How many subscribers do I need before a newsletter makes money?

There’s no official minimum. Substack lets you switch on paid subscriptions from day one, and affiliate links pay from the first click. The more useful number is your open count. Sponsors and ad networks pay based on engaged readers, so a small list that opens every issue can earn more than a big list that ignores you.

Can I run a paid newsletter if I'm under 18?

It depends on the platform. Substack’s terms bar anyone under 16. Stripe, which processes payments for Substack, beehiiv, Kit and Ghost, accepts users from 13, but if you’re under 18 a parent or legal guardian has to be the account owner before you can accept money. Some Stripe account types only offer that guardian option in certain countries.

Should I turn off Substack's automatic iOS price increase?

Since August 2025, Substack automatically raises in-app prices on iOS to cover Apple’s cut. It’s on by default and you can switch it off. If you leave it on, iPhone readers pay more but you keep your margin. If you switch it off, the price stays the same everywhere but Apple takes a percentage. In the US, the app can also send readers to web checkout, which avoids the issue completely.

Can I use a PO box instead of my home address in my emails?

CAN-SPAM requires a valid physical postal address in every commercial email. We haven’t confirmed whether a PO box or virtual mailbox meets that requirement in every case, so check with a lawyer before you rely on one. Many creators would rather not publish their home address, so sort this out before your first send.

Are paid newsletter courses and coaching programs worth it?

Be skeptical. The FTC warns that business coaching scams often promise guaranteed earnings, push you to act now, sell a ‘proven system’ and use fake testimonials. Online coaching company Lurn and its CEO had to turn over $2.5 million for consumer refunds. Free platform guides and your own testing will teach you most of what you need. You can report suspicious programs at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Can You Make Money With a Newsletter? What You Keep in 2026

Yes, you can make money with a newsletter, even a free one. At small list sizes, though, the money is modest, and how much of it you keep depends on your platform.

Payday snapshot

Threshold to get paid: There’s no subscriber minimum. Substack is free until you charge readers. On beehiiv, paid subscriptions and the Ad Network start on the Lite plan, from $49/mo billed annually. Substack, beehiiv, Kit and Ghost all pay out through Stripe. Stripe requires you to be 13 or older, and if you’re under 18 a legal guardian has to be the account owner. Substack itself requires users to be 16 or older.
Typical earnings range: beehiiv’s 2026 data puts the median free-to-paid conversion rate at 0.62% (about 6 paying readers per 1,000), at a standard price of around $10/mo. For a 1,000-subscriber list, that’s roughly $252/yr (travel) up to $2,700/yr (investing).
Time to first payout: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pays sales out weekly, with your first payout about 7 to 14 days after your first sale. beehiiv’s Ad Network pays on the 20th of each month for the previous month. Kit sponsorship money arrives about 45 days after the end of the month the ad ran.

Newsletter money comes from three places: readers paying you, ads and sponsors, and things you sell or recommend. The newsletters that earn real income usually stack two or three of these, in a niche where readers already spend money.

Three Money Pipes, Not One

Creators lump all of it together as “newsletter income.” Keep the streams separate, because each one has its own fees, payout timing and tax paperwork.

1. Reader money through a platform. This covers paid subscriptions, pledges and tips run through Substack, beehiiv, Kit, Ghost or Patreon. The platform and the payment processor take their cut before you see a cent.

2. Ad money through a platform. Built-in networks place ads for you. beehiiv’s Ad Network pays per 1,000 unique opens (CPM, cost per mille) or per click (CPC). Kit Newsletter Sponsorships works in a similar way. Paid recommendations, where other newsletters pay you to promote them, also belong here.

3. Money you negotiate yourself. This means direct sponsors, affiliate commissions, digital products, consulting, and writing newsletters for brands. No platform takes a cut, but you do all the selling.

Across all three pipes, payouts vary heavily by niche and by where your readers live. In beehiiv’s benchmark, investing and travel lists of the same size earn subscription revenue more than 10x apart.

