Do your best work, supported by your subscribers

Substack lets independent writers and podcasters publish directly to their audience and get paid through subscriptions.

The subscription network for independent writers and creators

1
Writer Etgar Keret serves up new and previously published stories while playfully experimenting with audio, reader story prompts, and more.
Hundreds of paid subscribers · $5/month
2
Former academic and BuzzFeed culture writer Anne Helen Petersen digs into the culture that surrounds us alongside her vibrant reader community.
$5/month
3
Tech reporter Casey Newton, who left The Verge so he could control his own media destiny, publishes this widely read daily guide to understanding social networks.
Thousands of paid subscribers · $10/month
4
New Yorker cartoonist and illustrator Liana Finck shares her trademark sad-funny drawings in a new weekly newsletter.
Hundreds of paid subscribers · $5/month
5
Leslie Stephens has served as Editor at Food52, and her work has appeared in Eater, Apartment Therapy, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She left her role as VP of Content for cupcakes and cashmere to go independent (while being a full-time student).
Thousands of paid subscribers · $5/month

Building a new economic engine for culture

You wrote it, you own it.

You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
Create your Substack

Grow your audience.

Marketing isn’t all on your shoulders. More than 40% of all new free subscriptions and around 10% of paid subscriptions to Substacks come from within our network.
Create your Substack

Let us handle everything else.

A Substack combines a blog, newsletter, payment system, and customer support team — all integrated seamlessly with a simple interface. We handle the admin, billing, and tech so you can focus on your best work.
Create your Substack

A world-class reading and listening experience

Substack’s simple system lets you publish to the web, email, and our app simultaneously so you can find new readers and always reach your existing audience.
Create your Substack
We make it easy to start a subscription podcast. Share episodes to Substack subscribers and to all the major podcast players with one click.
Create your Substack
Upload or record videos directly into a Substack post. Make videos available to everyone or only paid subscribers.
Create your Substack
On Substack, you’re not publishing into a void. Comments and community threads connect you and your subscribers directly.
Create your Substack

“I can still remember standing in the kitchen in March 2020 and watching the first $1.00 I made come through, from sharing my own research. A year later and it’s now my full-time ‘job’.”

– Conor Mac, Investment Talk

Substack basics

What is a Substack?

Substack helps anyone set up a blog and email newsletter. No tech knowledge is required. Without ads and algorithms to get in the way, you can sustain a direct relationship with your readers and retain full control over your creative work.

Do I need to pay for Substack?

It’s free to get started on Substack. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack will keep a 10% cut of revenues for operating costs like development and customer support. There are no hidden fees and we only make money when writers do.

Do I own what I publish on Substack?

You will always own your content and your relationships with your subscribers. We make it easy to import and export your archive, email list, and payments information to and from other platforms.

Will Substack help me grow my audience?

Yes. More than 40% of all new free subscriptions and around 12% of paid subscriptions to Substacks come from within our network.

How do I move my past work to Substack?

If you already have an audience on Wordpress, Mailchimp, Ghost, Medium, Tumblr, or another platform, you can easily import your posts and your email list in the Substack setup process.

Get started in minutes