You’ve probably seen the links. They’re everywhere on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and in those weirdly personal "I’m leaving my job" announcements. It’s usually a link to a Substack. Most people think it’s just a blogging site, but honestly, it’s closer to a digital life raft for the media industry.
Basically, Substack is a platform that lets anyone—from your neighbor who loves sourdough to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists—start a subscription-based newsletter. It handles the boring stuff. You get a website, a mailing list, and a payment processor (via Stripe) all in one package. No coding. No dealing with advertisers. Just writing and hitting send.
It sounds simple. It is. But that simplicity is exactly why it blew up.
The Death of the Middleman
For decades, if you wanted to get paid to write, you had to work for a magazine or a newspaper. You were at the mercy of an editor and, more importantly, an ad-revenue model. If the ads didn't sell, you got laid off. Substack flipped that. It moved the power from the publisher to the individual creator.
Think about it this way.
In the old world, you needed 100,000 casual readers to keep a magazine alive through banner ads. On Substack, if you have 1,000 "true fans" paying you $5 a month, you’re making $60,000 a year. Minus the 10% cut Substack takes and some credit card fees, that’s a living. For many, it's a better living than they ever had at a traditional news desk.
The platform launched in 2017. Chris Best, Jairaj Sethi, and Hamish McKenzie started it with a pretty radical idea: what if we made it easy to charge for emails? Their first big win was Bill Bishop, who moved his China-focused newsletter, Sinocism, to the platform. People thought he was crazy to charge $11 a month for an email. He wasn't. He made six figures almost immediately.
Why Readers Actually Pay for This
You might wonder why anyone pays for "emails" when the internet is drowning in free content. It’s a valid question.
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Quality is the short answer. Most "free" content online is optimized for SEO or clickbait because it needs those sweet, sweet ad impressions. It’s bloated. It’s repetitive. Substack content is optimized for the reader. If the writing sucks, you unsubscribe. The incentive structure is totally different.
Also, it's about the "vibe." Readers often feel like they’re part of a club. Whether it's Heather Cox Richardson explaining American history or Lenny Rachitsky breaking down product management, there’s a direct connection. You aren't reading "The New York Times Section B." You're reading Heather.
The Famous Faces of the Platform
It’s not just indies. Big names have flocked here.
- Margaret Atwood: Yes, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale.
- Patti Smith: Sharing poems and audio notes.
- Bari Weiss: Who built The Free Press into a massive media company starting as a Substack.
- George Saunders: Teaching people how to read and write short stories.
But it isn't all sunshine and literary prestige.
The Controversy Factor
Substack has a "hands-off" approach to content moderation that has made it a lightning rod. Because they don't use an algorithm to push content into a feed (unlike Facebook or TikTok), they argue they aren't responsible for "amplifying" dangerous speech. They see themselves as a utility, like a phone company or an email provider.
This led to a massive exodus of some writers in 2021 and again in 2023 over concerns about how the platform handles—or doesn't handle—hate speech and extremist content. Some writers moved to competitors like Ghost or Beehiiv. Others stayed, arguing that the freedom to write without corporate oversight is worth the messy trade-offs.
It's a complicated debate. There’s no easy answer.
How the Money Actually Works
Let's talk numbers because that's usually why people look into this.
Substack is free to start. You can have 10,000 free subscribers and pay Substack exactly zero dollars. They only make money when you make money. When you turn on paid subscriptions, they take a 10% cut. Stripe, the company that processes the credit cards, takes another 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.
If you charge $10, you keep about $8.70.
That sounds great until you realize how hard it is to get people to pay. The industry standard "conversion rate" from free subscribers to paid is usually between 5% and 10%. If you have 1,000 people on your list, maybe 50 will pay. You do the math. It's a grind.
Not Just Text Anymore
Lately, they’ve been trying to become a social network. They added "Notes," which looks a lot like Twitter. You can post short updates, images, and links. The goal is "network effects"—they want writers to find new readers through other writers.
They also added:
- Chat: A private space for your subscribers to talk to you.
- Podcasting: You can host your audio files directly and even have "paid-only" episodes.
- Video: A relatively new feature allowing creators to post clips or full episodes.
They are basically trying to build an all-in-one ecosystem where you never have to leave to grow your business.
The Competition
Substack isn't the only player.
Ghost is the big alternative for people who want more control. It's open-source, and they don't take a percentage of your revenue—you just pay a monthly fee.
Beehiiv is the new kid on the block, focused heavily on "growth hacks" and ad networks for newsletters.
Buttondown is for the minimalists who just want to send clean, simple text.
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Is it Too Late to Start?
People ask this all the time. "Is the newsletter bubble bursting?"
Probably not. But the "easy" era is over. In 2020, everyone was stuck at home and bored, so they subscribed to everything. Now, people are hitting "subscription fatigue." They’re looking at their credit card statements and cutting back.
To succeed on Substack now, you can't just be a "generalist." You have to have a niche. You have to know something other people don't, or say things in a way nobody else does.
What You Need to Know Before Starting
Don't just quit your job. Seriously.
Most successful Substacks started as a side project. It takes a long time to build trust. You're asking for a spot in someone's inbox—one of the last private spaces on the internet. Treat it with respect.
If you're going to do it, pick a schedule and stick to it. Whether it's once a week or once a month, consistency is the only thing that beats the algorithm (or lack thereof).
Actionable Steps for New Creators
If you are ready to jump in, here is the realistic path forward.
First, define your "Why." If you're doing it just for money, you'll quit in three months when you only have 12 subscribers (ten of whom are your family). You need a topic you can write about for at least a year without getting bored.
Second, import your contacts. Substack lets you upload your existing email list. Don't spam people, but do let your professional network know what you're doing.
Third, engage with the community. Use the "Notes" feature. Follow other writers in your niche. Comment on their posts. Substack is a giant recommendation engine; most growth comes from other writers recommending your work through the "Recommendations" tool.
Finally, don't go paid too early. Build a base of free readers first. Get to 500 or 1,000 free subscribers so you have a "warm" audience to launch to. Turning on the paywall when you only have 50 readers is a recipe for silence.
The platform has changed the way we consume media. It has turned journalists into entrepreneurs and hobbyists into professionals. It's messy, it's controversial, and it's occasionally brilliant. But mostly, it's just a way to talk to people without anyone standing in the middle.
Set up your landing page. Choose a clean, simple name. Write your first post. Don't overthink the "About" page; you can change it later. Just focus on the value you're providing to the person on the other side of the screen.
Focus on the writing. The rest is just tech.