Substack Revenue Calculator
Calculate your Substack newsletter earnings after fees. Project subscriber growth and see your net take-home from paid subscriptions.
Using 5% conversion, 4% churn, 30% annual plans
Subscriber Stats
Current paying subscribers
Price for monthly subscribers
Your Revenue
Monthly Net
$806
After all fees
Annual Revenue
$9,668
Projected yearly
Per Subscriber
$8
Monthly net/subscriber
Fee Breakdown
Effective Fee Rate
15.2%
Total fees as % of gross
Using 2,000 free subscribers, 5% conversion, 4% churn, 30% annual plans.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Substack take from creators?
Substack takes 10% of your revenue. Stripe payment processing adds another ~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Total fees are typically 12-14% of gross revenue, depending on your average transaction size.
What's a good Substack conversion rate?
Most newsletters convert 2-5% of free subscribers to paid annually. Top performers hit 8-10%. Conversion depends on content value, audience quality, and pricing. $5-10/month is the sweet spot for most niches.
How much do Substack writers make?
It varies wildly. The top 10 Substacks each make $1M+/year. Writers with 500 paid subscribers at $5/month earn ~$25K/year after fees. Most writers make under $10K/year. Build a large, engaged free list first.
Should I offer annual subscriptions on Substack?
Yes! Annual subscribers pay 10 months upfront (with the typical 2-month discount) and churn at about 1/3 the rate of monthly subscribers. Aim for 30-50% of subscribers on annual plans.
How to Use the Substack Revenue Calculator
Start by entering your current free subscriber count and estimated paid conversion rate. Most Substack newsletters convert between 2-5% of free subscribers to paid, so begin with a conservative estimate unless you have existing data. Set your monthly subscription price — the $5-10 range works best for most niches, though specialized B2B content can command $15-30/month.
Switch to Advanced mode to model more realistic scenarios. You can adjust the split between monthly and annual subscribers — aim for 30-50% annual, since these subscribers churn at roughly one-third the rate of monthly ones. Set your monthly churn rate (typically 3-7% for monthly subscribers) to see how retention impacts long-term revenue. The calculator accounts for both Substack's 10% platform fee and Stripe's payment processing fees.
Use the projection to understand your growth trajectory. A newsletter with 5,000 free subscribers at a 3% conversion rate and $7/month pricing nets roughly $700-800/month after all fees. To increase revenue, focus on growing your free list through cross-promotions and SEO, improving conversion with premium content previews, and reducing churn by delivering consistent value to paid subscribers.
Remember that annual subscriptions (typically offered at a 10-20% discount) provide better cash flow predictability and significantly lower churn. If your calculator shows high monthly churn eating into growth, consider promoting annual plans more aggressively.
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