Most advice on newsletter monetization comes from someone selling you a platform or showing off a revenue screenshot. This guide does neither. It lays out the six ways newsletters actually earn, what each platform charges for each one, and which plan you need before the money button even appears.
How Newsletters Make Money: The Short Answer
Newsletters make money in six ways: paid subscriptions, sponsorships and ads, paid recommendations, digital products, affiliate links, and tips or memberships. Sponsorships are the most common choice: 77% of newsletters submitted to the InboxReads directory in 2025 said they were interested in sponsorships and ads, while just 2% were fully paid (InboxReads, State of Newsletters 2025).
Here is the whole picture in one table. The last column names the platforms that have each method built in, from their own pricing and help pages, read on October 24, 2026.
| Way to earn | Where the money comes from | What it depends on | Built in on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid subscriptions | Readers pay monthly or yearly | How specific and useful the paid content is | Substack, beehiiv, Kit, Ghost, MailerLite |
| Sponsorships and ads | Brands pay per placement, per open or per click | Opens, clicks and how well the audience fits a brand | beehiiv Ad Network, Kit Newsletter Sponsorships |
| Paid recommendations | Other newsletters pay you per new subscriber you send | How many new people sign up each week | beehiiv, Kit Creator Network |
| Digital products | Readers buy a guide, template or course | Whether you have something worth selling | Kit, beehiiv, MailerLite |
| Affiliate links | A merchant pays a commission on sales | Trust, and the merchant’s rules for email | Any platform, through the merchant’s program |
| Tips and memberships | Fans pay what they want to support you | A loyal core of readers | Kit, beehiiv, Ghost |
So which one should you start with? That depends less on your list size than on what your readers already trust you for. The rest of this guide takes each method in turn.
A note on where we stand before you read on. Indie Stack Lab doesn’t run a paid newsletter, sell ad space or use affiliate links, so we can’t show you our own revenue. What we can show you is what the platforms say, dated and linked. On October 20, 2026, we also opened no-card trial accounts on beehiiv, Kit and MailerLite, and we noted which money features each one locked. Those notes are labeled as ours throughout.
Key Takeaways
Paid subscriptions on beehiiv generated $19M in 2025, up from $8M in 2024, according to beehiiv’s State of Newsletters 2026 report. Yet few new newsletters are fully paid. So which is the easier start? Sponsorships, for most writers. Most money tools sit behind a paid plan, so check the plan gate before you build around one.
Way 1: Paid Subscriptions
A paid subscription means readers pay a recurring price for some or all of your posts, and the platform keeps between 0% and 10% of each payment before card fees. Substack keeps “10% of subscription revenue,” per its cost page, while beehiiv says it “takes 0% of your paid subscription and digital product revenue” on its pricing page.
The fee is only half of the decision. The other half is the plan you need before the paywall exists at all. Here is how the five best-known options compare, read October 24, 2026:
| Platform | Plan needed for paid subscriptions | Platform fee | Payment processor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substack | None, publishing is free | 10% of each payment | Stripe, 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment, plus 0.7% Billing fee |
| beehiiv | Lite, $49/month billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers | 0% | Stripe, 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Kit | Free plan and up | 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction, card processing included | Stripe |
| Ghost(Pro) | Publisher, $29/month billed yearly | 0% transaction fees | Stripe |
| MailerLite | Comfort, from $12/month | 0% MailerLite commission | Stripe |
Sources: Substack cost page, beehiiv pricing, Kit Help: Sell digital products, Ghost(Pro) pricing and MailerLite paid newsletters, all in US dollars.
What each platform lets you charge
Substack sets a floor. Its paid publication guide says “The minimum subscription price on Substack is $5 per month and $30 per year” for US-dollar Stripe accounts, and it “does not offer a ‘yearly only’ subscription plan option.” For a full breakdown, see every Substack fee, from Stripe’s cut to the iOS markup.
Kit is looser on billing periods. Its paid newsletter guide supports monthly, quarterly and yearly intervals, and paid issues go out as Broadcasts filtered to paying subscribers. On beehiiv, Lite allows 1 paid subscription tier and Pro allows unlimited tiers, plus paid trials and group subscriptions, per the comparison table on its pricing page. Ghost’s Publisher plan includes 3 premium tiers. MailerLite adds one-time or recurring subscriptions on Comfort, and our guide to what MailerLite’s Comfort plan costs at each list size has the tier prices.
What we saw in our own trial accounts
You can’t test a paywall on beehiiv for free. When we started beehiiv’s 14-day trial, the trial card listed “Earn with ads, paid recommendations, and subscriptions” as not included. Kit was the opposite: its public pricing page listed “Sell digital products & subscriptions” among the Free plan’s key features when we read it during our test.
