Kit vs Substack: real cost comparison

All-in monthly cost — platform fee, revenue share, and card processing — computed from each platform's own published pricing (last verified 2026-09-08).

Cost at three list sizes

ScenarioGross / moKitSubstackCheaper
Starting out — 1,000 subscribers, 50 paid at $8/mo$400$29/mo$69.40/moKit
Growing — 5,000 subscribers, 250 paid at $10/mo$2,500$162.50/mo$415/moKit
Established — 25,000 subscribers, 1,000 paid at $10/mo$10,000$815.83/mo$1,660/moKit

Assumes monthly billing for every paid subscriber; platform fees use annual-billed rates where cheaper. Run your own numbers in the calculator.

Kit

  • Revenue share: 3.5%
  • Processing: Kit Commerce (processing bundled into revenueShare)
  • Paid plans: free (platform monetizes via revenue share)
Full Kit fee profile →
Visit Kit →

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Rankings are data-driven; see methodology.

Substack

  • Revenue share: 10%
  • Processing: Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% recurring
  • Paid plans: free (platform monetizes via revenue share)
Full Substack fee profile →
Visit Substack →

Fine print that changes the math

  • Kit: Creator/Pro bracket prices captured 2026-07-14 and re-verified 2026-08-04 by driving the pricing-page slider in headless Chrome (tools/slider-capture); brackets verified from 1,000 to 100,000 subscribers. Above 100k, contact-sales territory.
  • Kit: Free plan capped at 10,000 subscribers, verified 2026-09-08 in three places on kit.com/pricing: the Free card ("Free—up to 10,000 subscribers"), the plan-comparison Subscribers row ("Up to 10,000"), and the page's own copy ("Our Free Plan is always available for you for up to 10,000 subscribers"). The prior stored value of 1,000 was a capture artifact — the slider sat at the 1,000-subscriber bracket, which sets the Creator/Pro column headers but not the Free plan's cap.
  • Kit: Paid Recommendations earnings carry a separate 23.5% Kit fee.
  • Substack: Effective all-in cost on paid revenue is roughly 13-16% of gross once Stripe card + recurring billing fees are included.
  • Substack: Annual subscriptions incur fewer per-transaction fees than monthly ones, so all-in percentage varies with billing mix.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kit or Substack cheaper for a paid newsletter?

For a 5,000-subscriber list with 250 paid subscribers at $10/month ($2,500/month gross), Kit costs $162.50/month all-in versus $415/month — based on each platform's published pricing as of 2026-09-08.

What fees does Kit charge?

Kit takes 3.5% of paid-subscription revenue, with no monthly platform fee.

What fees does Substack charge?

Substack takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue, with no monthly platform fee.

Sources