Substack has not published an average or median writer income. Its own dashboards report gross annualized revenue before fees, and at Substack's $5 monthly minimum a writer nets about $4.02 per payment after the 10% platform fee and Stripe's charges — so roughly 250 paying subscribers are needed to clear $1,000 a month.
Verified figures at a glance
- Substack charges 10% of each paid transaction (Substack support, "How much does Substack cost?", updated December 16, 2025).
- Stripe charges Substack subscriptions 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction plus a 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments.
- More than 100,000 publishers make money on Substack, and its top 10 authors collectively make more than $100 million a year (Substack, "A business model that works for creators", published June 15, 2026).
- Substack recorded 5 million paid subscriptions across all publications (Substack, "Five million", published March 11, 2025).
- Substack's minimum subscription price is $5 per month and $30 per year (Substack support, "How do I set up a paid publication?").
- Substack's creator dashboard reports "gross annualized revenue," not net pay (Substack support, "A guide to Substack metrics", updated July 21, 2026).
For how these deductions compare across platforms, see creator platform fees compared.
How many Substack writers actually get paid?
More than 100,000 publishers make money on Substack, Substack stated on June 15, 2026, and Substack recorded 5 million paid subscriptions across all publications on March 11, 2025. Substack has never published an average or median writer income, so that publisher count is the only official measure of how many writers earn anything.
| Metric | Figure | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Publishers who make money on Substack | More than 100,000 | Substack, "A business model that works for creators", published June 15, 2026 |
| Top 10 authors' combined annual subscription revenue | More than $100 million a year, gross | Substack, "A business model that works for creators", published June 15, 2026 |
| Paid subscriptions across all Substack publications | 5 million | Substack, "Five million", published March 11, 2025 |
| Minimum subscription price | $5 per month and $30 per year | Substack support, "How do I set up a paid publication?" |
| Newsletters estimated to earn $500,000+ a year | At least 52, collectively at least $40.2 million | Press Gazette, "Biggest Substack newsletters", published January 23, 2025 |
Substack's 5 million paid subscriptions (March 11, 2025) divided by its more than 100,000 paying publishers (June 15, 2026) gives an arithmetic mean of roughly 50 paid subscriptions per paying publisher, or about $201 a month net at the $5 minimum. That mean is a calculation from two Substack figures published 15 months apart, not a statistic Substack publishes, and it is pulled upward by the top 10 authors' $100 million.
Press Gazette identified at least 52 Substack newsletters estimated to earn $500,000 or more a year, collectively at least $40.2 million, up from 27 newsletters in its February 2023 count.
Press Gazette built those estimates from Substack's public leaderboard bands — "hundreds," "thousands," or "tens of thousands" of paid subscribers — multiplied by list price, and states that "it is not possible to determine through publicly-available information what the highest-earning Substacks are" (Press Gazette, January 23, 2025).
Those 52 newsletters represent about 0.05% of Substack's 100,000-plus monetized publishers, so every public earnings dataset for Substack describes a fraction of one percent of the writers who make money on it (Press Gazette, January 23, 2025; Substack, June 15, 2026;).
Why are Substack's top-earner figures potentially misleading?
Substack's top 10 authors collectively make more than $100 million a year, Substack stated on June 15, 2026, and that number is gross subscription revenue before Substack's 10% cut and Stripe's fees. Substack's own dashboard labels its headline figure "gross annualized revenue," so published Substack totals describe billings, not take-home pay.
Substack support defines the number on a writer's Home page as "gross annualized revenue: how much money you make per year, based on annualizing your current paid subscriptions".
Applying Substack's own published fee rates, about 19.6% comes off every $5 monthly payment, so a quoted "gross annualized revenue" of $50,000 corresponds to roughly $40,200 in actual payouts.
| Published measure | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Top 10 authors make more than $100 million a year, gross (Substack, June 15, 2026) | Substack can support extremely large publications | The average or median writer's net income |
| At least 52 newsletters estimated at $500,000+ a year (Press Gazette, January 23, 2025) | A visible upper tier earns substantial revenue | A complete count of every Substack at that level |
| More than 100,000 publishers make money (Substack, June 15, 2026) | More than 100,000 publishers have monetized at all | How much any individual publisher earns |
Substack reported 1 million paid subscriptions and top 10 publications collectively earning more than $20 million a year in November 2021. Against more than $100 million for the top 10 in June 2026, that is a fivefold rise concentrated in ten accounts while total paid subscriptions rose fivefold to 5 million (Substack, March 11, 2025 and June 15, 2026).
How much does Substack take in fees?
Substack takes 10% of each paid transaction, and Substack's own pricing page states that Stripe charges a credit-card fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction and a Billing fee of 0.7% on recurring payments. On a $5 monthly subscription those three charges total about $0.98, or 19.6%.
| Fee component | Rate | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Substack platform fee | 10% of each transaction | Substack support, "How much does Substack cost?", updated December 16, 2025 |
| Stripe credit-card fee on Substack subscriptions | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | Substack support, "How much does Substack cost?", updated December 16, 2025 |
| Stripe Billing fee on recurring Substack payments | 0.7% | Substack support, "How much does Substack cost?", updated December 16, 2025 |
| Stripe Tax, if enabled | 0.5% per transaction where registered to collect tax | Substack support, "Does Substack integrate with Stripe Tax?", updated June 4, 2026 |
| Currency conversion, if localized pricing is on | 1% to 2% | Substack support, "Can readers pay in their local currency?" |
| Combined deduction on a $5 monthly payment | About $0.98, or 19.6% | Calculated from the Substack and Stripe rates on Substack's pricing support page |
Creators who enabled payments before July 10, 2024 kept the earlier 0.5% Stripe Billing rate only until June 30, 2025, after which the 0.7% recurring rate applies to every Substack publication.
