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Is Substack Worth Growing? Cold Reach, Effort, Money and How to Grow a Newsletter There

Substack is the only social platform compared on this site that emails every post to the inbox of each person who subscribed to the writer's newsletter.

Five facts decide whether Substack is worth growing:

  • Visits to Substack.com were up 37% in the year to September 2026.
  • Over half of people who subscribe to a Substack newsletter find it in Substack's app or through another writer's recommendation.
  • A Substack post takes about 3 hours to write.
  • Substack keeps 10% of what readers pay a writer for a Substack subscription.
  • About 2 to 3% of a Substack newsletter's free subscribers start paying the writer a monthly or yearly fee.
Illustration: a crowd of figures, one in blue, standing between a large open envelope and a tall phone whose screen shows a column of message cards

Substack is a newsletter plus a social app. Substack emails every post to the writer's subscribers

Most social platforms decide which of your followers see each post. Substack emails every post to everyone who subscribed to your newsletter with their email address. Strangers see your Substack posts only if the Substack app shows those posts to them.

Illustration: two figures at the foot of a rising bar chart with an arrow climbing above it

Substack visits rose 37% in a year. Twice as many Substack writers earned money in 2026 as in 2025

Substack's visits, its visits from search engines and the number of writers earning money from readers all rose in the last year.

172.2M visits to substack.com in September 2026, up 37% in a year.
Illustration: three figures inside a ring of connected circles, with a new figure stepping into the ring

Over half of Substack readers find newsletters in Substack. A new writer needs no existing audience

On most newsletter tools a new writer has to find every reader outside the tool. On Substack, readers find new writers in Substack's app and through other Substack writers' recommendations.

PlatformHow a stranger finds youIs the platform growing?Links to other websites in postsDo you get the reader's email address?How long people keep finding a post
SubstackStrong, over half of new Substack subscribers find the newsletter they subscribe to in Substack's app or through another writer's recommendationGrowing, visits up 37% in a yearClickable, no evidence that Substack shows posts with links to fewer people than posts without linksYes, every subscriber's email address, in a list you can downloadLasting, each post stays in the subscriber's inbox and on the web
ThreadsGood, 761 views a post for accounts with under 2,000 followersGrowing, daily users up 21% in a yearClickable, but fewer people see posts with links than posts without linksNoHours
BlueskyModerate, strangers find you through Bluesky starter packs (shared lists of accounts to follow) and the Discover feedShrinking, monthly users down 27% in a yearClickable, Bluesky shows posts with links to as many people as posts without linksNoHours
X (free)Almost none, under 100 views a postShrinking, daily users down 13% in a yearHidden, X shows posts with links to almost nobodyNoMinutes, about 43 minutes
LinkedInGood, a post reaches 20 to 40% of your connectionsGrowing, 1.2 billion membersClickable, but fewer people see posts with links than posts without linksNoDays
Illustration: a row of figures on either side of a tall phone, inside which one figure holds an open envelope

Substack's app feed shows posts that lead readers to subscribe, not posts that keep people scrolling

Substack's app has a scrolling feed like other social apps. Substack's feed favours posts that lead readers to subscribe to the writer's newsletter, not posts that keep people scrolling longest.

Illustration: a figure typing on a laptop at a desk with a large clock on the wall behind

A weekly Substack post takes about 3 hours to write, the main cost of growing a Substack

Writing a weekly Substack post takes about 3 hours. About 3 hours a week of writing is the main cost of growing a Substack newsletter.

A phone taking a photo, an arrow, and the same photo being pasted on a computer

Use Camera to Clipboard to put phone photos into a Substack post you write on a computer

Substack posts are usually written on a computer. Your photos are usually on your phone. Camera to Clipboard, one of my own apps, copies phone photos onto your computer's clipboard.

Download Camera to Clipboard from the App Store

Download Camera to Clipboard from Google Play

Illustration: a row of figures with one blue figure holding a large coin divided into slices, one slice coloured blue

Substack keeps 10% of what readers pay. With card fees, a writer loses 13 to 16% of each payment

A free Substack newsletter costs the writer nothing. A writer pays fees only once readers pay a monthly or yearly fee. Substack takes 10% of each reader payment. Stripe, the card payment company, takes about 3.6% plus 30 cents from each reader payment. Apple takes up to 30% of each payment made in Substack's iPhone app in the first year of each subscription.

Newsletter platformCut of what readers payMonthly cost to youPaying readers come with you if you leaveHow readers find you inside the platform
Substack10%, plus card feesFreeCard payers yes, iPhone app payers noYes, over half of new Substack subscribers find newsletters through Substack's app or other writers' recommendations
beehiiv0%, card fees onlyFree to 2,500 subscribers, then from $69 a month, billed yearlyYes, through StripePaid Boosts, you pay another beehiiv writer about $1.50 to $3 for each reader who subscribes to you through that writer's recommendation
Ghost0%, card fees only$29 a month, billed yearly, for a newsletter with 1,000 subscribersYes, through StripeNone
Kit3.5% plus 30 cents, card fees includedFree to 10,000 subscribersYesPaid recommendations, Kit keeps 23.5% of what one writer pays another for a recommendation
Patreon10%, plus card fees, for pages started after August 2025FreeNoNone
MediumNo subscription of your own, Medium pays you by how long paying Medium members spend reading your postsFreeNo, you never get your readers' email addressesMedium's own feed
Illustration: a dense crowd of navy figures with two light blue figures among them, one holding a coin

Expect only 2 to 3% of a Substack newsletter's free subscribers to start paying the writer

The share of a Substack newsletter's free subscribers who start paying a monthly or yearly fee decides whether that newsletter makes money.

