Is Substack Worth It for a Small Newsletter?

Substack is worth it for a small newsletter that publishes consistently and has readers willing to pay at least $5 a month, because publishing costs nothing until someone subscribes. It is weak as a sole income source below roughly 500 free subscribers, where even a 5% paid conversion nets about $100 a month. Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join.

Substack can make sense for a small newsletter that publishes consistently and has readers ready to pay at least $5 a month. It costs nothing to publish until someone pays. As the only paid channel, it is harder below roughly 500 free subscribers, where even a 5% paid conversion is about $100 a month. One-time paid requests and support work beside the newsletter, so a reader who will not subscribe can still pay once for an answer, a commission or a goal.

See how much Substack writers actually make for net-income math, or best creator monetization platforms for the alternatives.

What does Substack cost a small newsletter?

Substack costs $0 to publish at any subscriber count and charges only when a reader buys a paid subscription. For a US-dollar Stripe account, three fees matter: Substack's 10% platform fee, Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 card fee, and Stripe's 0.7% recurring-billing fee. On a $5 monthly subscription, those fees take $0.98 and leave $4.02.

Substack's help center states that Substack takes 10% of each transaction, Stripe charges a credit card fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, and Stripe has charged a 0.7% billing fee on recurring payments as of July 2024 (Substack support, "How much does Substack cost?").

Stripe's own pricing page lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards in the United States, so writers billing in other currencies, taking international cards, or using non-standard Stripe terms should expect different processing rates (Stripe, "Pricing").

Substack's minimum paid-subscription price is $5 per month and $30 per year, and Substack states those minimums apply to US-dollar Stripe accounts (Substack support, "How do I set up a paid publication?").

At the $5 monthly minimum, the fee stack looks like this:

• Substack's 10% fee: $0.50
• Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee: $0.45
• Stripe's 0.7% recurring-billing fee: $0.04
• Net to the writer: $4.02 per paying subscriber per month

A $5 monthly Substack subscription nets the writer approximately $4.02 after Substack's 10% fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.7% fees, or roughly $48 per subscriber per year.

A $30 annual Substack subscription — the yearly minimum — nets approximately $25.62, because the same fee stack takes $3.00 for Substack's 10%, $1.17 for Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, and $0.21 for Stripe's 0.7% from one once-a-year charge.

Twelve monthly $5 charges net about $48.24 a year, compared with $25.62 from one $30 annual plan. Choosing the annual minimum costs a small newsletter roughly $22.62 per subscriber per year, in exchange for one flat $0.30 Stripe charge instead of twelve and a full year paid in advance.

Substack states that payments usually arrive in a writer's bank account within 48 hours of each transaction (Substack support, "How do payouts work on Substack?").

Substack states that the first payment to every new Stripe account takes 7-14 days to land in the writer's bank account (Substack support, "How do I set up my Stripe account on Substack to start receiving payments").

Do you need a big audience to make Substack worthwhile?

No. Substack publishes no reader or subscriber minimum for turning on paid subscriptions, so a 50-reader list can charge $5 a month on day one. List size sets revenue, not eligibility: at Substack's own 5-10% free-to-paid conversion range, 100 free readers means 5 to 10 payers, or $20 to $40 net monthly.

Substack's paid-publication setup guidance lists no reader or subscriber threshold for enabling paid subscriptions, and requires only a connected Stripe account.

Substack's own growth guidance states that "in the best of circumstances, writers typically see conversion rates of 5-10% from free to paid readers," a range Substack attributes to analysis by its internal data team (On Substack, "Substack Grow: Start by setting goals").

Substack's growth guidance also states that most newsletters charge $5-10 per month or $50-100 per year, while business newsletter readers who can expense the subscription to an employer often see prices closer to $10-50 per month (On Substack).

For a small newsletter, your own list size, price, and paid conversion matter more than headline earnings from Substack's largest publications.

Substack states there is no limit on the size of an email list a writer can import, provided everyone on it explicitly opted in.

Eligibility is not income. Whether the money matters depends on how many free readers convert, the price charged, and how consistently the newsletter ships.

What could 100, 500, or 1,000 free subscribers earn?

At the $5 minimum, 100 free subscribers produce roughly $8 to $20 net per month, 500 produce $40 to $100, and 1,000 produce $80 to $201. The range spans a conservative 2% conversion and the 5% low end of Substack's own published 5-10% free-to-paid range, at $4.02 net per subscriber.

These figures assume a US-dollar Stripe account and every subscription billed successfully on the web. Treat the table as an estimate, not a promise: refunds, chargebacks, failed payments, churn, tax, currency conversion, and App Store purchases can all lower what reaches your bank.

These figures apply Substack's published 10% fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.7% fees to the $5 monthly minimum, giving $4.02 net per paying subscriber per month.

Reaching $1,000 a month at the $5 minimum requires about 249 paying subscribers at $4.02 net each, which is roughly 2,500 free readers at Substack's 10% upper conversion figure or 12,450 free readers at a 2% rate (On Substack).

That arithmetic is why list size matters even though Substack sets no threshold. A small newsletter can start charging immediately, but paid subscription revenue stays modest until the list grows or the price rises above the $5 minimum. Some writers keep a one-time tip link beside the free work, which is why it's worth checking whether Ko-fi is worth it at a similar list size.