Writers who switch on Stripe Tax pay an extra 0.5% per transaction where they are registered to collect tax, lifting the deduction on a $5 monthly payment from 19.6% to about 20.1% (Substack support).
Publications with localized pricing pay a further 1% to 2% currency-conversion charge on affected transactions (Substack support).
Because the card fee includes a fixed $0.30, the share lost grows as the price falls: 19.6% of a $5 monthly payment against 16.6% of a $10 one, on the rates Substack publishes.
Substack states that payments "usually arrive in your bank account within 48 hours of each transaction".
What does it take to earn $1,000 a month on Substack?
About 250 paying subscribers at Substack's $5 monthly minimum, because each payment nets about $4.02, or about 120 subscribers at $10 a month, where each payment nets about $8.34. Both figures apply the 10% Substack fee and the Stripe rates published on Substack's own pricing support page.
The $5 arithmetic is $5.00 − $0.50 (Substack's 10%) − $0.445 (Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30) − $0.035 (Stripe's 0.7% Billing fee) = $4.02, on the rates listed by Substack support.
The $10 arithmetic is $10.00 − $1.00 − $0.59 − $0.07 = $8.34 on the same published rates.
| Plan at Substack's published rates | Net per payment | Subscribers needed to net about $1,000 a month | Share of price retained |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 per month | About $4.02 | About 250 | 80.4% |
| $10 per month | About $8.34 | About 120 | 83.4% |
| $30 per year (Substack's annual minimum) | About $25.62 per year | About 470 | 85.4% |
| $5 per month sold at Substack Boost's 20% discount | About $3.16 | About 317 | 78.9% of the $5 list price |
Annual billing at Substack's $30 minimum retains about 85.4% of each payment against 80.4% on a $5 monthly plan, because Stripe's fixed $0.30 charge lands once a year instead of twelve times, calculated from the rates on Substack's pricing support page.
Substack Boost, enabled by default, "will automatically show discounts and special offers" and may offer engaged free subscribers a 20% discount on a paid plan.
A $5 plan sold at that 20% Boost discount bills $4.00 and nets about $3.16 on Substack's published fee rates, so about 317 discounted subscribers are needed to net $1,000 a month rather than 250.
Substack's own guidance has understated the gap. Its November 2021 post said, "if you can convince a thousand people to subscribe for $5 a month, you'll make more than $50,000 a year" (Substack). Under the fee schedule Substack publishes today, 1,000 subscribers at $5 a month net about $48,240 a year, not more than $50,000 (calculated from Substack support's current rates).
These are fee calculations, not audience forecasts: Substack publishes no free-to-paid conversion rate in its support documentation, so the free readership behind 250 paying subscribers varies by topic, price, and paywall. For a broader look at which models fit which audience sizes, see best creator monetization platforms. Creators weighing subscriptions against packaged teaching products can compare the economics in this breakdown of online course creator earnings.
How do Substack earnings compare with one-time payments?
Substack income starts only once readers accept a recurring charge of at least $5 a month, and each such payment nets about $4.02 (Substack support pricing). One-time payment models change the timing: FanBell has no monthly fee and charges a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays, so a single $25 request nets $22 (pricing).
FanBell has no follower or subscriber minimum, and Stripe handles payments and payouts (how it works). Against roughly 250 recurring Substack subscribers to net $1,000 a month, forty $25 one-time requests net $880 at FanBell's 12% fee.
The paid-interaction model covers buying a single question, shoutout, or service; FanBell vs. Patreon covers the tradeoffs against recurring memberships.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average income for a Substack writer?
Substack has published no average or median writer income. Its verified figures are more than 100,000 publishers making money and top 10 authors collectively making more than $100 million a year in gross revenue (Substack). Press Gazette states public information cannot determine what individual Substacks earn (January 23, 2025).
How much does Substack take from paid subscriptions?
Substack takes 10% of each transaction, and Substack's pricing page states Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction plus a 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments. That is about $0.98, or 19.6%, on a $5 payment.
How many paying subscribers are needed to make $1,000 a month?
About 250 paying subscribers at Substack's $5 monthly minimum, because each payment nets about $4.02 after the 10% Substack fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.7% charges. At $10 a month about 120 subscribers are needed, at about $8.34 each.
Is the revenue Substack reports gross or net?
Gross. Substack support defines the number on a writer's Home page as "gross annualized revenue: how much money you make per year, based on annualizing your current paid subscriptions". About 19.6% comes off a $5 plan before payout.
Why is a Substack payout smaller than expected?
Substack names two causes. Fees remove about 19.6% of a $5 monthly payment, and Substack Boost may have sold the subscription at a 20% discount, cutting a $5 plan's net to about $3.16.
How can you get started?
You don't need a subscriber threshold to start earning directly from the readers you already have. Create your free FanBell page and turn on paid questions, shoutouts, services, tips, or project support — the first one can be paid the day you share your link.
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