If you’ve spent any time online in the last couple of years, chances are you’ve stumbled across Substack. Maybe someone shared a link to a newsletter you actually wanted to read. Maybe a journalist you followed on Twitter announced they were “going independent” and pointed you there. Or maybe you’re a writer yourself and you keep hearing that Substack is the place to build an audience without selling your soul to an algorithm.
Whatever brought you here, this guide will walk you through exactly what Substack is, how it works for both readers and creators, what makes it genuinely useful, and where it falls short. Just what you actually need to know.
So, What Exactly Is Substack?
At its core, Substack is a publishing platform that lets writers, journalists, podcasters, and video creators publish content and get paid for it directly by their readers, not by advertisers.
Think of it like this: instead of writing for a newspaper that pays you a flat salary (and owns your work), or posting on social media for free while a tech company sells ads around your content, Substack lets you charge your readers a monthly or annual subscription.
You keep most of the money, You own your audience, And you can pack up and leave whenever you want. It started as a newsletter platform back in 2017, but it has grown into something a lot bigger.
Today you can publish long-form articles, run a podcast, post short-form “Notes” (think Twitter but calmer), and even host live video all from the same place
How Does Substack Work for Creators?
Getting started on Substack is pretty simple, even if you’re not a tech person. Here’s how the whole thing actually works:
1. You Sign Up and Create Your Publication
Creating an account is free. You pick a name for your publication, write a short description, and you’re basically ready to go. There’s no complicated setup, no need to buy hosting, no WordPress plugins to wrestle with.
Substack handles all of that for you. Once you’re set up, you get a dedicated webpage
(something like yourname.substack.com) where all your content lives, Readers can browse your archive, subscribe, and discover your work.
2. You Write and Publish Content
Substack gives you a clean, distraction-free editor for writing your posts. You can embed images, audio, and video. You can schedule posts in advance. You can organize content into different sections if you want to cover multiple topics.
When you hit publish, your post goes out in three ways at once:
- Directly to your subscribers’ email inboxes
- On your Substack webpage, where anyone can find it
In the Substack app, where readers browse content from all the publications they follow
3. You Choose What’s Free and What’s Paid
This is where it gets interesting you don’t have to charge for everything most successful Substack writers give away some content for free to attract new readers, and then lock their best stuff behind a paywall.
For example, you might send three free newsletters per month and one premium post that’s only for paying subscribers. Over time, as readers get hooked on your free content, some of them convert to paid subscribers.
This model isn’t new it’s basically the “freemium” approach that apps and SaaS companies have used for years. But for writers, it’s genuinely powerful because it means you don’t have to choose between growing your audience and making money.
4. Readers Subscribe and Pay You
When a reader decides they want your premium content, they click subscribe and enter their card details. Substack handles all the payment processing. You don’t have to deal with invoicing, refunds, or any of that. The money lands in your account automatically.
Subscriptions can be monthly or annual. Most writers offer a discount for annual plans to encourage longer commitments. Some also offer founding member tiers for superfans who want to pay more.
5. Substack Takes a Cut
Nothing is truly free, of course. Substack makes money by taking 10% of your subscription revenue, plus there are standard credit card processing fees (around 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction).
So if you’re charging $10/month, Substack and the payment processor collectively take about $1.60, and you keep roughly $8.40.
That’s not nothing, but it’s a straightforward deal. You only pay when you earn there are no monthly platform fees, no upfront costs, nothing like that.
What Can You Actually Publish on Substack?
Substack has expanded well beyond the original newsletter format. Here’s a rundown of what you can create:
Written Posts and Essays
This is still the backbone of Substack. Long-form articles, personal essays, investigative pieces, opinion columns, fiction all of it works. The editor supports rich formatting, headers, pull quotes, and embedded media.
Podcasts
You can upload audio files directly to Substack and distribute your podcast through the platform. Subscribers can listen in the Substack app or through any standard podcast app.
It’s a solid option if you want your podcast and newsletter audience to be the same people.
Videos and Live Streams
Substack added videos, so you can publish video posts or go live with your subscribers. This is still relatively new, but it makes sense as part of the platform’s push to become a full multimedia hub rather than just a newsletter tool.
Notes, Substack’s Take on Social Media
Launched in April 2023, Notes is a feed of short-form posts that looks and feels a bit like Twitter. Writers can share snippets of their work, quick thoughts, links, and images. Readers can comment, like, and repost.
Notes is important because it’s one of the main ways new readers discover publications on Substack. If someone follows a writer they like and that writer reposts or comments on your Note, their whole audience suddenly sees your name. It’s a built-in growth engine.
How Do Readers Discover Content on Substack?
One of the knock-on benefits of being on Substack is that you’re not entirely dependent on social media algorithms to grow your audience. The platform has its own discovery mechanisms:
Publication Recommendations
When someone subscribes to your Substack, you can recommend other publications to them. Other writers can recommend yours in return.
This cross-promotion system is genuinely effective Substack has said that more than half of new subscribers often come from within its network, not from outside it. That’s huge.
