You can make money on Substack without paid subscriptions by selling newsletter sponsorships, using disclosed affiliate links, or adding a separate link for one-time reader payments such as tips, questions, Personalized Videos, or services. Sponsorship and affiliate earnings depend on advertiser terms and reader response; one-time payments do not require a recurring reader commitment. One-time paid requests and support beside the newsletter: a reader who will not subscribe can still pay once for an answer, a commission or a goal.
Do you have to turn on paid subscriptions to make money on Substack?
No. Substack Support states that "Publishing is free on Substack– no matter how many subscribers you have!" and that Substack's 10% of each transaction fee applies only once a publisher enables paid subscriptions and connects Stripe (Substack Support — How much does Substack cost?, article updated December 16, 2025).
Substack also permits sponsorships on free publications: Substack Support says "you're welcome to host sponsored content and we don't have any policies in place that prohibit publishers from doing so," because Substack's own business model "relies solely on subscriptions instead of revenue from advertisers" (Substack Support — Can my publication host sponsored ads?, article updated December 17, 2025).
If you do not enable paid subscriptions, you can still earn through:
- Sponsorships: A brand pays for placement in your newsletter under negotiated terms.
- Affiliate links: A merchant pays the commission specified by its affiliate program when an eligible purchase or action is attributed to your link.
- One-time reader payments: A separate payment link lets a reader pay once for a tip, question, Personalized Video, or service without joining a recurring plan.
Sponsorship and affiliate relationships both trigger disclosure duties: the FTC instructs endorsers to "disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand," to "place it so it's hard to miss," and warns that disclosures "are likely to be missed if they appear only on an ABOUT ME or profile page, at the end of posts or videos, or anywhere that requires a person to click MORE" (FTC — Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers). For a newsletter, that means the disclosure belongs next to the sponsored or affiliate link inside the email itself, not only in a footer.
Related: Substack vs. Ko-fi's payment models compares the setup step above against a lighter one-time-tipping tool.
What are your alternatives to a paid subscription?
Three: newsletter sponsorships, disclosed affiliate links, and one-time reader payments taken through a link outside Substack. The table below sets those three against the paid-subscription tier they replace, which carries a 10% Substack fee and a $5/month or $30/year US minimum (Substack Support).
| Method | How it generates revenue | Practical audience requirement | Payment pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsorships or paid ads | A brand pays an agreed price for newsletter placement | No universal minimum; eligibility and pricing depend on the sponsor, niche, opens, clicks, and audience fit | One-time per placement or campaign |
| Affiliate links | A merchant pays the commission stated in its affiliate-program terms after an eligible conversion | No universal minimum, although some programs impose their own eligibility rules | One-time per eligible conversion |
| Paid subscriptions | A reader pays for recurring access or support | No minimum list size; Substack’s US-dollar price minimum applies | Recurring monthly or annual payment |
| One-time reader payments through Brillay | A reader pays once for a question, Personalized Video, service, tip, or goal | No follower or subscriber minimum (pricing) | One-time per payment or request |
| Other one-time payment tools (Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Stripe Payment Links, PayPal) | A reader pays once through a link the writer places outside Substack's own checkout | Set by each tool's own account terms rather than by a follower count | One-time per payment, at the published platform rates quoted below |
Ko-fi's help center states: "Ko-fi Free - Pay 0% on one-time tips. A flat 5% service fee applies to anything else, such as shop items, memberships, monthly tips" (Ko-fi — Does Ko-fi take a fee?). Buy Me a Coffee's help center states: "We charge a 5% transaction fee, and creators keep 95% of the earnings". Stripe adds no separate platform fee to Payment Links beyond its US online card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge (Stripe — Payment Links and Stripe — Pricing). PayPal's published US fee schedule lists 3.49% + $0.49 for a payment link paid through PayPal Checkout, Pay with Venmo, or PayPal checkout with no account, and 2.99% + a fixed fee for Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments (PayPal — Merchant and Business Fees).