Illustration: a figure carrying a box of envelopes out through a doorway, past a line of other figures

Your email list leaves Substack with you. Readers who pay through Substack's iPhone app do not

Keeping your readers' email addresses is the main reason to choose a newsletter over a social platform. Readers who pay through Substack's iPhone app cannot move with their writer when the writer leaves Substack.

Illustration: a row of figures standing behind a letter tray full of envelopes

Substack emails reach the Gmail Primary inbox 93% of the time, more often than rival tools do

A newsletter is only worth growing if its emails land in the inbox tab people read. In Gmail, the inbox tab people read is the Primary tab.

Illustration: one figure points toward another while a line of small figures walks toward the second figure

78% of Lenny Rachitsky's new subscribers found him through other Substack writers' recommendations

Lenny Rachitsky, a former Airbnb product lead, writes Lenny's Newsletter on Substack. Free recommendations from other Substack writers are built into every Substack newsletter. Substack recommendations have the strongest evidence of any way to gain Substack subscribers.

Illustration: a blue figure standing apart from a crowd, with small speech bubble cards floating above

Post 3 or more short notes in your first week on Substack to gain more subscribers

Notes are Substack's short posts, like tweets. Substack notes show up in the Substack app feed, where new readers find you.

Illustration: a figure carrying a page out through one doorway toward another doorway where a group of figures stands

Swap guest articles with other Substack writers to gain new subscribers

A guest article is an article you write that another Substack writer emails to their own subscribers. That writer's subscribers get your article with that writer's recommendation.

Illustration: a group of figures standing on a low podium with stacks of coins on its steps

Charge readers to get onto Substack's leaderboards, where new readers find newsletters

A Substack newsletter can appear on Substack's leaderboards only once its writer charges readers. New readers find Substack newsletters on Substack's leaderboards.

Two phones, one recording and one replaying, joined by arrows into a hands-free loop

Use Repeat Recorder to rehearse the opening of a Substack livestream or podcast

Writers have been able to publish podcasts on Substack since 2019. Writers have been able to livestream on Substack since January 2025. The opening of a Substack livestream cannot be re-recorded. Repeat Recorder, another of my own apps, records you and plays each attempt straight back.

Download Repeat Recorder from the App Store

Download Repeat Recorder from Google Play

Illustration: a magnifying glass above a row of figures, one of them coloured blue

Substack keeps new newsletters out of Google until they pass a quality check it does not publish

Visits to Substack from search engines rose almost 300% between July 2023 and July 2026. But almost none of the visitors from Google search go to brand-new Substack newsletters.

Illustration: a blue figure reading an open magazine in a line of figures, with shopping bags on the floor

Run a company's Substack like a magazine. Substack bans newsletters that exist mainly to advertise

Brands run only about 5% of active Substack newsletters. Brand newsletters that win readers on Substack read like magazines, not product catalogues.

Illustration: four figures walking away from one large building toward three small houses

Substack will not remove Nazi newsletters for their views. Journalist Casey Newton left in protest

Substack will not remove a newsletter just for extreme views. Because of that policy, the tech journalist Casey Newton moved his newsletter Platformer from Substack to Ghost, another newsletter tool, in January 2024.

Illustration: a column of horizontal bars getting shorter toward the bottom, most with a small block at the right end

Every Substack growth tactic ranked by the evidence behind it

Most Substack growth tactics are backed only by Substack's own figures. No Substack growth tactic has an independent study behind it.

Growth tacticEvidence behind the growth tacticMeasured effectEffort
Get other Substacks to recommend youSubstack data plus figures from Lenny Rachitsky, a former Airbnb product lead who writes Lenny's Newsletter78% of the new free subscribers to Lenny's Newsletter in October 2022 came from other Substack writers' recommendationsMedium effort, you ask other writers
Post 3 or more short Substack notes in your newsletter's first weekSubstack figure, method unpublished50% more subscribers than writers who posted fewer notesLow, three short notes
Add a social preview image to every postSubstack figure, from its own search guideTwice as often, readers sign up from a post with a social preview image as from a post without one. People click a shared post with an image 40% more often than a shared post without oneLow, one picture
Swap guest articles with other Substack writersSubstack claim, no methodUp to 50% more new subscribers for writers who publish guest articles than for writers who publish noneHigh, a whole extra post
Recommend other SubstacksSubstack figure, 2022, a pattern rather than proof3 times as often, writers who recommend other Substack writers get recommended, compared with writers who recommend no oneLow, a settings change
Offer an annual planSubstack figure10 to 15% more, writers earn over two years from readers on yearly plans than from readers on monthly plansLow, a settings change
Offer a free month before a reader cancelsSubstack figureAbout 5% of paying readers who try to cancel accept a free month. Over half of the readers who accept the free month then renew their paid subscriptionLow, a settings change
Post every weekAdvice only, no Substack studyUnmeasuredMedium effort, about 3 hours a week
Rely on Google searchWriters' reports onlyHeld back, Substack keeps new newsletters out of Google until they pass a quality check Substack does not publishLow, Google listing your posts needs no work from you
Post 3 short Substack notes every week to "grow 50% faster"No source at allUnmeasuredMedium effort, every week
Illustration: a figure where a path splits in two, one branch leading to a large open envelope and the other to a phone

Grow a Substack if you can write weekly for a year, not if you only want to send readers to an app

Substack suits writers who post every week for a year or more. But Substack does not suit a writer who mainly wants readers to visit other websites, because Substack's rules ban newsletters with that main purpose.

Conclusion: whether Substack is worth growing and how to grow there, in one glance

The Substack findings, from the biggest measured effect to the smallest:

Companion pieces