The Substack App and Explore Feature
The Substack app has a built-in discovery section where users can browse popular publications by category. If your content is resonating, you can start appearing in these recommendations and get in front of readers who have never heard of you.
Notes and Trending Topics
As mentioned, Notes creates virality within the Substack ecosystem. When your short posts get engagement, they surface to a wider audience. There’s also a trending topics feature that highlights what’s being discussed across the platform.
SEO and Google Search
Your Substack webpage is indexed by search engines. If you’re writing about topics people are searching for, you can pull in organic traffic from Google especially for evergreen content that stays relevant over time.
Substack Features Worth Knowing About
Beyond publishing and payments, here are some features that make Substack more than just a basic email tool:
1. Subscriber Chat
Paying subscribers can access a chat feature where they can message you and each other directly. It’s like a community inbox that creates a sense of belonging and makes your publication feel like a club, not just a mailing list.
2. Comment Threads
Every post can have a comment section. Free subscribers can sometimes comment too, depending on your settings. Good comment sections are underrated they turn passive readers into active community members.
3. Welcome Sequences and Win-Back Campaigns
Substack has some basic automation features. You can set up a welcome email that goes to every new subscriber. There’s also a win-back campaign tool to re-engage subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a while.
4. Analytics
You get basic but useful analytics: open rates, subscriber growth, paid conversion rates, and top-performing posts. It’s not as deep as a dedicated email marketing tool like Mailchimp or Klaviyo, but it tells you what you actually need to know.
5. Substack Defender — The Surprising Legal Perk
This one catches people off guard. Substack offers something called Substack Defender, which provides eligible creators with legal support including legal fees coverage, advice, and pre-publication review if they’re facing legal challenges related to their journalism or writing.
This is genuinely rare in the publishing world. Most platforms will just delete your account if someone complains loudly enough.
Substack’s willingness to back its writers legally is one of the reasons some investigative journalists and controversial thinkers have chosen it over other platforms.
6. Email List Ownership
This might be the most underrated feature on the whole platform. You own your subscriber list. You can export it at any time as a CSV and take it to another platform Kit, Beehiiv, Ghost, whatever. Substack doesn’t hold your audience hostage. That’s a huge deal if you ever decide to move on.
The Real Pros and Cons of Using Substack
Let’s be honest here. Substack is a great fit for some people and a frustrating choice for others. Here’s an honest breakdown:
Where Substack Genuinely Shines
- It’s dead simple to start. You can have a live publication in under 30 minutes.
- The freemium model is powerful for writers who want to grow first, monetize later.
- You own your email list and can leave anytime no platform lock-in.
- The built-in recommendation network means you’re not starting from zero.
- Legal support via Substack Defender is a legitimate differentiator.
- It consolidates writing, podcasting, video, and community in one place.
- No ads. Your relationship with readers is direct and uncluttered.
Where Substack Falls Short
- The 10% revenue cut adds up fast. At $10,000/month in revenue, you’re handing Substack $1,000 plus processing fees. Platforms like Ghost (self-hosted) take nothing.
- Email marketing features are very basic. No advanced segmentation, no A/B testing, no complex automation flows.
- Design customization is minimal. Most Substacks look similar because there aren’t many options to differentiate your visual brand.
- No public API means you can’t easily connect Substack to Zapier or other tools to automate workflows.
- Substack can remove your content or account if they decide it violates their terms — and they don’t always give notice.
- Monetization is basically limited to subscriptions. You can’t easily sell courses, digital products, or merchandise through the platform.
Who Should Actually Use Substack?
Substack works best for a specific type of creator. You’re probably a good fit if:
- You’re a writer, journalist, or thinker who wants to build a direct relationship with readers
- You’re starting from scratch or a small audience and want the platform to help you grow
- You prefer simplicity over control you want to write, not manage tech
- Your primary product is your writing, not a course, product, or service
- You want to eventually earn from subscriptions, not ads or brand deals
Substack vs. The Competition
Substack vs. Ghost
Ghost is an open source publishing platform that you can self-host for free (you just pay for hosting, typically $10-20/month). It takes zero revenue share and offers more design flexibility. The tradeoff is that you’re on your own for discovery there’s no built-in network effect like Substack’s recommendations.
Substack vs. Beehiiv
Beehiiv is a newer platform specifically built for newsletter growth. It has better analytics, ad network integration, and more email marketing features.
The free tier has limits, and monetization works differently. It’s popular with creators who want to grow through advertising as well as subscriptions.
Substack vs. ConvertKit (now Kit)
ConvertKit is more of an email marketing tool than a publishing platform. It has powerful automation, segmentation, and tagging features ideal for businesses and creators with complex email funnels. It lacks Substack’s community and discovery features but is far more capable as a pure email tool.
Substack vs. Medium
Medium is a writing platform where readers pay for access to all content on the platform, not just yours. Creators earn based on reading time. You don’t own your audience, and income can be unpredictable. Substack gives you much more control and typically better earning potential for serious creators.