Revenue Streams, Ranked

Small (your first few thousand readers): Affiliate links, services and small digital products usually pay first, because they run on trust rather than scale. Paid subscriptions can work in niches where readers spend a lot, but at 0.62% conversion, 1,000 readers means about six paying subscribers. Free plans also have limits. beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers but has no paid subscriptions and no Ad Network. Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but paid newsletters need the Creator or Pro plan. If you’re building income that doesn’t depend on any one platform, our creator’s guide to passive income streams explains how these pieces fit together.

Mid-size: Ad networks and paid recommendations become worth switching on, and you have real open and click data to pitch sponsors with.

Large: Direct sponsorships let you skip the network’s cut (Kit takes 23.5%). Paid tiers and premium products add up over time. Expect stricter deliverability rules at this size.

Platform Requirements: What You Actually Keep

Platform	Paid subscriptions unlock on	Cut of subscription revenue	Notes
Substack	Free to start	10% + card fees	30%+ of paid subs come from inside Substack’s network
beehiiv	Lite, from $49/mo billed annually	0% + Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30	Ad Network, paid recommendations
Kit	Creator, $390/yr	3.5% + $0.30 (card processing included)	Sponsorships (Pro only) and paid recommendations, both with a 23.5% cut
Ghost(Pro)	Publisher, $29/mo for 1,000 members	0% + Stripe fees	Starter ($18/mo) has no paid subscriptions
Patreon	Standard plan (new creators)	10% + payment processing	Premium-style features for a 3% add-on

Sources: beehiiv’s pricing page and the Substack, Kit and Ghost pricing pages. Patreon moved new creators to a single 10% fee in August 2025. Creators who had locked in the old 8% Pro plan keep that rate unless they create new pages.

The $10 Subscriber Test

Take one reader paying $10/mo. We assume Stripe’s standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, the rate beehiiv’s pricing page lists:

Substack: Substack keeps $1.00 and card processing about $0.59, so you keep about $8.41.
beehiiv or Ghost: you keep about $9.41, before your monthly plan cost.
Kit: the fee is $0.65, so you keep $9.35, before your plan cost.
Patreon: $1.00 goes to the platform fee, and payment processing comes on top.

The trade-off: Substack’s percentage costs you nothing while you’re small. At $10 per subscriber, Substack’s 10% passes beehiiv Lite’s $49/mo starting price at about 49 paying readers. That only holds while your list fits Lite’s lowest tier, because the price rises with list size ($69/mo at 2,500 subscribers, $95/mo at 5,000). Substack’s network also sends paid subscribers your way, and that has value.

The 1,000 Paying Readers Problem

Substack’s going-paid page points out that 1,000 subscribers paying $5/mo comes to $60,000 a year before fees. Those are 1,000 paying readers, though. At the 0.62% median from beehiiv’s State of Paid Newsletters 2026 report, you’d need roughly 161,000 free readers to get there. The same report finds paid subscribers stay 6 to 20 months depending on topic, so you’re always replacing the ones who leave.

Making Money From a Free List

Ad networks: beehiiv’s Ad Network is open on any paid plan to newsletters that send regularly. Its FAQ gives examples of $5 per 1,000 unique opens, or 100 clicks at $2 for $200. Payouts go through Stripe Express into a beehiiv Wallet. PayPal and Wise aren’t supported.
Paid recommendations: On October 1, 2026, beehiiv renamed Boosts to “paid recommendations.” They require a paid plan, and you can no longer create new Email Boosts or Direct Links. Kit also offers paid recommendations, with a 23.5% fee.
Kit Sponsorships: This is Pro only ($66/mo on the annual rate). Kit takes 23.5% and there’s no minimum payout. According to Kit’s sponsorship help page, money is released 45 days after the end of the month the ad ran.
Affiliate links: Disclose them right next to the recommendation. The FTC’s endorsement guidance says “affiliate link” on its own isn’t enough. A full sentence like “we earn commissions on purchases made through links in this email” is. Amazon Associates allows its links in emails only to readers who opted in to receive them.
Your own products: Templates and guides sold through Kit carry the same 3.5% + $0.30 fee. You can also sell the same product on other channels, as covered in our guide to selling digital products on TikTok.

