Substack monetization is built on paid subscriptions: publishing is free, and once you connect Stripe and switch on paid plans, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment while Stripe charges its own processing fees, according to Substack's cost page. Readers choose a monthly, annual or founding-member plan that you price, and the money settles into your own Stripe account rather than a Substack-held balance.
This page covers paid-subscription mechanics only, as read from Substack's help center on 1 October 2026, including a tax change arriving on 1 December 2026. Growing the list is a separate job; if you also run a subscription business elsewhere, our email marketing guide for subscription creators covers turning a list into sales.
How paid subscriptions work on Substack
Payments are switched on from the Payments section of your publication settings by connecting Stripe and then pricing your plans. The paid publication setup article puts the minimum price at $5 a month and $30 a year for US-dollar Stripe accounts, says pricing in other currencies may vary, and confirms there is no yearly-only plan. Readers cannot see that you offer paid subscriptions until you flip the Enable payments toggle.
- The monthly and annual plans are the core offer, and every paying reader picks one of them or the founding tier.
- The founding plan has to cost more than your annual plan. The founding member article also offers flexible founding pricing, so readers can pay anything between the annual price and your suggested founding price.
- Founding members can get their own welcome email with an attached file, and posts can be published for them alone.
- Removing the founding plan only stops new sign-ups; existing founders keep renewing at their price unless Substack support lowers it.
- Price changes reach new subscribers only. The price change article says existing subscribers stay on the rate they originally paid for as long as they do not cancel and resubscribe.
Fee worksheet: what leaves each payment
Substack's cut is the headline, but other layers apply depending on how and where a reader pays. Stripe's figures below are its US prices, so check the rates for your own Stripe account's country.
| Fee layer | Published rate | When it applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substack platform fee | 10% of each subscription payment | Every paid subscription; for iOS purchases it is calculated on your web price | Substack cost page |
| Stripe card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 per successful payment on domestic US cards | Card and wallet payments taken through your Stripe account | Stripe pricing |
| International card surcharge | An extra 1.5% on Stripe's US price list | A reader pays with a card issued outside your Stripe account's country | Stripe card pricing |
| Stripe Billing | 0.7% of recurring billing volume | Every recurring charge, including direct debit; deducted at payout level rather than per payment | Stripe Billing pricing |
| Currency conversion | 1% to 2% charged by Stripe for conversion and settlement | Localized pricing, on by default, charges a reader in another currency | Local currency article |
| European bank methods | Set per country by Stripe; for a US Stripe account, SEPA Direct Debit is 0.8% + 30¢, capped at $6 | Readers paying by SEPA Direct Debit, iDEAL or Bancontact | Reader payments article |
| Apple in-app purchases | Apple's fee, which Substack describes as an extra 15–30% | Readers who subscribe inside the Substack iOS app | iOS payments article |
| Stripe Tax | 0.5% per transaction where you are registered, as quoted from Stripe | Only if you enabled the Stripe Tax integration, and only until 1 December 2026 | Stripe Tax article |
| Disputes | $15 when a dispute is received; Smart Disputes takes 30% of any amount it recovers | A reader files a chargeback with their card issuer | Disputes article |
| Custom domain | A one-time $50 | Optional, if you want your own web address | Substack cost page |
One correction to Substack's own pages: the reader payments article still quotes a 0.5% Billing fee, but the cost page says 0.7% for recurring payments as of July 2024, and Stripe's Billing pricing lists 0.7% for pay-as-you-go accounts. Budget with the higher, current figure.
Substack's localized pricing article works one example through: a $150 annual plan bought by a US reader paid out $130.35 after Stripe's card fee and Substack's 10%, and the same plan bought in euros from France paid out $130.13. The Billing fee is missing from that breakdown because Stripe takes it from payouts. To build your own version:
- Write down the plan price and interval you are modelling: monthly, annual or founding.
- Subtract Substack's share of that price.
- Subtract your country's card fee, plus the international-card and conversion surcharges if many readers live abroad.
- Subtract the Billing fee, which appears in the payout summary rather than on each payment.
- Model iOS subscribers on a separate line, depending on whether you raise in-app prices or absorb Apple's fee.