What is the main tradeoff for a small or new newsletter?

The tradeoff is commitment. A paid Substack subscription renews at $5 a month or $30 a year until the reader cancels, so the reader is betting on issues the writer has not published yet. That can be reasonable for an established newsletter and harder for a new or irregular list. A one-time payment asks for one decision instead.

Substack's paid subscriptions start at $5 per month or $30 per year, so the smallest paid ask a writer can make inside Substack is recurring.

Readers can cancel a paid Substack subscription from their account settings, and Substack states that benefits continue until the end of the current billing cycle, so the writer's exposure is monthly renewal risk rather than a locked-in reader term.

Substack states that refunds may take up to 10 business days to appear on a subscriber's statement, and refunded subscriptions are money the writer does not keep.

For contrast, Brillay gives newsletter writers one page for one-time paid offers: Paid Questions, Custom Work, Personalized Videos, Goals, and Tips. A reader does not need an account to pay. Brillay has no monthly fee or reader-count minimum, and it charges 8% when a follower pays for work and 5% on tips and goals (Brillay pricing). Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. Some newsletter writers pair that with paid one-off advice calls through Minnect alongside their free issues.

If your newsletter is new or your publishing schedule is irregular, a recurring subscription may ask for more trust than readers are ready to give. Custom Work can sit beside the newsletter: publish what the follower gets, what you need, what is excluded, the price, and the delivery window, so each reader submits a brief and pays upfront instead of opening a negotiation in your DMs.

When is Substack worth it for a small newsletter?

Substack is worth it once a consistent newsletter has enough readers to clear your income goal at Substack's published 5-10% conversion range: roughly 500 free subscribers for $100 a month at 5%, or 2,500 for about $1,000 a month at 10%, using the $5 minimum. It is not worth relying on alone while the list is new or irregular.

Substack is more likely to be worth it when:

• Your list is large enough that 5% of it clears your goal — 500 free readers for $100 a month, 2,500 for about $500 a month, at $4.02 net per subscriber.
• At least 25 readers will pay the $5 monthly minimum, the smallest price Substack allows.
• You want $0 publishing and email tooling, with no monthly fee at any list size.
• Giving up 10% to Substack plus 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.7% to Stripe — about 19.6% of a $5 subscription — is acceptable.
• You value Substack's own publishing, archive, recommendation, Notes, and app environment enough to build there.

Substack is less likely to work as your only paid setup when:

• Your free list is under about 200 readers, where even a 10% conversion yields 20 payers and roughly $80 net a month.
• Your publishing schedule is irregular, so readers are being asked to renew monthly for issues that may not arrive.
• Readers want a specific answer, recorded video greeting, or small custom request rather than more recurring content.
• A recurring $5 monthly charge is a bigger ask than your audience will make, and Substack offers no one-off tier below it.

The options are not mutually exclusive. A writer can use Substack for free publishing and archives while also giving readers one-time ways to support the work or pay for something specific. A side-by-side look at Substack versus Ko-fi can help decide how to split that work between the two.

Disclosure: Brillay publishes this page. Brillay's pricing page states 8% when a follower pays for work and 5% on tips and goals, with no monthly fee and no reader-count minimum. Connect your bank through Stripe; Brillay supports payouts to writers in 41 countries (Brillay, how it works). A tip link is not a shield against refunds, chargebacks, or scams, so keep the ask clear: what is optional, what is paid, and what the reader should expect. Compare that structure against whether Gumroad is worth it for one-time service payments before deciding.

Frequently asked questions

Does Substack cost anything if I never charge readers?

No. A free Substack newsletter has no monthly fee at any list size. Substack's fees start only at the first paid subscription, when Substack takes 10% of the transaction, Stripe takes 2.9% + $0.30 for card processing, and Stripe takes 0.7% for recurring billing.

What is the least I can charge on Substack?

Substack's minimum paid-subscription price is $5 per month and $30 per year for US-dollar Stripe accounts. Writers can charge more, but they cannot set a standard paid subscription below those amounts.

Is there a reader minimum for paid Substack subscriptions?

No. Substack's paid-publication setup guidance lists no reader or subscriber threshold for turning on paid subscriptions, requiring only a connected Stripe account.

How many free subscribers do I need to earn $100 a month on Substack?

About 25 paying subscribers at the $5 minimum, since each nets $4.02 after Substack's 10% and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.7% fees. That is roughly 500 free subscribers at the 5% low end of the 5-10% free-to-paid conversion range Substack publishes (On Substack).

How fast does Substack pay out?

Substack states that payments usually arrive in a writer's bank account within 48 hours of each transaction, though the first payment to a new Stripe account takes 7-14 days.

Can readers support once instead of joining a membership?

Yes, if you give them a one-time option outside the paid subscription. On Brillay, a follower can pay once for Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, Goals, or Tips. For Tips, the supporter leaves a one-time thank-you and nothing is owed in return.

Get started

Keep publishing free issues and add optional Tips — such as a $3 thank-you — for supporters who ask how to support your work. Nothing is owed in return, so every post does not have to sound like a sales pitch. Create your free Brillay page — give readers one link for tips, questions, projects, and small paid requests, with no monthly fee, no reader-count minimum, and an 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work and 5% on tips and goals.