Fees and take-home
Substack Fee Calculator
Estimate what a paid Substack subscription charge leaves after Substack's platform fee, Stripe card processing, and Stripe Billing recurring fee. This calculator models website subscriptions paid through Stripe, not iOS in-app purchases or alternative local payment methods.
Formula
- Gross subscription revenue = Subscription price per charge * Paid subscriber charges
- Substack fee = Gross subscription revenue * Substack fee percentage
- Stripe card fee = Gross subscription revenue * Stripe card percentage + Stripe fixed fee * Paid subscriber charges
- Stripe Billing fee = Gross subscription revenue * Stripe Billing recurring fee
- Total fees = Substack fee + Stripe card fee + Stripe Billing fee
- Net take-home = Gross subscription revenue - Total fees
- Effective fee rate = Total fees / Gross subscription revenue * 100
Examples
- At $10 per monthly charge and 100 paid subscribers, gross revenue is $1,000 and estimated fees are $166, leaving $834 before taxes and other costs.
- At $50 annual charges from 100 subscribers, gross revenue is $5,000 and estimated fees are $710, leaving $4,290.
- Low monthly prices feel the fixed Stripe fee more heavily than annual subscriptions because the fixed fee repeats every charge.
When to use this calculator
- Estimate take-home from a paid newsletter before setting a monthly or annual price.
- Compare Substack's subscription fee stack against direct Stripe Billing or newsletter platforms with flat monthly pricing.
- Understand why low-price monthly subscriptions can have a higher effective fee rate.
Common mistakes
- Counting only Substack's platform percentage and ignoring Stripe card processing plus Stripe Billing.
- Applying this calculator to iOS in-app purchases; Apple service fees are not modeled here.
- Confusing this fee calculator with a revenue estimator. It does not predict conversion, churn, or paid subscriber growth.
Frequently asked questions
What fees does Substack charge creators?
For paid publications, Substack charges a platform percentage on each transaction. Stripe also charges a card processing fee and a Stripe Billing recurring fee for subscriptions. This calculator includes all three layers by default so the result is closer to take-home than looking at Substack's platform cut alone.
Why is Stripe Billing included?
Substack's own help article states that Stripe charges a card fee and a Billing fee for recurring subscriptions. The Billing fee is separate from the card processing amount in Stripe reporting. This calculator includes it as its own input so you can see the full subscription fee stack.
Does this include iOS in-app purchases?
No. If a subscriber pays through the iOS app, Apple applies its own service fee and the payout timing is different. This calculator models website subscriptions paid through Stripe, not Apple in-app purchases.
Does this include free subscriber conversion or churn?
No. This is a fee calculator, not a revenue estimator. It assumes you already know the number of paid subscriber charges in the period. A separate Substack Revenue Estimator would model free subscribers, conversion rate, churn, and audience growth.
Should I enter monthly subscribers or annual subscribers?
Enter the number of paid charges for the period you are modeling. For monthly pricing, use the number of monthly subscriber charges. For annual pricing, enter the annual subscription price and the number of annual charges. The fixed Stripe fee applies per charge, so annual pricing often has a lower effective fee rate than many low-price monthly charges.
Why is the effective fee rate higher on low-priced subscriptions?
The fixed Stripe fee is charged per transaction. On a low monthly price, the fixed fee is a larger percentage of the subscription price. Annual plans usually reduce the fixed-fee drag because the customer pays once for a larger amount.
Does Substack charge for free newsletters?
Publishing free content on Substack is free. The fees modeled here apply when you enable paid subscriptions and readers pay. Free subscribers, free posts, and unpaid newsletters are outside this calculator.
How is this different from a Substack Revenue Estimator?
This calculator answers: if subscribers pay this amount, what do platform and payment fees leave? A revenue estimator would answer: given an audience size and conversion rate, how much might the publication earn? The second question is more assumption-heavy, so it should be labeled as an estimator rather than a calculator.
Related calculators
Sources and assumptions
- Substack fee: charged as a percentage of each paid transaction.
- Stripe card fee: modeled with a US card estimate by default. Stripe fees vary by country, card type, and payment method.
- Stripe Billing recurring fee: applied to recurring subscription payments.
- iOS in-app purchases, Apple service fees, taxes, local payment methods, chargebacks, disputes, and refunds are not modeled.
- Existing creators on legacy Stripe Billing pricing may have different Billing fees than the default shown here.
Rates checked:
Last updated:
This is a website/Stripe subscription fee calculator, not a Substack revenue estimator. It assumes the subscriber already paid. A future revenue estimator would model free subscribers, conversion rate, churn, and growth.