- Keep a small reserve for refunds and disputes, and redo the sheet after the December tax change.
Set up Stripe without exposing your home address
Stripe is Substack's only payment provider, and the account belongs to you. The Stripe setup article warns that the support phone number, email and address you enter can appear on subscriber receipts, invoices and card statements, so decide what goes in each field before you start.
- An address is mandatory, so the article suggests a virtual mailbox; hide the public phone number in Stripe's Public details and swap the support email for your Substack alias.
- Write a statement descriptor readers will recognize; the statement descriptor article allows 5 to 22 characters and passes on Stripe's advice to keep it close to your business name or URL to prevent chargebacks.
- Open a new Stripe account for the publication instead of reusing one connected to another business, as Substack recommends.
- Expect the first payout on a new Stripe account to take 7 to 14 days, after which the setup article says web subscription money usually reaches your bank within 48 hours of each payment.
- Check that Stripe operates where you live. The country availability article lists exceptions for India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand, where Substack does not currently charge its fee but says it eventually will.
Pledges and founding members before you launch
Pledges let free readers promise to pay before you switch on payments. The Pledges article says they are on by default for free publications, that readers enter card details without being charged, and that nothing happens if you never turn on paid subscriptions. When you connect Stripe and enable payments, pledges convert into paid subscriptions automatically, which can take up to an hour to show on your Subscribers dashboard.
- If your launch prices are lower than what readers pledged, their pledges convert at your lower price.
- If your launch prices are higher, Substack shows how many pledges are mismatched. With Accept pledges at any price switched on, those readers convert at the amount they pledged; with it off, they receive an email inviting them to subscribe at the new price.
- Your Stats page lists pledges, their potential annualized revenue and readers' notes, which is the best evidence you will have for launch prices.
Substack's pages disagree on the pledge floor. The Pledges article says a pledge must exceed a minimum of $5 a month and $50 a year, while the setup article puts the subscription minimum at $30 a year and a Substack staff post on pledges gives $30 a year as the lower limit too. If you want an annual price between those two figures, check what the settings page accepts before you announce it.
iOS in-app purchases change the math
Publications with payments enabled in supported countries automatically accept subscriptions inside the Substack iOS app through Apple's in-app purchase system, and the iOS payments article says this cannot be turned off while payments are connected. Only in the US can the app send readers to the web to pay; elsewhere, iOS app readers see the in-app option alone.
- Pricing: Adjusted pricing raises in-app prices to offset Apple's fee, while Keep prices the same charges the web price and accepts a smaller payout per in-app subscriber.
- Timing: the in-app payments guidance says Apple pays Substack for a month of subscriptions up to 45 days after that month ends, so January's in-app sign-ups reach you around mid-March.
- Control: Apple manages these subscribers. You see their email and payment history but not their payment method, their subscriptions cannot be paused, and refund requests go to Apple.
- Portability: Apple does not transfer billing relationships if you leave Substack, so in-app subscribers would have to subscribe again by another payment method.
The December 2026 tax change
Substack is taking over sales tax. Its article on upcoming tax changes says that from 1 December 2026 it will calculate, collect and remit sales tax or VAT on paid subscriptions on your behalf, at no additional cost, for every publication with payments enabled. Nothing needs enabling, but two settings deserve attention before that date.
- Taxable content types: Substack maps your plan to tax categories from the content you select, from written posts to video, podcasts and community access. By default the highest applicable rate covers the whole price unless you split it with the Adjust tax according to the benefit value option.
- Inclusive or exclusive tax: publishers outside the US and Canada can add tax at checkout or include it in the price, which leaves you less per subscription; US and Canadian publishers always have it added at checkout.
- Stripe Tax users: the new system replaces the old integration, and obligations for payments processed before 1 December do not change.
- Exceptions: publishers based in Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, India or Thailand stay responsible for calculating, collecting and remitting their own sales tax or VAT.
Income tax is a separate question. The tax filing article says Stripe issues the tax forms, and that a US 1099 reports gross volume including Substack's and Stripe's fees, refunds and disputes, so you deduct those yourself to reach what you actually earned. Rules differ by country, so treat this as general information and confirm your position with a registered tax agent or accountant.
