Substack Advertising Cost and How to Buy Ads

Substack has no self-serve ad network and publishes no rate card. Its native sponsorships program, launched in June 2026, is a managed matchmaking service run by Substack's own team for a flagship cohort of brands (Yahoo Scout, Whatnot, Granola, Balenciaga, T-Mobile, Polymarket and Uber), and only writers with at least 100 paid subscribers can join it. Every other brand advertises on Substack the old way: by buying a sponsorship directly from the writer, at a price the writer sets, typically $25 to $70 per 1,000 opens on consumer lists and $80 to $200 on B2B and finance lists. So the cost depends far less on Substack than on which writers you pick and how you verify their numbers.

This page covers the routes that actually exist, what each format costs, the arithmetic that turns a subscriber count into an invoice, and the checks worth doing before you pay. If you are new to buying email inventory, our overview of newsletter advertising and how to buy sponsored placements explains the formats first.

How much does it cost to advertise on Substack?

A sponsored slot in a Substack newsletter usually costs somewhere between $100 and $2,000 an issue for independent writers, and several thousand dollars for the largest publications. The spread is wide because each writer prices their own list. What they are really selling is opens, so the fair way to compare two offers is the price per 1,000 opens, not the price per subscriber.

Here is the arithmetic on three typical lists, using illustrative open-based CPMs rather than quotes:

Two things stand out. A small B2B list can cost as much per issue as a list twice its size, because a reader with a purchasing budget is worth more than a casual reader. And the large publication is the cheapest per open, which is normal: reach gets cheaper as it gets broader. Whether that is a bargain depends entirely on how many of those 60,000 openers could ever buy what you sell.

Does Substack have an ad network?

Not one you can log into. Substack's help center says its business model relies on subscriptions rather than advertising, and that writers are welcome to host sponsored content. In June 2026 Substack added a native sponsorships program on top of that, and it works differently from an ad network in three ways that matter to a buyer.

First, it is managed, not self-serve. Substack's own support article on Creator Kits says all matchmaking is currently handled by the Substack team, and that only brands inside the sponsorship program, connected to a writer by Substack, can see that writer's kit. Brands and agencies apply through a contact page, and Substack describes the offer as bespoke partnerships with its most influential voices.

Second, the supply is gated. Creator Kits are only available to Substack "bestsellers", meaning publications with at least 100 paid subscribers. Each kit shows the writer's subscriber count, open rate, active readers, top US states and reader interests, up to ten preferred sponsorship formats, and a minimum spend the writer sets.

Third, it is early. Substack calls the current phase the entry point to a partnership platform where writers will connect with brands more directly, and it has not published pricing, a fee or a minimum for brands. For a US brand outside the flagship cohort, the practical route today is the same as it was before the program existed: go to the writer.

Does Substack take a cut of sponsorships?

On a sponsorship you arrange directly with a writer, no. Substack's platform fee applies to paid subscription revenue, and a sponsor fee you pay the writer by invoice or card never passes through Substack. For the native program, Substack has not published whether or how much it keeps, and early participants have said publicly that the question is still open. Ask before you sign anything routed through Substack's team.

What ad formats can you buy on Substack?

Most writers sell some mix of the following, and Substack's own sponsorship page adds events, podcast reads and subscriber perks to the list:

• Primary sponsor slot. A short block of copy and a link near the top of an issue. The standard buy, and the one to test first.
• Classified or secondary slot. Two or three lines lower in the issue, usually a fraction of the primary price. Good for a cheap read on whether an audience responds at all.
• Dedicated sponsored post. A whole issue built around your product, written in the writer's voice. Priced at a multiple of the primary slot, often two to four times.
• Unlocked post. You pay to make a normally paywalled post free for the writer's entire list, with your brand credited. It buys goodwill and reach at once.
• Podcast or video read. Many Substack writers also publish audio or video on the platform, and host reads there are priced like any podcast read.
• Subscriber perks. A discount, early access or a bundled trial offered to paying subscribers, which works well for software and subscription products.

Whatever you buy, get the deliverable in writing: placement position, number of sends, whether the post stays live on the web, and what reporting you receive afterwards.

How do I advertise on a Substack newsletter?

The steps below are the ones that keep a first test cheap and measurable.

1. Shortlist ten writers your buyer already reads. Search Substack by topic, then read three recent issues of each. Skip anyone whose readers you cannot picture buying from you.
2. Find the sponsorship contact. Many writers put a "sponsor" or "advertise" post on their publication, or an email in their About page. Where there is none, an email finder with built-in verification saves you from pitches that bounce.
3. Ask for four numbers. Total subscribers, paid subscribers, average unique opens per issue over the last month, and the share of readers in the US. The last one matters more than most brands expect.
4. Price it per 1,000 opens. Divide the quoted price by opens and multiply by 1,000, then compare writers on that figure.
5. Buy one issue, then a package. Test a single primary slot with a tracked link and a code. If it works, book three to six issues, which is where most writers discount.

If you want to compare what writers charge before you start emailing, newsletter sponsorship rates by niche and list size lays out the ranges, and what newsletter advertising costs across networks and direct buys covers the rest of the market.

Substack vs beehiiv ad network vs buying direct

Brands that search for Substack ads are often really choosing between three ways to buy newsletter inventory:

Networks save you the outreach but add a margin to the CPM and limit you to their inventory; our breakdown of newsletter ad networks and what they charge goes through each one. Buying direct is the cheapest per open and the slowest to organize.

What should you check before you pay for a Substack sponsorship?

Opens are the currency, and opens are the number most easily inflated. Apple Mail Privacy Protection pre-loads emails, so a list with many Apple Mail readers reports higher open rates than it really earns. Ask for clicks on a recent sponsor link as a second signal, since clicks cannot be pre-fetched.

Look at the paid subscriber count too. A list where a few thousand people pay $8 a month is a list of committed readers, and writers with a healthy paid base can usually justify a higher CPM. Finally, check whether the writer has run sponsors before and whether they will share a past result. A writer who has never sold a slot is not a problem, but you should expect to set the terms yourself.

A faster way to find newsletters that sell sponsorships

The slow part of buying Substack ads is not the price. It is finding writers who sell sponsorships at all, learning their numbers and waiting for replies. On Sponsorships, newsletter writers, podcasters and YouTubers publish their audience, formats and a rate card for each placement. A brand on the $79 a month plan browses them by niche, sends a brief and books the writer directly, and the platform takes 0% of the deal, so the price you see is the price you pay. Use the studio at the top of this page to see matched newsletters for your budget.