Substack fee calculator
As of 3 September 2026, Substack takes 10% of every paid subscription a US publication sells, plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% on a web checkout. An Apple in-app purchase costs 10% + 15%.
Verified against Substack’s official fee page. Effective from . ChangelogSingle source
Showing the $10.00 example until you type an amount.
Substack charges in USD; your bank’s conversion is not included.
- Paid subscription — web checkout (card)
- $1.66
- Total fees
- $1.66
- Effective rate
- 16.6%
Substack fees by country
Every rule on Substack’s official schedule for United States, the market this calculator covers, as of 3 September 2026. Only the 10% is Substack's own cut; the rest of each row is the processor's, and Substack deducts both before it pays you. Apple's in-app fee is published only as a 15-30% range, so this schedule uses the low end and the in-app figures are a best case. Substack lists one schedule in US dollars and no per-country pricing.
| Fee | Applies to | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Paid subscription — web checkout (card)10% is Substack's own cut. 2.9% + $0.30 and the 0.7% billing fee are Stripe's, not Substack's. The page's legacy 0.5% billing-fee rate for creators who enabled payments before 10 July 2024 expired 30 June 2025, so 0.7% now applies to every creator; the 0.5% legacy tier is not modelled. | Card on the web | 10% + 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% |
| Paid subscription — Apple in-app purchase (iOS app)Substack states Apple's in-app fee only as a range ("an extra 15-30%") without saying which conditions produce which rate, so this rule uses the low end (15%), matching this project's convention for unresolved ranges (see amazon-fba's inbound-placement fee and airbnb-host's guest-fee rule). Models Substack's 'keep prices the same' option, where the in-app subscriber pays the same gross price as a web subscriber; Substack's default 'Adjusted pricing' option instead raises the in-app list price so the creator's net is closer to the web net, and the page gives no formula for that adjustment. Stripe's processing fee does not apply on this path: Apple collects the payment directly and remits net proceeds to Substack, which the page distinguishes from 'the current Stripe and desktop experience.' | Apple in-app purchase | 10% + 15% |
Source: support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost, verified 3 September 2026.
How much does Substack take from a $10.00 subscription?
For card on the web in United States, Substack charges 10% of the amount plus 2.9% of the amount plus a fixed $0.30 plus 0.7% of the amount. Each fee line is rounded half-up to the nearest cent, as the platform bills it, and what you keep is the amount minus the sum of those lines.
A monthly subscription paid by card on the web: on $10.00 you pay $1.66 (paid subscription — web checkout (card)), and keep $8.34, an effective rate of 16.6%.
The same subscription bought in the iOS app: on $10.00 you pay $2.50 (paid subscription — Apple in-app purchase (iOS app)), and keep $7.50, an effective rate of 25%.
An annual subscription paid on the web: on $100.00 you pay $13.90 (paid subscription — web checkout (card)), and keep $86.10, an effective rate of 13.9%.
The same annual subscription bought in the iOS app: on $100.00 you pay $25.00 (paid subscription — Apple in-app purchase (iOS app)), and keep $75.00, an effective rate of 25%.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Substack take from a $10 subscription?
- Substack's own cut is 10% of each transaction. On a web checkout Stripe adds 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% on top, so a $10 monthly subscription costs $1.66 in total and you keep $8.34, an effective 16.6%. Bought in the iOS app the same subscription costs $2.50 and leaves $7.50.
Is the 10% the only fee Substack charges?
- No, though it is the only one Substack keeps. Publishing is free however many subscribers you have, and nothing is charged until you turn on paid subscriptions; from then Substack takes 10% of each transaction. Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% comes out of the same payment, which is why a $10 subscription leaves $8.34 and not the $9.00 Substack's own share would leave.
Why do I earn less when a reader subscribes in the iOS app?
- Because Apple collects the money instead of Stripe and takes its own service fee, which Substack's 10% is then charged on top of. Substack states Apple's fee only as a 15-30% range, so this calculator uses 15%, the low end: on $10 that is $2.50 against $1.66 on the web. Treat the in-app net as the best case, not a quote.
Do the fees work out cheaper on an annual subscription?
- As a share of the payment, yes, because the fixed part of Stripe's fee is charged once per transaction rather than once per month. A $10 monthly subscription runs at 16.6%, while a single $100 annual payment costs $13.90 and runs at 13.9%. The percentages themselves never change with price or subscriber count.
What do I need to charge to keep $10 a month?
- Switch the calculator to "I want to net" and enter what you want to keep. Because the fees are taken out of what the reader pays, adding the rate to your target is not enough: to keep $10 from a web checkout you charge $11.92, and from an iOS in-app purchase $13.33. The calculator finds the smallest price whose net lands within one cent of your target.
Are these Substack fees up to date?
- Every rate is quoted verbatim from Substack's own help-centre pricing article and shows the date it was checked, 3 September 2026. Substack states no effective date of its own, so this schedule is re-verified at least every 60 days. Confidence is medium: Substack's Publisher Agreement confirms that a revenue share and the processor's fees are deducted before payout, but it restates none of the percentages, so each rate rests on the help-centre article alone.
Sources and last verified
Every rate above is quoted from Substack’s official fee page and checked by a person on . Cross-checked against the official page at substack.com/pa. Single source: not every rate is restated by a second official page, so some rest on the official page alone.
Standard published rates only. Your account may have negotiated, promotional or legacy pricing, and the platform can change fees at any time. Confirm figures that matter with Substack before relying on them. See the methodology and disclaimer.
Cite this page
Fees.tools. "Substack fee calculator". https://fees.tools/substack-fee-calculator. Fee data verified 2026-09-03.APA: Fees.tools. (2026). Substack fee calculator. Retrieved 2026-09-03, from https://fees.tools/substack-fee-calculator