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Home/Calculators/Substack Revenue After Fees Calculator
For creatorsCreator calculator

Substack Revenue After Fees Calculator

Estimate take-home from paid subscribers with monthly or annual billing, plus optional failed-payment and refund sensitivity.

Model what a paid newsletter keeps after Substack's platform fee and Stripe's processing and billing stack.

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Published
Apr 17, 2026
Written by
AdsRPM Editorial Team
Reviewed by
AdsRPM Research Desk
Sources reviewed Apr 15, 2026
1 references
Substack: How much does Substack cost?

Variables

Try your numbers

Presets

750 paid subscribers at $10 monthly

Advanced options

Share tip: Your current inputs are automatically kept in the URL so you can copy and share this exact setup seamlessly.

Estimated monthly take-home $4,587.

Live Result
Estimated monthly take-home
$4,587
Aligned with default scenario
Net this billing cycle$4,587
Estimated range
Low
$4,037
Expected
$4,587
High
$5,137
Key metrics
Gross billed per cycle$5,500
Substack fee$550
Stripe processing$325
Stripe billing fee$39

Detailed chart and extended metrics are in the section below.

This reflects Substack’s 10% fee plus Stripe card processing and recurring billing fees for US-based pricing assumptions, with optional failed-payment and refund sensitivity.

Compare

Preset snapshots

Dashed line = current live result

Conservative
$1,884
58.9% below live

300 paid subscribers at $8 monthly

Realistic
$6,066
32.3% above live

750 paid subscribers at $10 monthly

Aggressive
$16,972
270.0% above live

2,000 paid subscribers at $12 annualized

Deep dive

Detailed result analysis

6mo ProjectionEstimated monthly take-home
$5,226$4,800$4,374$3,948
Now+1m+2m+3m+4m+5m+6m
Result brief
Default baseline
Aligned with default scenario

Compared against this page's default preset.

Uncertainty spread
$1,101 (24.0%)

Difference between low and high estimate bands.

Show 4 extended metrics
Revenue lost to refunds$0
Active paid subscribers550
Failed payment rate assumption0%
Refund rate assumption0%

Formula

How we calculate

Formula reference
Net income = Gross subscription revenue − Substack fee − Stripe processing − Stripe recurring billing fee

This calculator keeps Substack's 10% platform fee separate from Stripe's card and billing fees so you can see the full fee stack.

The default view uses US card-processing assumptions and recurring billing.

Annual pricing is shown as a monthly-equivalent take-home for planning consistency.

Drivers

What moves this result

Pricing strategy changes the required subscriber count more than most creators expect.
Annual plans often improve retention economics, but the monthly-equivalent math should still be reviewed separately.
Payment method mix and local taxes can move net revenue away from the default model.

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FAQ

Quick answers

Why does annual billing show a monthly equivalent?

Because most income planning questions are monthly. The calculator still surfaces the per-billing-cycle take-home as a second metric.

Is this only for newsletters?

It is optimized for paid newsletters, but the fee logic is useful for any recurring paid Substack product.