Substack

What you get

Empowers creators to build a sustainable independent media business by providing tools to publish, grow, and monetize their content directly with their audience.

The problem it solves

Creators often struggle with the technical complexities of setting up publishing platforms, managing subscriptions, and processing payments. Substack removes these barriers by offering an all-in-one solution that handles email delivery, website hosting, and monetization. It allows writers and creators to focus on producing quality content and building direct relationships with their audience, rather than getting bogged down by infrastructure or relying solely on ad revenue or social media algorithms.

Who it's for

Substack is a fit for these roles. Each one links to the rest of the tools we recommend for that work.

Pricing

Substack operates on a freemium model with no upfront monthly fees for creators. The platform is free to use for publishing unlimited free newsletters and hosting content. When creators enable paid subscriptions, Substack takes a 10% platform fee from all paid subscriber revenue. Additionally, creators incur Stripe payment processing fees, typically around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, plus an approximate 0.7% recurring billing fee, bringing the total cut to roughly 13-16% of gross earnings.

Plans change often. Check Substack's own pricing page before you buy.