Newsletter Platforms · pricing · Updated September 2026
Substack pricing (2026)
Substack lists a $0 plan (Free to publish) and no paid price as checked on 2026-09-03, read from Substack's own pricing page; 1 plans. Best for writers. Every figure below links to its source and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Entry price: $0 (Free to publish)
- Free tier: Yes
- Compliance: HIPAA — · SOC 2 — · GDPR —
- Best for: writers; independent journalists; community builders; paid newsletter creators starting out
As of · every figure below links to its source STALE · 2026-09-03
Substack plans & pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free to publish STALE · 2026-09-03 | $0 | — | Flat monthly | Free to publish and send email newsletters to any size list. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue when monetization is enabled, plus Stripe processing fees. No monthly fee at any subscriber count. | substack.com |
Last verified 2026-09-03. STALE marks a plan we have not re-checked at its source in over 30 days. Every plan above is marked — we flag rather than silently retain. substack.com/about and substack.com/going-paid both load (HTTP 200) and explicitly state writers keep 90% of revenue (Substack takes 10%), with no platform fees/tiers/contracts; publishing is free at any list size. Stripe processing fees apply on top of the 10% cut. Corroborated via ruzuku.com Substack pricing article. Cross-checked against ruzuku.com.
Price changes
No change record has cleared two sources yet, so nothing is published on the wire.
Capabilities
Key features: Fully free to publish at any list size; Built-in discovery network and recommendations; Podcast, video, and chat alongside newsletters; No monthly platform fee — cost only triggers on paid subscriber revenue.
Plan limits: 10% revenue cut on all paid subscriptions; No self-serve removal of Substack branding on free tier.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Substack cost?
Substack lists a $0 plan (Free to publish) and no paid price; it has 1 published plans. Verified 2026-09-03.
Does Substack support HIPAA?
Substack's public pages do not say whether it supports HIPAA.
Does Substack have a free plan?
Yes — Substack publishes a free tier.
Substack vs alternatives
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This standing as a plaque
Substack currently holds a bronze deskmark here — Rank 7 of 8 · Newsletter Platforms. Anyone may show it. There is nothing to apply for, nothing to pay, and displaying it changes no score: the standing comes from the published algorithm, which never reads commission data. We never ask anyone to show it, and its link carries rel="nofollow".
The image is drawn from our live data, so it follows the standing rather than freezing it: if Substack moves up or down a tier, the plaque on your own site says so at our next publish. Nothing is tracked beyond the ordinary web-server log that records any image request.