Pitching and Rates

The sponsorship CPM “benchmarks” you’ll see online come mostly from vendor blogs, and they contradict each other. Build your price from your own numbers:

Pull your average unique opens and clicks per issue from your last few sends.
Pick a CPM that fits your niche and multiply it by your opens to get a flat price per issue.
Compare that price with what an ad network would pay for the same slot. If the direct deal pays less once you count your time, use the network.
Offer a multi-issue package as well as single placements, so the sponsor has a reason to commit to more than one issue.

Scam alert: Fake “brands” target creators with sponsorship offers. Their “media kits” arrive as .zip, .rar or .exe files that install password-stealing malware, or they send you to fake sign-in pages. Treat any media kit you have to unzip or run as a red flag.

What Creators Wish They’d Known

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Talk to a tax professional about your own situation.

Taxes start early. Once your net self-employment earnings reach $400, you owe 15.3% self-employment tax on Schedule SE, and half of it is deductible. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you generally need to pay estimated tax. The next 2026 deadline is January 15, 2027.
No 1099 doesn’t mean no tax. Platforms send a 1099-K only when you have over $20,000 in payments and more than 200 transactions. A sponsor who pays you directly sends a 1099-NEC only once it pays you $2,000 or more (for payments after December 31, 2025). Either way, the IRS says you must report all income.
“No tax on tips” mostly skips subscriptions. The final rules list digital content creators as a tipped occupation, but payments for access to content count as pay, not tips. Voluntary payments made after someone has accessed your content can qualify. Any amount a platform keeps doesn’t count.
Substack collects sales tax from December 1, 2026. On other platforms, check who handles it.
Every email needs a postal address. CAN-SPAM requires a valid physical postal address and opt-outs honored within 10 business days. Penalties reach $53,088 per email. If you write from home, decide which address you’re comfortable publishing.
Paid tiers come with renewal rules. California’s auto-renewal law requires express consent, renewal reminders and easy online cancellation, and it covers free trials that convert to paid.
Deliverability tightens as you grow. Gmail requires SPF or DKIM from all senders and a spam rate below 0.3%. At about 5,000+ emails a day, you also need DMARC and one-click unsubscribe.

FAQ

How many subscribers do you need to make money with a newsletter? No platform sets a minimum. At the 0.62% median conversion rate, though, 1,000 free readers turns into about six paying ones. Affiliate links and products usually pay sooner. For more ideas that suit small lists, see passive income ideas that actually pay creators.

Is Substack or beehiiv better for making money? Substack is free and takes 10%. beehiiv takes 0% of subscriptions but charges a plan fee. At $10 per subscriber, beehiiv Lite’s starting price works out cheaper once you pass about 49 paying readers, though Substack’s network discovery can make up some of that difference.

Can you run a paid newsletter if you’re under 18? Substack doesn’t allow users under 16. Stripe accepts account holders from age 13, but if you’re under 18 a legal guardian must own the account before you can accept payments.

Do readers pay more on Substack’s iPhone app? They can. Since August 18, 2025, readers can buy subscriptions inside Substack’s iOS app, and by default Substack raises the app price to cover Apple’s cut. Writers can switch that off. In the US, the app can also link readers out to web checkout.

Are newsletter coaching courses worth it? Be careful. The FTC flags guaranteed earnings, pressure to act now, “proven systems” and fake testimonials as warning signs. One online coaching company, Lurn, was ordered to hand over $2.5 million for consumer refunds. You can report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Your Next 30 Days

Week 1: Pick your niche and platform. Substack is the free way to test paid content. A beehiiv paid plan gets you the Ad Network. Set up Stripe, with a guardian if you’re under 18.
Week 2: Send two issues. Include one affiliate link with a full disclosure sentence, and a postal address you’re comfortable publishing.
Week 3: Turn on paid recommendations or an ad network slot, and build a one-page media kit from your real open and click numbers.
Week 4: Pitch three relevant sponsors with a flat per-issue price. Open a separate savings account and put a share of every payout aside for quarterly taxes.