Substack started as a simple way for writers to charge for email newsletters. Today it also runs an app, a podcast host and a livestream tool. Writers, podcasters and video creators use it to build paid audiences. Here are the latest statistics on Substack’s readers, paid subscriptions, creator earnings, app use, fees and funding.
Top Substack Statistics
- Tens of millions of people read, watch, and listen on Substack every week, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
- Substack has 5 million paid subscriptions and counting, according to its About page in 2026 (Substack, About).
- More than 100,000 publishers made money on Substack through subscriptions as of June 2026 (Substack, A Business Model That Works for Creators).
- More than 50 people make over $1 million a year on Substack, CEO Chris Best said in June 2025 (The Verge).
- Substack’s top 10 publishers collectively make more than $100 million a year, as of June 2026 (Substack, A Business Model That Works for Creators).
- More than half of new Substack subscribers come from its built-in network, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
- Creators who publish podcasts on Substack collectively earn over $200 million a year, as of September 2026 (Substack, Shea Serrano Did the Math on Podcasting. Betting on Himself Was the Winning Equation.).
- Substack raised $100 million in Series C funding in July 2025 (Substack, A Media Future to Believe In).
How Many People Use Substack?
1. Tens of millions of people read, watch, and listen on Substack every week, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
2. Substack has 5 million paid subscriptions and counting, according to its About page in 2026 (Substack, About).
5 million paid subscriptions on Substack, 2026
Source: Substack, About, snapshot taken October 3, 2026
How Fast Has Substack Grown?
These milestones show how Substack’s subscriptions have grown.
3. Substack reached 5 million paid subscriptions in March 2025 (Substack, 5 Million). That came less than four months after Substack announced it had crossed 4 million.
4. Substack had 4 million paid subscriptions in November 2024, CEO Chris Best said (Chris Best, Substack Note).
5. Substack had more than 35 million active subscriptions in 2023, including 2 million paid subscriptions (Substack on Wefunder).
6. Substack had more than 1 million paid subscriptions in November 2021 (Substack, One Million Strong).
How Many Writers Make Money on Substack?
7. More than 100,000 publishers made money on Substack through subscriptions as of June 2026 (Substack, A Business Model That Works for Creators).
8. More than 50 people make over $1 million a year on Substack, CEO Chris Best said in June 2025 (The Verge).
9. Substack’s top 10 publishers collectively make more than $100 million a year, as of June 2026 (Substack, A Business Model That Works for Creators).
10. Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me newsletter has over 10,000 paid subscribers, Substack said in May 2026 (Substack, Open Tab: Emily Sundberg).
How Many Free Subscribers Convert to Paid?
11. Substack tends to see 5% to 10% of free subscribers convert to paid, according to its paid subscriptions guide (Substack, Going Paid Guide). Substack calls 10% a rate to aim for.
How Many Substack Publishers Use AI?
12. 45.4% of about 2,000 Substack publishers surveyed said they use AI, in a report published July 2025 (Substack, The Substack AI Report). Substack says the findings are not perfectly weighted to its full publisher base.
Where Do New Substack Subscribers Come From?
These figures show where Substack’s new subscribers and subscriptions come from.
13. More than half of new Substack subscribers come from its built-in network, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
14. Over 30% of paid Substack subscriptions come from within its network, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
15. In 2023, Substack’s network drove 40% of all subscriptions and 15% of paid subscriptions (Substack on Wefunder).
16. The Substack app was the number one source of all subscriptions on Substack as of October 2024 (Substack, The Substack App Is Now the Most Powerful Growth Machine for Creators).
17. 3 million subscriptions came through the Substack app in the past month, as of October 2024 (Substack, The Substack App Is Now the Most Powerful Growth Machine for Creators). Recommendations drove 2 million in the same month.
18. More than 34 million subscriptions had come from Substack recommendations by October 2024 (Substack, The Substack App Is Now the Most Powerful Growth Machine for Creators). Recommendations let publishers promote other publishers to their audience.
19. Substack app discovery generated about the same number of subscriptions as all social media sources combined, as of October 2024 (Substack, The Substack App Is Now the Most Powerful Growth Machine for Creators).
How Many People Use the Substack App?
20. Millions use the Substack app weekly, Substack said in July 2025 (Substack, A Media Future to Believe In).
21. The Substack app has 10 million+ downloads on Google Play as of October 2026 (Google Play). It holds a 4.8-star rating from about 326,000 reviews.
22. The Substack app holds a 4.9 rating from about 544,000 ratings on the US App Store in October 2026 (Apple App Store).
23. More than 30% of all paid Substack subscriptions come through its app, Substack said in August 2025 (Substack, Now Anyone Can Pay for a Substack Subscription in iOS).
24. The Substack app drove nearly half a million paid subscriptions in the three months to October 2025 (Substack, Demystifying the Feed).
25. The Substack app drove more than 32 million free subscriptions in the same three months to October 2025 (Substack, Demystifying the Feed).
26. 1 million+ posts are discovered by potential subscribers in the Substack app every day, according to Substack in 2026 (Substack, About).
