Substack
Publishing platform where writers and media companies send posts by email and sell paid subscriptions.
- Starting price
- Free to publish
- Hosting
- Cloud, hosted by Substack
Overview
Substack is a hosted publishing platform for writers, journalists, podcasters and media companies. Each post appears on the web and goes out by email, and the author decides whether it is free for everyone or for paying subscribers only. Starting is free, and Substack earns its money from a 10% share of paid subscription revenue rather than from a monthly plan.
Our take
Pick Substack if you are a writer or a small newsroom whose plan is to earn from readers directly and you would rather not run any infrastructure: the cost only appears once readers pay. It is the wrong tool if the newsletter is a marketing channel for a business, because the job there is journeys, segments and ecommerce data rather than subscriptions. Once paid revenue grows, compare the 10% share against a flat-priced platform such as Ghost, since a fixed monthly fee overtakes a revenue cut at some point.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | Free to publish Substack keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, and credit card fees are deducted from the remaining 90%. Substack states there are no platform fees, no tiers and no contracts. |
| Hosting | Cloud, hosted by Substack |
Features
- Campaign types
- Posts published to the web and sent by email at the same time, each set as free for everyone or for paying subscribers only, alongside podcasts, live video and a subscriber chat
- Automation and journeys
- An automatic welcome email goes to every new subscriber, written by the publisher, for example to point paid subscribers to their benefits and give free readers a reason to upgrade
- Segmentation and personalisation
- Tags and segments, with a post targeted to a segment such as readers in one state; audience-specific content blocks show parts of a post by subscription status (free, paid or founding subscribers); the subscriber dashboard filters the list and can email a subset without creating a post
- Templates and editor
- Post editor with saved templates for longform posts, callout blocks and drop caps
- Ecommerce and CRM data
- Paid subscriptions, with Substack keeping 10% of the revenue and credit card fees deducted from the rest
Integrations
Integrations coming soon.
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
-
- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Free to start, with Substack stating no platform fees, no tiers and no contracts
- Each post can be free for everyone or for paying subscribers only
- Written posts, podcasts, live video and subscriber chat in one place
- Imports from Mailchimp, beehiiv, Ghost, WordPress, Medium and Tumblr
- Notes and publication recommendations as built-in growth tools
Limitations
- Substack keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, so the cost rises with income
- The official pages describe one automatic welcome email rather than multi-step automation journeys
Pricing
-
Free publication
$0
Free to start and free to leave, with free posts sent to any number of subscribers.
-
Paid subscriptions
10% of revenue
Substack keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue; credit card fees are deducted from the remaining 90%.
Best For
Alternatives and Comparisons
FAQ
- How much does Substack cost?
- Starting a publication is free. Once you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of the revenue, and credit card fees are deducted from the rest.
What users say
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