Substack — A newsletter publishing platform where writers build a paid or free subscriber list and Substack takes a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue.
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
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Substack in 20 seconds
Best for: independent writers monetizing an email newsletter who want no upfront cost and are willing to give up 10% of subscription revenue
Pricing: Free to publish; Substack takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue plus Stripe's standard processing fee.
- Substack is free to use for publishing; it charges 10% of gross paid-subscription revenue plus Stripe's processing fee.
- On a $10/month subscription, a writer keeps approximately $8.40 after Substack's and Stripe's fees.
- Payment processing runs exclusively through Stripe, which limits availability in some countries.
- Writers retain ownership of their subscriber list and can export it to leave the platform.
- Substack has a 3.8/5 rating from 13 reviews on Product Hunt.
Limitations: 10% revenue cut becomes more expensive than flat-fee competitors as a paid subscriber base grows.; Stripe-only payment processing excludes writers in countries without Stripe support.; The editor lacks the formatting and layout control of dedicated CMS tools like WordPress or Ghost.; No built-in support for one-time payments or non-subscription monetization models.
Top alternatives: Beehiiv, Ghost, ConvertKit, Medium — full list
What is Substack?
Substack is a newsletter publishing platform: writers compose posts in a built-in editor, Substack emails them to subscribers and also hosts them on a website under the writer's own subdomain or custom domain. Writers can offer both free and paid subscription tiers on the same publication, gating some posts to paying subscribers only. Substack handles email delivery, payment collection (via Stripe), subscriber management, and a discovery layer through its 'Notes' short-form feed and recommendation network between publications. There is no monthly platform fee; Substack's business model is a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue, so writers with no paying subscribers pay nothing. The editor is comparatively basic next to dedicated CMS tools, with limited HTML control and formatting options compared to WordPress or Ghost.
Substack is a publishing platform for independent writers, journalists, and podcasters to send email newsletters and host a website, with tools for free and paid subscriptions, live chat with readers, and a short-form 'Notes' feed for discovery. Publishing is free; Substack makes money by taking 10% of gross revenue from paid subscriptions, on top of Stripe's standard payment-processing fee of roughly 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, so a writer charging $10/month keeps around $8.40 per subscriber. Writers retain ownership of their subscriber list and can export it and migrate off the platform at any time. Substack competes with Beehiiv, Ghost, and ConvertKit for newsletter monetization, and with Medium for general-purpose writing and discovery.
Standout feature: A built-in discovery network (Notes and cross-publication recommendations) that helps new writers find their first paying subscribers without an existing email list.
Biggest weakness: Substack only supports Stripe for payment processing, which locks out writers in countries where Stripe isn't available, and the post editor lacks the formatting, HTML, and layout control of a dedicated CMS like WordPress or Ghost.
Pros
- No monthly fee; Substack only makes money when a writer earns paid-subscription revenue.
- Writers keep full ownership of their subscriber list and can export it to another platform at any time.
- Built-in discovery through Notes and cross-publication recommendations helps new writers find readers.
- Free and paid tiers, live chat, and podcast hosting are included on every publication with no add-on fees.
Cons
- 10% platform fee plus Stripe processing costs eat into revenue at every price point, more expensive at scale than flat-fee platforms like Ghost.
- Payment processing is Stripe-only, excluding writers in countries where Stripe doesn't operate.
- The post editor is basic: limited layout control, no custom HTML, fewer formatting options than WordPress or Ghost.
- Established writers with large paid lists often migrate to flat-fee platforms once the percentage cut exceeds a fixed subscription cost.
Substack pricing
Free · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free publishing | Free | No cost to write and send a newsletter with no paid subscriptions; Substack charges nothing until a writer turns on paid subscriptions. |
| Paid subscriptions | Custom | Substack takes 10% of gross paid-subscription revenue, plus Stripe's standard processing fee (about 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the US); the writer sets the subscriber price. |
What reviewers say
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