What does that mean for you? If you want to try charging readers before you pay a monthly bill, Kit and Substack let you do that. On beehiiv, Ghost and MailerLite, the paywall is part of what the paid plan buys.
Way 2: Sponsorships and Newsletter Ads
Sponsorships mean a brand pays to appear in your newsletter, either through a deal you sell yourself or through an ad network that fills the slot for you. They are the most popular route: InboxReads found 77% of 2025 submissions interested in sponsorships and ads, up from 72% a year earlier (InboxReads).
Is it better to sell sponsors yourself or join a network? Direct deals let you set the price and pick the brand. Networks save you the sales work but take a share and set their own rules. Many newsletters use both, and the two networks below allow that.
Newsletter advertising platforms built into email tools
Two of the platforms we cover have their own newsletter advertising platforms, and their terms differ a lot:
| beehiiv Ad Network | Kit Newsletter Sponsorships | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can join | “Anyone on the Lite plan or above who is actively sending on beehiiv” | Browsing CPC campaigns “requires a paid Kit plan”; programmatic ads are closed to new applications |
| How you get paid | CPM (per 1,000 unique opens) or CPC (per verified click) | Programmatic ads and CPC sponsorships |
| Platform share | Not stated as a percentage on the FAQ | “23.5% of total ad revenue” |
| Payout timing | The 20th of each month, for the prior month | About 45 days after the end of the month the ad ran |
| Limits | Reserve up to 5 offers, run up to 3 ads per post | One ad type per email |
Sources: beehiiv Ad Network FAQ, Kit Help: Newsletter Sponsorships and Kit Help: setting up programmatic ads, read October 24, 2026.
beehiiv’s FAQ gives two worked examples: “a $5 CPM means you earn $5 for every 1,000 unique opens,” and “a $2 CPC with 100 verified clicks would earn you $200.” Clicks and opens count for 72 hours after you send, and a performance report arrives about 96 hours later. The network is non-exclusive, so you can run its offers next to your own sponsors.
How much do people really earn there? beehiiv’s pricing cards show “Avg. $39/mo” next to ad monetization, and its Ad Network page says creators have earned “$37,872,727” so far. Both are beehiiv’s own figures. Notice that $39 sits below the $49/month Lite price at 1,000 subscribers, so a small list shouldn’t count on network ads to cover the plan. Our look at beehiiv’s plan prices next to its ad payouts walks through that math tier by tier.
Newsletter advertising examples you can copy
What does a sponsor slot look like in practice? Here are the common formats, with the label the FTC’s guidance points toward:
- A primary sponsor block at the top, with the brand’s logo. beehiiv’s network allows 1 primary ad with a logo and 2 secondary ads without one per post.
- A short text ad in the middle: two or three sentences and one link, labeled “Sponsored by XYZ.”
- A classifieds section near the end, where several small brands each get one line.
- A dedicated send: a whole issue about one sponsor’s product, labeled as an ad in the subject line and at the top.
How should you label them? The FTC says it “doesn’t mandate the specific wording of disclosures,” but starting a post with “Ad:” or “Paid ad” or “#ad” “would likely be effective,” and “Sponsored by XYZ” is clearer than “Sponsored” alone, per its Endorsement Guides Q&A. Put the label where readers see it before the pitch, not in the footer.
Way 3: Paid Recommendations and Referral Swaps
A paid recommendation means another newsletter pays you for each new subscriber you send its way, usually through a box of suggested newsletters people see right after they sign up for yours. beehiiv’s Recommendations page says its network has created “15M+” subscriptions across “60K+ active creators and publishers” (beehiiv Recommendations). Those are beehiiv’s own numbers.
Why would anyone pay for that? Because a reader who just joined one newsletter is likely to join a similar one. The free version is a swap: you recommend them, they recommend you, nobody pays.
Here is how the two built-in networks compare:
- beehiiv: “Free recommendations available on all plans. Paid recommendations available on Lite and Pro.” You earn “for every qualified subscriber you send,” and advertisers are “only charged when a subscriber passes verification and actively engages.”
- Kit: the Creator Network lets you recommend “up to 20 creators simultaneously” and shows at most five on a form or landing page. Paid Recommendations run through SparkLoop, where creators pay “anywhere between $1 and $4+ for every subscriber you send their way,” per Kit’s setup guide. That guide lists “a 20% service fee and a 3.5% transaction fee,” and Kit’s pricing page shows the same 23.5% total on Creator and Pro.
- Ghost: its pricing page lists Recommendations on every Ghost(Pro) plan, as a free way to point readers to other publications.