Frequently Asked Questions About Substack
Here are answers to the questions people ask most often about Substack — including some things that are easy to get confused about.
Yes, Substack is free to create an account and publish. You only pay when you start earning Substack takes 10% of your paid subscription revenue, plus credit card processing fees. There are no monthly fees, no upfront costs, and no hidden charges for free publications.
The primary way is through paid subscriptions. You set a price (typically anywhere from $5 to $20+ per month), gate some content behind a paywall, and readers pay to access it. You can also offer annual plans, founding member tiers, or group subscriptions for organizations.
It varies enormously. A small but loyal paid audience of 500 subscribers at $10/month generates $5,000/month before fees which works out to around $4,200 after Substack’s cut and payment processing.
Some top creators earn over $1 million/year. But the majority of Substacks earn little or nothing; success depends heavily on your niche, your existing audience, and how consistently you publish.
Having an existing audience definitely helps, but it’s not required. Substack’s recommendation network means new writers can gain subscribers through cross-promotion with other publications.
That said, building from zero takes time and consistent effort. Most successful Substacks that started from scratch took 12-24 months to reach meaningful paid subscriber numbers.
Yes. This is one of Substack’s best features. You can export your entire subscriber list as a CSV at any time. Your audience belongs to you, not to Substack. This is very different from platforms like Medium, where you have no way to directly contact your readers outside the platform.
It’s decent. Your Substack posts get indexed by Google, which means you can rank for search terms and bring in organic traffic. The URLs are clean, loading speeds are reasonable, and you have control over titles and meta descriptions. It’s not as customizable as a WordPress site for SEO purposes, but for most writers, it’s more than sufficient.
Yes, you can cross-post freely. Many writers publish on Substack and also share content on Medium, LinkedIn, or their personal website. Just be mindful of duplicate content if SEO is important to you it helps to either keep your Substack as the primary source or add canonical tags where possible.
Notes is a short-form content feed built into Substack think of it like a Twitter or Threads but exclusively for Substack writers and readers. You can post short thoughts, share snippets of your writing, and interact with other creators. It’s one of the best ways to get discovered by new readers within the platform, so yes, if you’re serious about growing, you should use it regularly.
Yes. Substack has a free trial feature that lets potential subscribers access your paid content for a set period before committing. This is a great way to convert fence-sitters people who like your free content but aren’t sure if your paid content is worth it
This is a legitimate concern with any third-party platform. Your main protection is owning your email list export it regularly as a backup. If Substack raised its fee dramatically or shut down, you could take your subscriber list to another platform like Ghost, Beehiiv, or Kit and email your audience directly. Your readers follow you, not the platform.
Substack is primarily designed for individual creators. It lacks the CRM integration, advanced segmentation, and automation workflows that businesses typically need for email marketing.
If you’re running a business newsletter, you might get started on Substack, but you’ll likely outgrow it as your needs get more sophisticated.
Substack handles the technical compliance side, including unsubscribe links in every email and GDPR consent mechanisms.
If you’re writing for a European audience, Substack’s infrastructure is designed to meet basic compliance requirements.
That said, if your business has specific legal obligations, you should verify with a legal professional what you need beyond what the platform provides.
Yes. You can run multiple publications under the same account or create separate accounts for different projects. Some writers run one Substack for professional content and another for a passion project, each with its own subscriber base and pricing.
Substack Defender is a program that offers eligible creators legal support if they face legal challenges connected to their publishing work.
This includes covering legal fees, providing legal advice, and offering pre-publication review. It’s designed primarily for journalists and writers covering controversial topics. Not every creator qualifies automatically, but it’s a significant perk that most publishing platforms don’t offer at all.
Honest answer: it usually takes longer than people expect. Building an email audience from scratch is a slow game.
Most creators see meaningful growth after 6-12 months of consistent publishing, active use of Notes, and participation in the recommendation network. If you already have an established audience elsewhere and you’re migrating to Substack, you can see results much faster.
Yes. Substack supports publications in many languages, and there are active communities of writers publishing in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and other languages. The platform’s interface is primarily in English, but your content itself can be in any language.
Conclusion
Substack has done something genuinely useful: it’s made it possible for writers to build a sustainable income from their work without needing a publishing deal, an ad revenue strategy, or a massive social media following. That’s not nothing.
Is it perfect? No. The fees add up, the design options are limited, and the email marketing features are basic. But for a writer who just wants to write, build an audience, and get paid directly for it without worrying about technology, hosting, or algorithms Substack is one of the most frictionless ways to do that.
The key is going in with realistic expectations. Substack is a long game. The people who do well on it are consistent, genuinely interested in their topic, and willing to engage with their community over time. If that sounds like you, it’s worth giving it a shot. And if you outgrow it someday? You’ll still own every email address. You can take your audience anywhere
If you’re serious about growing your Substack faster, building a loyal subscriber base, and turning readers into a thriving community, book a call with us. We’ll help you create a growth strategy tailored to your goals.
Interested in growing your Substack? book a call with us to see how we can help you scale.
