Substack fees explained: what Substack really takes in 2026
Substack takes 10% of paid subscriptions plus Stripe's fees. See what that costs at every size, when a flat-fee platform is cheaper, and how to keep more.
Substack is free for free newsletters. On paid subscriptions it takes 10%, and Stripe takes about 2.9% + 30¢ per payment plus a 0.7% recurring billing fee. All in, expect to lose roughly 14% to 20% of every paid subscription, the most on cheap monthly plans because of the 30¢. Substack's 10% never goes down as you grow, so a platform with a monthly fee and a smaller cut gets cheaper once your paid newsletter earns more than a few hundred dollars a month.
Full disclosure: we make Eden, which sells paid newsletters. Fees were checked on Substack's site and help center in October 2026.
What Substack charges
| Fee | Who takes it | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | Substack | 10% of each paid payment |
| Card processing | Stripe | About 2.9% + 30¢ per payment |
| Recurring billing | Stripe | 0.7% of each payment |
| Free newsletter | Nobody | $0 |
| Custom domain | Substack | A one-time fee |
Card fees vary by country and card type. International cards and currency conversion cost more.
What that looks like on one subscription
Say a reader pays $8 a month.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Reader pays | $8.00 |
| Substack (10%) | −$0.80 |
| Stripe (2.9% + 30¢) | −$0.53 |
| Stripe billing (0.7%) | −$0.06 |
| You keep | $6.61 |
That's about 83% of the price. On a $5 plan you keep closer to 80%, because the 30¢ is a bigger share. On a yearly plan you pay the 30¢ once instead of twelve times, so yearly subscribers are worth more to you.
What Substack costs as you grow
Substack's platform fee alone, before Stripe:
| Paid revenue a month | Substack's 10% a month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | $50 | $600 |
| $2,000 | $200 | $2,400 |
| $5,000 | $500 | $6,000 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 | $12,000 |
| $25,000 | $2,500 | $30,000 |
At $10,000 a month, you pay Substack $12,000 a year. That's the number that makes writers look around.
Is Substack's 10% worth it?
Often, yes, especially early.
- It costs nothing until readers pay. No monthly plan, no list fee, unlimited free subscribers.
- Discovery. Notes, recommendations from other writers, and the Substack app bring readers you wouldn't find alone. Many writers say most new subscribers come from inside Substack.
- Everything is handled. Your site, archive, app, podcasts, video, and comments.
It gets harder to justify when most of your readers come from your own audience, when your paid revenue is large, or when you also sell courses, coaching, or products that Substack can't sell.
When a flat-fee platform is cheaper
Compare Substack's 10% with a platform that charges a monthly plan and a smaller cut. Stripe's fees are the same on all of them, so leave them out.
| Platform | Monthly cost | Cut | Cheaper than Substack above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | $29 Starter, 1,000 readers emailed weekly | 5% | About $600 a month in paid revenue |
| Eden Max | $199, 200,000 sends a month included | 2% | About $2,500 a month |
| beehiiv | $79 Lite at 2,500 subscribers | 0% | About $790 a month |
| Ghost | $35 Publisher at 1,000 members | 0% | About $350 a month |
The bigger your free list, the more these platforms cost: beehiiv and Ghost by subscribers, and Eden by the emails you send. Substack's free list stays free. Count your whole list, not just paying readers.
How to keep more of what readers pay
- Push yearly plans. One payment a year means one 30¢ fee instead of twelve, and fewer cancellations.
- Price above $5. The fixed 30¢ eats a smaller share of an $8 or $10 plan.
- Sell something next to the newsletter. A course or coaching offer to your best readers often earns more than the subscriptions.
- Move when the math says so, or don't move at all. Run your own numbers with the table above. If Substack's network brings you readers, keeping your newsletter there and selling everything else somewhere else is often the best of both.
Keep Substack and sell everything else on Eden
You don't have to leave Substack to stop leaving money on the table. Many writers keep the newsletter on Substack, where Notes and recommendations bring readers, and use Eden for courses, coaching, downloads, and the emails that sell them. Add a signup block to your Eden store page and new readers are added to your Substack automatically. In Your store → Integrations, Who goes where sends newsletter signups to Substack and buyers and free downloaders to Eden.
How to sell a paid newsletter on Eden
If you'd rather move the paid newsletter too, on Eden a newsletter is a product in your store. Create it in Your store → Products → New product → Newsletter, set a monthly and yearly price (and a free trial if you like), add a few issues, and publish. Paying readers get each issue by email and read every past issue in Eden on web and phone.
Eden takes 5% of each payment on Starter and Pro, and 2% on Max, plus Stripe's fee. Email is priced by your sends, not your list. Starter includes 10,000 contacts and 10,000 sends a month, Pro 50,000 contacts and 50,000 sends, and Max 150,000 contacts and 200,000 sends. Extra sends start at 10,000 a month for $10 and get cheaper per send as you grow, only if you turn that on. See the Newsletters page or the full steps in sell a paid newsletter.
Where Eden falls short
Eden has no discovery network like Notes or recommendations. Issues send from Eden's address unless you add your own domain on Pro. Paid Substack subscribers can't be moved over automatically yet, so they'd subscribe again. If Substack's network brings most of your readers, staying may be worth the 10%. More in Eden vs Substack.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Substack take from paid subscriptions?
10%, plus Stripe's card fee (about 2.9% + 30¢) and a 0.7% recurring billing fee. Most writers keep about 80% to 86% of each payment, depending on price and monthly or yearly billing.
Is Substack free?
Yes, for free newsletters. Substack only makes money when readers pay, by taking 10% of paid subscriptions.
Does Substack's fee go down as you grow?
No. It's 10% at every size. That's why larger writers often move to platforms with a flat monthly fee.
Can I avoid Substack's fees?
You can't lower the 10% on Substack. You can lower the share Stripe takes by pushing yearly plans, or move to a platform with a smaller cut, like Eden (5%, or 2% on Max), beehiiv, or Ghost.
Want to keep more of every subscription? Start Eden free and create your newsletter.