How to monetize a Substack newsletter (without more subscribers)

Written by Carrie Loranger, Substack strategist and 18-year marketing director. Last updated: September 2026.

You monetize a Substack newsletter with six income streams from one list: paid subscriptions, digital products, services, group programs, affiliates and sponsorships.

Paid subscriptions are the first thing everyone reaches for and the slowest one to add up. The same readers can pay you five other ways, and most of those pay before your list is big. I call that arrangement the Portfolio of Paychecks system, and it is how one newsletter turns into several paychecks.

Here is the number that explains why one stream is not enough. Beehiiv, a newsletter platform that publishes an annual report on paid newsletters, found in its 2026 State of Paid Newsletters that the median free-to-paid conversion rate is 0.62%. At that rate, 1,000 free readers gives you about 6 paying ones. Real money on Substack comes from stacking what those 1,000 readers can buy.

The 6 ways a Substack newsletter makes money

Income stream	What it looks like on Substack	When to add it
Paid subscriptions	A monthly or annual tier inside your publication. Substack keeps 10% of the subscription revenue, and Stripe takes its processing fee on top.	Once you publish on a schedule people can rely on
Digital products	A guide, template or workshop sold from a post, the welcome email and your about page	As soon as readers ask the same question twice
Services	Consulting, audits, done-with-you work sold to readers who already trust your judgment	Day one, if you have a skill someone pays for now
Group programs	A cohort, challenge or membership that teaches one outcome to many people at once	After a service has proven the outcome
Affiliate partnerships	Tools you already use, recommended inside posts where they fit	Any time, in small doses
Sponsorships	A paid placement in an issue, priced on engaged readers, not list size	Once your open rate holds and you can show it

Start with the thing your readers already ask for

The fastest first dollar on Substack comes from a question you get repeatedly. Write down the last 10 replies you received. If 3 of them ask for the same thing, that is your first product or your first service, and you can sell it this month with a post and a link.

Paid subscriptions work better once something else is already selling, because by then you know what your readers pay for and your paid tier can promise that instead of promising more writing. I charge $120 a year for the paid tier of 9-To-Thrive, and I set that price after watching what people bought from me first. Here is how I landed on that number.

The order I build them in

1. Get found. Substack Notes drove about 60% of my growth, and it costs nothing but attention. This is how often I post there.
2. Sell one thing. One product or one service, named plainly, linked in every issue.
3. Open the paid tier. Price it annually, describe what a member gets, keep it simple.
4. Add the group version. Teach the same outcome to more people for less money each.
5. Let affiliates and sponsors sit on top. They pay for attention you have already earned.

Each rung funds the next one. The service money buys you the time to build the product. The product buys you the audience that fills the group program.

Can you do this with a small list?

Yes, and small lists often convert better, because the people on them arrived through something specific you wrote. A reader who found you through one post about pricing is closer to buying a pricing product than 1,000 readers who followed you for general encouragement. I wrote a longer piece on making money on Substack without viral numbers, and a full breakdown of all 6 income streams here.

Questions people ask

How much does Substack take?

Substack keeps 10% of your subscription revenue. Stripe's processing fee comes out on top of that. Money you make from products, services or sponsorships outside Substack is yours.

How many subscribers do I need to make money on Substack?

None, for services and products. For paid subscriptions, use the 0.62% median from beehiiv's 2026 report as a planning number and work out what your price has to be to reach the income you want.

What should I charge for a paid Substack?

Most paid newsletters sit between $5 and $10 a month. Annual pricing brings in more cash up front and churns less. I charge $120 a year.

Can you make money on Substack without a paid tier?

Yes. Services and digital products sold to a free list are the two streams that pay earliest, and neither one needs a paywall.

Is Substack Notes worth the time?

For discovery, yes. Notes is where strangers find you. The newsletter is where they decide to pay you.

Where to start this week

If you want the setup steps in order, get The Substack Income Stream Starter Kit, my free guide to building the income side of a Substack from the beginning, at kit.carrieloranger.com.

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 with 12,400+ subscribers, and she has helped hundreds of writers set up, grow, and monetize on Substack. Read the story of how she started.