair Consumer Contracts“. It applies to all continuing obligations that can be concluded online – so typically streaming subscriptions, mobile phone contracts, gym memberships, newspaper subscriptions and SaaS products. The only exceptions are certain financial-services contracts and contracts for which the law prescribes a particular form (e.g. written form).

The button must carry the label „Cancel contracts here“. After the click, the customer is taken to a confirmation form where they must specify the type of cancellation (ordinary or extraordinary), the desired termination date and details for unique identification. They then click the confirmation button „Cancel now“. The provider must confirm receipt and the validity of the cancellation without undue delay by email. Important: the cancellation button must be permanently reachable and without a prior login – a common source of error among SaaS providers who hid their cancellation function behind the customer area.

The withdrawal button under § 356a BGB

The withdrawal button is introduced by the new § 356a BGB, which transposes Directive (EU) 2023/2673 into German law. It applies to all distance contracts concluded with consumers where a statutory right of withdrawal exists – so in particular to classic goods purchases in the online shop, but also to service contracts, digital content (where no exclusion applies) and hybrid forms.

The button must carry the label „Withdraw from contract“ (or a correspondingly unambiguous wording). After the click, a form opens where the consumer can enter their name, means of contact and optionally an order reference and free text. With a second click on „Confirm withdrawal“, the withdrawal is finally triggered. The shop operator must confirm receipt without undue delay by email on a durable medium. Unlike the cancellation button, the withdrawal button does not require any details on the type of cancellation or the termination date – the withdrawal automatically affects the entire contract and renders it retroactively void.

Another important difference: the withdrawal button only has to be reachable during the withdrawal period, i.e. usually 14 days from receipt of the goods. In practice, however, it makes sense to display the button permanently – firstly because consumers otherwise cannot find it, and secondly because the shop operator cannot technically control the individual deadline per customer anyway.

Direct comparison: the most important differences

The following list shows the key differences at a glance. It also serves as a checklist for your shop: question each point individually and check whether your current implementation matches the correct law in each case.

• Legal basis: cancellation button = § 312k BGB, withdrawal button = § 356a BGB
• Applies since: 1 July 2022 (cancellation) vs. 19 June 2026 (withdrawal)
• Applies to: continuing obligations (cancellation) vs. distance contracts with a right of withdrawal (withdrawal)
• Temporal scope: throughout the entire contract term (cancellation) vs. 14 days from receipt of the goods (withdrawal)
• Step 1 label: „Cancel contracts here“ vs. „Withdraw from contract“
• Step 2 label: „Cancel now“ vs. „Confirm withdrawal“
• Mandatory fields: type of cancellation, termination date (cancellation) vs. name, means of contact (withdrawal)
• Confirmation: both buttons require an immediate acknowledgement of receipt by email

As a shop operator, do I need both buttons?

That depends on your business model. Three typical scenarios:

1. Classic goods shop without subscriptions: you only need the withdrawal button under § 356a BGB. The cancellation button is not relevant because there are no continuing obligations. This applies, for example, to fashion shops, electronics retailers, furniture stores and most B2C goods providers.
2. Pure subscription shop (e.g. SaaS, streaming): you need the cancellation button under § 312k BGB. In addition, you must check whether a statutory right of withdrawal exists – for purely digital content there are narrow exceptions, but not for most subscriptions. When in doubt: better to offer a withdrawal button than to be warned afterwards.
3. Hybrid model (goods + subscriptions): you need both buttons. This applies, for example, to coffee roasteries with one-off and subscription orders, shops with service contracts, software providers with physical accessories, or magazine publishers with single issues and subscriptions.

If you are unsure which case applies to you, ask yourself the following question: „Do I conclude a one-off contract with my customers or an ongoing contractual relationship?“ For a one-off purchase, the withdrawal button is relevant. For an ongoing contractual relationship, it is the cancellation button – and if the consumer wishes to dissolve the ongoing relationship within the first 14 days, that is technically a withdrawal, not a cancellation.

Technical implementation without double effort

The good news: anyone who has already integrated a cancellation button already knows the technical requirements for the withdrawal button. Both buttons follow the same basic principle: they must be placed clearly visibly, must not require a login, and must send an automatic email confirmation. The documentation obligations are also similar – both require a complete record of which declaration was received and when.

We recommend using a dedicated, specialised solution for each button. An all-purpose solution that covers both buttons sounds convenient – but quickly runs into conflicts with the different mandatory fields and deadlines of the two laws. In practice, it has proven effective to place two separate buttons in the footer: one for cancellation (where relevant) and one for withdrawal. This way it is immediately clear to the consumer which tool to use for their particular concern, and you as the shop operator stay on the safe side during audits and warning letters.

A common mistake in practice: shop operators copy the configuration of their cancellation button and only adjust the label. This overlooks the fact that the withdrawal button has different mandatory fields (name and means of contact instead of type of cancellation and date) and that the email acknowledgement of receipt must carry additional content, such as the full wording of the withdrawal declaration.

You can find background on the obligation and the technical implementation of the withdrawal button in our articles Withdrawal Button Obligation 2026 and § 356a BGB explained. A free demo of the two-step process can be found on the home page.

Conclusion

The cancellation button and the withdrawal button are two different legal obligations with different scopes of application, labels and mandatory fields. Many shop operators need both. Anyone who has operated a cancellation button since July 2022 should not confuse it with the withdrawal button – the two obligations exist independently of each other. By 19 June 2026 at the latest, every B2C shop with withdrawable contracts must provide a compliant withdrawal button.

Our recommendation: check today which of the two obligations applies to your business model, and plan the implementation in good time before the deadline. Use the difference between the two buttons even as a quality signal towards your customers – a clearly structured footer with separate, correctly labelled buttons signals professionalism and legal certainty. From 19 June 2026, enforcement associations will pay particular attention to mix-ups and incorrect labelling, because these are easy to document.