Switching from Substack to Kit: what happens to your fees
Published 2026-06-25 · figures computed from pricing data verified 2026-07-25
The before and after
Take a concrete newsletter: 5,000 subscribers, 250 of them paying $10/month — $2,500/month gross. On Substack that costs $415/month all-in (16.6% of gross). On Kit's Creator (up to 5,000 subs) plan it costs $236.67/month (9.47%). That's $178.33/month — about $2,139.96/year — for the same revenue. The full side-by-side is in Kit vs Substack.
The reason is structural. Substack takes 10% of every subscription, while Kit charges a flat monthly plan fee plus a 3.5% + $0.30 commerce fee on what you sell. Once you have enough paid subscribers to cover Kit's plan fee, the much lower take rate wins.
Why Kit ends up cheaper at scale
Substack's 10% scales with revenue — the more you earn, the more it takes. On top of that you pay Stripe's card fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) and its 0.7% recurring-billing fee, which is why the all-in rate lands near 16.6% rather than a clean 10%.
Kit flips the weighting. Its commerce fee is only 3.5% + $0.30 — and that fee *includes* payment processing, so there's no separate Stripe charge stacked on top. The trade is a fixed plan fee that scales with your list size, not your revenue. Push the same math up to 25,000 subscribers with 1,000 paid at $10/month ($10,000/month gross) and the gap widens: $1,660/month on Substack versus $815.83/month on Kit — $844.17/month, or about $10,130.04/year. The mechanics behind this trade-off are spelled out in flat fee or revenue share.
When staying on Substack is the right call
The savings run in reverse at a small paid base, because Kit's plan fee is a fixed cost you pay no matter how little you earn. At a 5,000-subscriber list paying $10/month, the crossover sits around 74 paid subscribers — roughly $740/month gross. Below that, Substack's pay-as-you-earn 10% is the cheaper home and migrating would cost you money; above it, Kit pulls ahead. If you're near that line, run your real numbers in the calculator before moving.
One nuance in Kit's favor at the very small end: Kit's free Newsletter plan can sell paid subscriptions up to 1,000 subscribers, so a small list can move over with no plan fee at all and pay only the 3.5% + $0.30 commerce fee. The full plan ladder is in Kit pricing explained.
What to verify before you move
A few things to confirm directly with both platforms before committing, since they affect real money: that your paid subscriptions can transfer through Stripe without forcing subscribers to re-enter cards; how annual subscribers are handled mid-term; and Kit's current import process for your subscriber list, tags, and automations. Migration mechanics change often enough that we keep them out of our data layer — verify against Kit's site and Substack's docs at migration time.
And weigh what isn't a fee. Substack's network — recommendations, the app, Notes — drives free-subscriber growth that Kit, built around automation and commerce rather than discovery, doesn't try to replicate. A fee saving that costs you a growth channel can be a bad trade; this math covers costs, not distribution. Compare the fee profiles directly at Kit and Substack, or see how leaving Substack looks toward a flat-fee platform in switching to beehiiv.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Rankings are data-driven; see methodology.
Frequently asked questions
How much does switching from Substack to Kit save?
For a newsletter grossing $2,500/month (250 paid at $10), about $178.33/month or $2,139.96/year, based on published pricing as of 2026-07-25. The savings grow with your paid revenue and shrink at a small paid base, where Substack's revenue share is cheaper.
Does Kit take a cut of paid subscriptions?
Kit Commerce charges 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction on paid subscriptions and products — and that fee includes payment processing, so you don't pay Stripe separately on top. Substack, by contrast, takes 10% plus Stripe's card and recurring-billing fees.
When is Substack still cheaper than Kit?
At a small paid base. Kit charges a flat plan fee that you pay regardless of revenue, so for a 5,000-subscriber list at $10/month the crossover is around 74 paid subscribers (about $740/month gross). Below that, Substack's 10% revenue share costs less; above it, Kit's lower commerce fee wins.