Features that change your payout
Several growth tools appear once payments are on, and some are enabled by default. Each changes what a subscriber pays or when, so review them during setup instead of discovering them in a payout.
| Feature | What it does | Effect on what you receive | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substack Boost | Automated offers: upsell emails to engaged free readers, a discount for readers of other Boost publications, and a free month offered to people about to cancel | The upsell email carries a default 20% discount for a year, and cross-publication offers run up to 20% off | Boost article |
| Teaser posts | Lets an eligible free reader open one paid post in the Substack app; on by default when Boost is on | One paid post given away per eligible reader; you can exclude posts individually | Teaser post article |
| Substack-funded gifts | Substack offers some engaged free readers a one-month gift subscription it pays for, redeemed in the app | Substack pays your monthly price minus its 10%; available only to some publications, in Australia, Canada and the US | Funded gifts article |
| Paywall free trials | Shows a 7-day free trial offer when a reader hits the paywall on a paid post | Trial readers count as paid subscribers but add no revenue until their trial ends and billing starts | Paywall trial article |
| Complimentary subscriptions | Gives chosen readers paid access for 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, a year or forever | No income during the comp; reminder emails then invite the reader to pay | Comp article |
| Subscriber Perks | Promo codes, downloads up to 700 MB, community invites, links or Substack Live videos for paying tiers | A subscriber who redeems a perk loses Substack's refund route, though you can still refund them yourself | Perks article |
If a payout looks low for your subscriber count, the payouts article names Boost discounts as the usual cause. Your own shareable free-trial links come from Special offers in the Payments section, per the free trial article.
Paid-launch checklist
- Read your pledge count, pledged prices and reader notes before choosing launch prices.
- Open a separate Stripe account with a virtual mailbox address, a hidden phone number and a recognizable statement descriptor.
- Price the monthly and annual plans at or above Substack's minimums, and decide how they compare with what readers pledged.
- Add a founding plan only if you can say what founding members get, and write their welcome email before launch.
- Pick Adjusted pricing or Keep prices the same for subscribers who pay in the iOS app.
- Review Boost, teaser posts, funded gifts and paywall trials, and turn off anything that clashes with your pricing.
- Confirm your taxable content types, and the inclusive or exclusive tax choice if you are outside the US and Canada, before 1 December 2026.
- Enable payments, then publish an announcement that says exactly what paid subscribers receive and how often.
- Go through checkout yourself once on the web and once in the iOS app to see what readers see.
- After the first payout arrives, reconcile Stripe's payout summary against your worksheet, Billing fee included.
Refunds, chargebacks and leaving Substack
Refunds are mostly your decision. Substack's refund policy lets publishers refund at their discretion, and says Substack itself will refund a request made within 7 days of payment unless a perk was redeemed or you marked the subscription non-refundable. Under the same dormant-publication rule, it will also refund subscribers when nothing has been posted for 6 months for yearly subscribers or 1 month for monthly ones, so a long unannounced break costs money as well as momentum.
Chargebacks land on you: the disputes article explains that, through Stripe Connect, each publisher is the merchant of record for refunds and chargebacks, and Substack cannot cover dispute fees. A recognizable statement descriptor and prompt refunds for genuine mistakes are the cheapest defenses.
If you stop charging, Disconnect Stripe in the Danger Zone refunds and notifies every paid subscriber and cancels their subscriptions, according to the article on turning off paid subscriptions. Your list can be exported as a CSV at any time, though the export article says subscriber names are not included, and in-app subscribers stay tied to Apple's billing. If you are weighing Substack against a membership platform, our breakdown of Patreon fees for creators shows the equivalent layers there, and the platform matrix by revenue model places paid newsletters beside memberships, tips and digital products.
Limitations of this guide
This page reflects Substack's help center, Stripe's US pricing pages and one Substack staff post as read on 1 October 2026. Stripe's fees depend on the country your account is registered in, so the US figures are examples rather than your rates. Substack's own articles disagree on at least two numbers, and features such as funded gifts reach only some publications and countries. The December tax change had not yet taken effect when this was written, so reread that article closer to the date. None of this is tax or legal advice, and it cannot tell you how many readers will pay; that depends on your work, your audience and how clearly you describe the paid offer.