Substack pricing
How Substack charges, what to know before you commit, and what you'd pay at your usage — next to what the alternatives would cost for the same thing.
How it charges
Checked 2026-10-08 on substack.com ↗ · USD, list pricesIn short
Free to publish and send to any number of subscribers; on paid subscriptions Substack keeps 10% plus credit card fees.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Side project
- $50/mo Substack
- Growing
- $0/mo Substack
- Scaling
- $1,000/mo Substack
What the model leaves out
No subscription fee and no subscriber limit stated; the cost is a 10% share of paid subscription revenue, modeled on the revenue driver (at $0 revenue it's free). Credit card processing (Stripe) is charged separately on top and isn't modeled, as for every other tool here.
Before you commit
- Writers keep 90% of paid subscription revenue minus credit card fees — the card fee is on top of Substack's 10%.
- The publication lives on Substack's platform and brand, with discovery through its reader network.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Paid subscription revenue per month |
|---|---|---|
| Substack | None | 10% |
What you'd pay
Usage only some alternatives charge for
SubstackWithin the free allowance$0/moThe same usage elsewhere
Cost as you grow
All newsletter pricing, compared →Which one fits your situation →