Sponsorship revenue is priced either as a negotiated flat rate or with the CPM formula sponsor price = monetized opens ÷ 1,000 × agreed CPM; a hypothetical newsletter with 8,000 monetized opens earns $200 at a $25 CPM and $320 at a $40 CPM. No authoritative source publishes a universal newsletter CPM range or a "few thousand opens" eligibility threshold, so ask each sponsor for its budget, audience criteria, placement requirements, and reporting terms rather than assuming a benchmark.
Affiliate revenue can be estimated as tracked clicks × conversion rate × commission per conversion. Commission rates differ by program and category: Amazon Associates, one of the affiliate programs newsletter writers commonly link to, pays standard commission income ranging from 1.25% to 10% depending on product category, such as 10% on Physical Books and 1.25% on categories including Digital Music and Health & Personal Care (Amazon Associates Central — Standard Commission Income Rates).
Three Amazon Associates rules matter specifically to newsletter writers. First, the Associates Program Policies permit affiliate links in email only to opted-in recipients: "You may include Special Links in emails, SMS and direct messaging from your social media Sites; provided, that such communications are solicited (i.e., opted into by the receiving customer)" (Amazon Associates Program Policies, policies updated April 14, 2026). Second, the attribution window is short: a Qualifying Purchase session ends 24 hours after the click, though an item added to the cart during that session can still pay commission if the order is completed no later than 89 days after the initial click-through (Amazon Associates Program Policies — Commission Income Statement).
Third, affiliate income is not paid until it clears a threshold: Amazon Associates states that "the minimum payment threshold is $100.00 for check, but only $10.00 for card," and that the direct-deposit threshold for US-based Associates is $10.00, with payments issued monthly once the balance clears that minimum.
Conversion rates themselves are not universal: they vary by program, product, attribution window, audience intent, placement, and traffic quality, so the commission and attribution rules should come from the specific affiliate program rather than a generic newsletter benchmark.
For a broader comparison, see how to get paid for a newsletter.
Why might you skip Substack’s paid-subscription tier?
Because of two published constraints: the fee stack and the price floor. A Substack paid subscription is charged a 10% Substack fee plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 card fee and a 0.7% recurring-billing fee, and US-dollar publications cannot price below $5 per month or $30 per year.
Substack Support lists the fee stack explicitly as "From Substack: 10% of each transaction" plus, from Stripe, "a credit card fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction fee) and a Billing fee for recurring subscriptions (0.7% for recurring payments as of July 2024)". See Substack fees for the full breakdown.
Substack Support states that "the minimum subscription price on Substack is $5 per month and $30 per year," and that these minimums apply to US-dollar Stripe accounts. Enabling payments also adds a waiting period before any money lands: Substack Support states that "the first payout for every new Stripe account takes 7-14 days to deposit in your bank account". Writers deciding between recurring subscription platforms may also find how Patreon and Substack compare useful before committing to either one.
The following examples apply the published fees to a $5 US card payment; actual Stripe costs can vary by country, payment method, currency conversion, taxes, refunds, or disputes.
| Payment model | Published fee structure | Fees on a $5 example | Amount remaining before other costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substack paid subscription | 10% Substack fee + 2.9% + $0.30 Stripe processing + 0.7% recurring billing | $0.98 | $4.02 |
| Brillay one-time payment | 8% Brillay platform fee when a follower pays for work (5% on tips and goals) + separate Stripe processing | Approximately $0.85 using the same 2.9% + $0.30 US card rate | Approximately $4.16 |
| Direct sponsorship | Negotiated between the writer and sponsor | Depends on the contract and payment provider | Depends on the contract |
| Affiliate conversion | Commission is set by the affiliate program | No reader payment-processing calculation for the writer | The program’s stated commission |
A recurring $5-or-more monthly commitment can be a larger decision than a one-time payment for a specific request. Is Substack worth it for a small newsletter examines that trade-off, while how much do Substack writers actually make explains the relationship between free readers, paid conversions, and revenue.