Substack Podcast, Video and Livestream Statistics
27. Creators who publish podcasts on Substack collectively earn over $200 million a year, as of September 2026 (Substack, Shea Serrano Did the Math on Podcasting. Betting on Himself Was the Winning Equation.).
28. Substack clips directly generated nearly 500,000 free subscriptions from their 2025 rollout to December 2025 (Substack, New: Livestreaming From Desktop).
29. Substack-generated clips on external platforms get more than 500,000 views a day, as of December 2025 (Substack, New: Livestreaming From Desktop). Substack credits auto-publishing integrations with YouTube and LinkedIn.
30. Nearly 50% of Substack livestream hosts share or download a clip the same day they go live, as of December 2025 (Substack, New: Livestreaming From Desktop).
31. Substack creators who used audio or video in the past 90 days grew revenue 50% faster than those who didn’t, Substack said in March 2026 (Substack, Introducing the Substack Recording Studio). Substack cites recent data for this.
Which Countries Use Substack the Most?
32. 56.38% of desktop traffic to substack.com came from the US in August 2026 (Similarweb). The UK followed with 7.86%, then Canada (3.9%), India (3.78%) and Australia (2.78%).
Countries sending the most desktop traffic to substack.com, August 2026
Source: Similarweb, substack.com overview, snapshot taken October 3, 2026
33. Almost 30,000 of the publishers earning money on Substack were outside the US in April 2026 (Substack, The Global Ideas Exchange).
34. One in three paid creators on Substack were outside the US as of June 2026 (Substack, Introducing Country Leaderboards and Post Translations).
35. Substack creators in Europe collectively make $90 million a year, as of June 2026 (Substack, Introducing Country Leaderboards and Post Translations).
36. Substack named the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain among its five fastest-growing markets outside the US in June 2026 (Substack, Introducing Country Leaderboards and Post Translations).
Substack Website Traffic and Audience
Direct traffic is visits with no referring site, such as typing the address or using a bookmark. Bounce rate is the share of visits that leave after one page.
37. 49.48% of desktop visits to substack.com came from direct traffic in August 2026 (Similarweb). Organic search ranked second and mail (email links) third.
38. The average visit to substack.com lasted 4 minutes 3 seconds in August 2026 (Similarweb). Visitors viewed 4.04 pages per visit, and the bounce rate was 47.32%.
39. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest age group in substack.com’s audience, per Similarweb in October 2026 (Similarweb).
40. 50.9% of substack.com’s audience was female and 49.1% male, per Similarweb in October 2026 (Similarweb).
How Much Does Substack Charge Writers?
41. Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue when writers turn on paid subscriptions, as of 2026 (Substack Help Center, How Much Does Substack Cost?). Stripe charges its own payment processing fees.
| Fee | Amount (2026) |
|---|---|
| Substack fee | 10% of each subscription payment |
| Stripe card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 per payment for US cards |
| Stripe Billing (recurring payments) | 0.7% |
| Local payment methods | Set by Stripe; varies by country |
| Custom domain (optional) | One-time $50 |
Source: Substack Help Center, How Much Does Substack Cost?
42. The minimum Substack subscription price on US-dollar Stripe accounts is $5 per month and $30 per year in 2026 (Substack Help Center, How Do I Set Up a Paid Publication?). Pricing in other currencies may vary.
Substack Funding and Company Statistics
A pre-money valuation is the value investors agree to put on a company before adding new money. Form C is the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a crowdfunding offering. Form D is a notice a company files with the SEC after selling securities in a private offering.
43. Substack’s total funding reached around $200 million after its 2025 Series C, Variety reported (Variety).
44. Substack raised $100 million in Series C funding in July 2025 (Substack, A Media Future to Believe In). BOND and The Chernin Group led the round, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz.
45. In January 2025, Substack launched $20 million in guarantees for creators who move their paid-subscription audiences to Substack (Substack, Introducing the Substack Creator Accelerator Fund). The fund guarantees creators lose none of their existing revenue from the move.
46. Substack had just over 100 employees in July 2025, a company representative told Variety (Variety).
47. Substack’s 2023 crowdfunding round raised $7,809,219 from 6,686 investors on Wefunder (Substack on Wefunder).
48. Substack’s 2023 crowdfunding round used a $585 million pre-money valuation, based on its Series B terms (Substack on Wefunder).
49. Substack reported 76 employees in its April 2023 crowdfunding filing with the SEC (SEC, Substack Form C (2023)).
50. Substack sold $64,999,928 in equity to 33 investors in 2021, according to an SEC filing (SEC, Substack Form D (2021)).
51. Substack sold $19,086,734 in equity to 32 investors in 2019, according to an SEC filing (SEC, Substack Form D (2019)).
52. Substack Inc. was incorporated in Delaware on November 28, 2017, according to its SEC filing (SEC, Substack Form C (2023)).
Conclusion
Substack has grown well beyond the email newsletter. Its app and network now bring in a large share of new subscribers. Creators publish podcasts and video as well as writing. One thing to watch is how far that growth spreads outside the US. We’ll update this page as new data comes out.