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Substack pricing
A writer or creator who wants to publish and charge for a newsletter with nothing to pay until readers pay.
What Substack actually costs
The monthly figure at that many contacts, which is what Substack charges by. Same engine the shortlist quiz uses, so these cannot disagree with it.
- 1,000 contacts
- $0Free to publish
- 5,000 contacts
- $0Free to publish
- 25,000 contacts
- $0Free to publish
- 100,000 contacts
- $0Free to publish
Every published plan
Read off Substack’s own pricing page, last checked 22 Oct 2026.
No subscription fee at any list size. Publishing is free if your content is free. On paid subscriptions Substack keeps 10% of revenue and Stripe takes its card fee (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, plus a small recurring-billing percentage) on top. There are no plans and no contact caps.
| Plan | Per month | Includes | Over that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to publish | Free | unlimited contacts | plus 10% of sales |
Before you sign up
- Contract
- No subscription; 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees
Who it suits
Built for: A writer or creator who wants to publish and charge for a newsletter with nothing to pay until readers pay.
Weak at: The 10% cut grows with revenue, and the about page lists no automation, segmentation, A/B testing, forms or API, so it is a publishing platform rather than an email marketing tool.
Substack compared, head to head
The pairs people actually search for, each one priced at the same four sizes off both vendors' own pages.
Is it the right one for you?
Substack is one of 18 email marketing and newsletter platforms on this site. The shortlist asks 6 questions and gives you four honest picks priced at your own client count, including every platform that beats this one outright at your size.
Build your shortlist Compare it with the alternativesMake something like Substack? If your product belongs on this list and is not on it, ask to be shortlisted. Listings are free and cannot be bought.