Does Substack have a built-in tip jar?
Not as a standalone feature. Substack's closest equivalent is the Founding Member option, which lets a reader pay above the standard price but is only available once paid subscriptions are switched on — so it still sits behind the $5/month or $30/year US minimum and the 10% Substack fee.
A writer who wants to accept a one-off tip without enabling subscriptions can place a separate payment link inside a post, welcome email, profile, or newsletter footer. Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join. A Brillay Tips link lets a supporter send a one-time amount—such as $3 or $5—to say thank you. A supporter can pay by card as a guest, and you can use Tips alongside a free Substack publication. (how Brillay works)
How do one-time reader payments work?
A follower opens your Brillay link and pays once for a named offer, with no membership, no follower account needed, and no subscriber minimum. Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.
Instead of asking a reader to begin a recurring subscription, you publish a link to a specific one-time offer:
- Paid Questions: Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.
- Personalized Videos: Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.
- Custom Work: Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.
- Tips: A supporter sends a one-time thank-you, with nothing to deliver in return.
- Goals: A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached — no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship.
There is no follower or subscriber minimum, and one Brillay link can hold your Tips, Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, and Goals. Payments and payouts run through Stripe; card processing is separate. Disclosure: this guide is published by Brillay, and the offers listed above link to Brillay's own features.
These offers give followers a one-time option alongside a free Substack publication—no membership to join. See accept tips without starting a membership for a tip-specific setup.
How do you add a non-subscription payment link?
In four steps: choose an offer, set your price and delivery time, add your Brillay link to the newsletter, and deliver accepted requests. No Substack setting changes, and Brillay requires no follower or subscriber minimum.
- Choose a specific offer. Select a paid question, Personalized Video, small service, tip, or goal.
- Set the price and delivery time. You control the offered amount and displayed delivery terms within the applicable Brillay workflow.
- Publish the link. Add it to your newsletter footer, post, welcome email, or profile without replacing your free Substack content.
- Deliver what you accepted. Complete each accepted Personalized Video or Custom Work order within the delivery time you set.
Stripe charges a $15.00 dispute received fee for each dispute a business receives, plus a $15.00 dispute countered fee that is refunded only if the dispute is won. Writers should therefore describe each offer accurately, retain fulfilment records, meet the stated delivery time, communicate delays, and refund any request they cannot complete.
The payment link can operate alongside either a free or paid newsletter.
Frequently asked questions
Can I earn from Substack without ever enabling paid subscriptions?
Yes. Substack Support states that "publishing is free on Substack– no matter how many subscribers you have," and that its 10% of each transaction fee applies only to publications that have enabled paid subscriptions. Sponsorships, disclosed affiliate links, and a separate one-time payment page all work on a free publication.
How many subscribers do I need before seeking sponsorships?
There is no universal sponsor minimum, and Substack itself sets none: Substack Support says publishers are "welcome to host sponsored content" and that it has no policies prohibiting it. Each advertiser sets its own requirements on niche, audience fit, opens, clicks, geography, and budget, so ask prospective sponsors for their eligibility criteria rather than relying on an unsupported "few thousand opens" rule.
Does Substack let readers tip without subscribing?
No. Substack's Founding Member tier is not a standalone tip jar, because it can only be offered after paid subscriptions are enabled and therefore inherits the $5/month or $30/year US minimum. A separate Tips link lets a supporter send a one-time amount with no Substack subscription involved.
How much should I ask readers to pay for a tip or small service?
Start with a price that matches what the reader receives: a $3 or $5 Tip for optional support, or a fixed price for a clearly defined Custom Work deliverable such as draft feedback or a quick edit. State what is included before the reader pays so you do not undercharge for open-ended work.
How can you get started?
You don't need paid subscriptions, a $5/month price floor, or a subscriber minimum to get paid by your Substack readers. Create your free Brillay page
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