Substack
Free to publish, 10% of revenue when you charge readers
Substack is a publishing platform that costs nothing until you charge readers, then takes 10% of subscription revenue plus Stripe fees. It bundles a blog, newsletter, podcast, video and a social discovery network with almost no setup. It suits writers who want to start immediately and grow inside its ecosystem.
Pricing verified on 10 August 2026 · Entry last reviewed 10 August 2026
Substack at a glance
Features
- Yes: Paid subscriptions
- Yes: Referral program
- No: Landing pages
- Yes: Custom domain
- No: API
- No: A/B testing
Data and compliance
- No: EU hosting
- Yes: GDPR DPA
- Yes: List export
What Substack is
Substack removed every decision between writing something and sending it. There is no theme to pick, no domain to configure, no plan to choose. You write, you press send, and the archive, the subscribe page, the payments and the app all exist already.
That simplicity is the product, and it is also the constraint. Substack is not a website builder and does not want to be. What you get is a Substack publication that can wear your domain name, not a site you own outright.
Pricing
The economics are unusual: nothing until you monetise, then 10% of subscription revenue forever, plus Stripe’s processing fee. On a $10 subscription you keep about $8.40.
That is the best deal available at zero revenue and the worst at high revenue. The crossover comes earlier than people expect. At around $500 a month in subscriptions, Substack’s cut already exceeds what Beehiiv or Ghost would charge you as a flat fee, and the gap widens from there.
What it does well
- The fastest path from idea to published newsletter, by a wide margin
- Discovery that actually works: recommendations, Notes and the app bring subscribers you did not go looking for
- Paid subscriptions run through your own Stripe account, so the customer relationship is genuinely yours
- Podcast and video hosting included at no extra cost
Where it falls short
- 10% of revenue is the most expensive monetisation model here once you are earning
- Almost no automation: no sequences, no visual workflows, no meaningful segmentation
- No public API, which rules out most custom integrations
- SEO authority accrues partly to substack.com rather than entirely to you, even with a custom domain
Who Substack is for
A good fit
Writers who want to publish today with zero setup and grow through Substack's own recommendation and social network.
- Writers who have not published yet, where setup friction is a real risk of never starting
- Free newsletters of any size, since unlimited subscribers genuinely cost nothing
- Publications relying on discovery, where recommendations and Notes bring readers you never went looking for
- Podcasters and video creators, since hosting for both is bundled at no extra cost
Not a fit
You earn meaningful subscription revenue, need automation or an API, or want your archive to build SEO authority on your own domain.
- Subscription revenue is past roughly $500 a month, where the 10% exceeds any flat fee , use Beehiiv instead
- You need sequences, segmentation or real automation , use Kit instead
- You want the archive's SEO authority to accrue entirely to your own domain , use Ghost instead
Alternatives to Substack
Beehiiv
Creator-first newsletter platform with monetisation built in
$43/mo · Free plan: 2,500 subscribersGhost
Open-source CMS, newsletter and memberships on your own domain
$15/mo · Free plan: NoButtondown
Minimalist markdown newsletter tool with an API and no bloat
$9/mo · Free plan: 100 subscribersSubstack FAQ
How much does Substack cost?
Publishing is free with unlimited subscribers. If you charge readers, Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue and Stripe takes roughly 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, so you keep about 87% of a paid subscription.
Is Substack really free?
Yes, for free newsletters, with no subscriber cap and no monthly fee. The cost only appears when you monetise, which is why it is the cheapest way to start and one of the most expensive ways to run a large paid publication.
When does Substack stop being worth it?
Roughly when 10% of your revenue exceeds a flat platform fee. At $1,000 a month in subscriptions you are paying $100 to Substack; a flat-fee platform would charge $43 to $96 for the same thing. The switch point is lower than most writers expect.
Can you move your list off Substack?
Yes. Substack exports subscribers, including paid ones, to CSV. Paid subscriptions are held in your own Stripe account, so the billing relationship moves with you, which is unusual and genuinely good.
Does Substack help you grow?
More than any competitor. Recommendations, Notes and the app put your publication in front of readers who already subscribe to similar writers. For many people this network is the entire reason to accept the 10%.
Whichever platform you pick
Niusleters is where you get paid for it: publish your newsletter, set your price and let brands find you.
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