How much to charge for a paid Substack (I charge $120)
Written by Carrie Loranger, Substack strategist and 18-year marketing director. Last updated September 21, 2026.
Charge what one finished result is worth to the person paying you. For a written Substack, that usually sits between $50 and $150 a year, and it goes higher when the paid tier includes tools, a community, or access to you. My own paid tier is $120 a year. Substack's floor is $5 a month or $50 a year, and that floor is where most writers stop thinking.
For the first two years, your price moves your income more than your subscriber count does. Forty annual readers at $120 bring in about $4,170 after fees. The same 40 readers at $50 bring in about $1,730. Same writing, same list, $2,440 apart.
How much should you charge for a paid Substack?
Price the paid tier by what a reader can finish with it, not by how many subscribers you have. A publication that adds two more essays a month is worth less than one that hands over a working system. Here is the map I use when I price a newsletter.
| What the paid tier gives | Annual price that fits | Monthly equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Extra posts and the full archive | $50 to $80 | $5 to $8 |
| A system: playbooks, templates, tools a reader can use the same week | $100 to $150 | $10 to $15 |
| A system plus a members-only community and recorded workshops | $200 to $300 | $20 to $30 |
| All of that plus access to you | $400 to $600 | sell annual only |
| 1:1 work on someone's publication | priced as a service, not a subscription | - |
My $120 tier sits in the second row on purpose. Paid readers get my playbooks, my AI skill packs and tools, and the paid rooms in my free community's paid side. A price holds when a reader can point at a finished thing they got for it.
What does Substack leave you after fees?
Substack publishes its cut: 10% of paid subscription revenue, with Stripe's processing charged on top at roughly 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. The larger the payment, the smaller that 30 cents is as a share of it, so annual billing keeps more of every dollar.
| Price | Gross per subscriber per year | You keep, roughly | Cancel decisions a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 a month | $60 | $49 | 12 |
| $50 a year | $50 | $43 | 1 |
| $120 a year | $120 | $104 | 1 |
| $497 a year (founding) | $497 | $433 | 1 |
Read the last column twice. A $5 monthly reader gives you 12 chances to lose them. An annual reader gives you one.
Should you lead with monthly or annual?
Lead with annual and keep monthly available for people who want to test you. Annual puts the cash in your account now, gives you a full year to keep the promise, and charges processing once instead of 12 times. A 10% to 20% annual discount is what readers expect. Below 10% almost nobody moves, and above 30% you give away monthly revenue without getting more conversions for it.
I also keep a founding tier. Mine is the Creator Cashflow Club at $497 a year, which adds a strategy call with me plus my recorded mini courses and workshops to everything in the $120 tier. You can see how both tiers are described on my publication.
The 5 questions that set your price
- What can a paid reader finish that a free reader cannot? Name the object: a template, a calculator, a 4-week plan. "The full post" is not an object.
- Who is paying, and what does this outcome cost them elsewhere? A consultant who charges $200 an hour prices differently than a hobby reader.
- Can you keep this promise every week for a year? A price you cannot service is a refund waiting to happen.
- What does the reader see in month two? Most churn happens there, so put something useful in the second month before you set the price.
- What is your cheapest paid thing? If a $47 product exists, a $50 a year subscription looks confusing next to it.
Do this: answer all 5 in writing, pick one annual number, and publish it this week. A published price collects data. A draft price collects nothing.
What to expect after you set or raise the price
Expect a small number of upgrades in the first week, mostly from readers who have been with you for months. Expect one or two questions about what is included, which tells you your paid page is unclear. Do not expect a flood. I have raised prices on my own publication and the first week was quiet both times, then steady.
The mistake to avoid
Do not pick $5 a month because the button suggests it. That price signals a hobby to a professional reader, and it puts you on a monthly renewal treadmill where every cancelled card costs you a customer you already earned. Pick the annual number your paid tier can defend, then write the page that defends it.
Frequently asked questions
How much do most paid Substack newsletters charge?
Most sit at $5 to $10 a month or $50 to $100 a year, because those are the defaults Substack suggests when you turn on payments. The larger business publications cluster at $10 to $15 a month. Founding tiers commonly run $100 to $500 a year.
Can I charge more than $10 a month with a small list?
Yes. Price follows the result, not the subscriber count. I have priced dozens of newsletters, and the ones that hold a higher price are the ones where a paid reader gets a finished tool or a plan, not more reading.
Is a paid newsletter worth it under 1,000 subscribers?
Yes, if you have an offer. 40 annual readers at $120 is about $4,170 a year after fees, and 40 readers is reachable in months. The writers who make nothing at 1,000 subscribers are usually the ones who never asked anyone to pay for one clear result.
Should I discount the annual plan?
Yes, by 10% to 20%. Readers compare the two prices side by side, and a discount inside that range moves a meaningful share of them to annual without giving away revenue.
When should I raise my Substack price?
Raise it when the paid tier gains something a reader can use, such as a new tool, a community, or a workshop. Tell existing subscribers first and let them keep their rate for the year they already paid for.
Pick your number this week
If you want the number instead of the range, my Newsletter Pricing Calculator is a $47 tool that asks about your niche, your paid tier, and your reader, then gives you an annual price and a tier structure to publish. It is at carrieloranger.com/calculator.
For the full fee math, the platform comparison, and when it makes sense to leave Substack, read Substack pricing for creators in 2026. If you want someone to look at your live publication before you change the price, the Substack Newsletter Audit is my paid review of your setup with the fixes listed in order.
Carrie Loranger is a Substack strategist and 18-year marketing director (Fortune 500 and B2B) known for helping writers turn one newsletter into a portfolio of paychecks. Her publication 9-To-Thrive is a Substack Bestseller and a Top 50 Substack Business publication, and she has helped hundreds of writers set up, grow, and monetize on Substack. She teaches the Portfolio of Paychecks system, her 9-step path from setup to multiple offers, to 12,200+ subscribers.