What did our trial show? Again, beehiiv’s trial card marked paid recommendations as not included, while it listed the referral program as included during the 14 days. So you can try the reader referral side for free, but not the earning side.
One thing to weigh before you switch it on: each recommendation is your name vouching for someone else’s newsletter. Recommend only what you read yourself.
Way 4: Selling Digital Products
Selling digital products means you sell a file or access link, such as an e-book, a template or a course, straight from your email platform, with checkout handled by Stripe. Kit says “Commerce is available on every plan, including the Free plan,” at “3.5% + $0.30 per transaction” for USD sales (Kit Help: Sell digital products).
Products have one big advantage over ads: you set the price, and a small list can still buy. What can you sell? Kit’s help page lists “e-books, courses, templates, presets, music, or a paid newsletter,” and you can also sell access to a link such as a members-only page.
| Kit | beehiiv | MailerLite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Products on the free plan | Every plan, no product cap stated | 1 product | 1 digital product or booking |
| Products on the next plan up | Same as Free | 3 on Lite | 5 on Comfort |
| Platform fee | 3.5% + $0.30, card processing included | 0%, plus Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 | 0% MailerLite commission, plus Stripe’s fees |
| Extras worth knowing | Weekly payouts on Fridays; first payout 7 to 14 days after the first sale | Discount codes and pay-what-you-want from Lite | 135+ currencies through Stripe |
Sources: Kit Help, beehiiv pricing (Digital products tab), MailerLite pricing and MailerLite digital products, read October 24, 2026.
Which fee model costs less? It depends on the price you sell at. Kit’s 3.5% + $0.30 already includes card processing; Kit’s pricing table says that means “Kit only takes 0.6% of the total fees.” beehiiv and MailerLite take no cut, but you still pay Stripe, and on beehiiv the second and third product need the Lite plan.
What did our test accounts show? In our MailerLite trial, the plan page showed usage counters including “Products 0 / 1,000”. That was during the trial, though. The public pricing page gives the Free plan 1 digital product or booking, so plan around that number.
For a closer look at how these three tools handle selling as a whole, see the selling features of Kit, beehiiv and MailerLite side by side. If Kit’s commerce-on-Free approach appeals to you, what Kit’s Creator plan adds over Free covers what else the free plan leaves out.
Way 5: Affiliate Links
Affiliate links pay you a commission when a reader buys through your link, and the FTC expects you to say so clearly and close to the recommendation. Its suggested wording is “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post,” and it adds that “The closer the disclosure is to your recommendation, the better” (FTC Endorsement Guides Q&A).
Can you just write “affiliate link” next to the link? The FTC says consumers “might not understand that ‘affiliate link’ means that the person placing the link is getting paid for purchases made through the link.” Use plain words instead: “I earn a commission if you buy through this link.”
Check the merchant’s rules for email first
Not every affiliate program allows email. Amazon’s Associates policies say you “may include Special Links in emails” only when “such communications are solicited (i.e., opted into by the receiving customer),” and they bar Amazon’s trademarks and logos from emails (Amazon Associates Program Policies). The same policy names you as the “Sender” under laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act. Every program writes its own rules, so read the terms before you paste a link into an issue.
Software companies often run programs too. Kit’s affiliate FAQ describes “50% commission on the first 12 months of a customer’s payments,” paid through PartnerStack once your balance reaches $5 (Kit Help: affiliate commissions). SEO and marketing tools work the same way; our look at how the Semrush affiliate program pays and what it bans shows how one large program pays per sale and per trial.
Does an affiliate link hurt trust? It can. A reader who clicks your recommendation and finds a weak product won’t forget it. The safest rule is the boring one: only link to things you’d recommend without the commission.
Way 6: Tips, Donations and Memberships
Tips let readers pay what they want to thank you, with no paywall in between, and several platforms now have a tip jar built in. Kit’s Tips feature takes preset amounts of “$5, $10, $20, or $50, or a custom amount of their choice (of at least $5),” at “3.5% + $0.30 per tip,” and it “is available to all Kit users (even if you’re on our free plan)” (Kit Help: Tips).
Who else has one? beehiiv’s comparison table lists “Tip jar / donations” from the Lite plan up, next to pay-what-you-want pricing. Ghost(Pro) lists Tips/donations on the Publisher plan and above, with 0% transaction fees. Substack’s version is the founding member plan: an annual plan at “any amount higher than the monthly and yearly plans,” per its paid publication guide.
Tips follow Stripe’s rules
Here’s the catch. Ghost’s tips and donations guide says tip jars are “subject to Stripe’s tipping policy,” which requires, among other things, that “Tips are given in exchange for goods or services” and that “Tip buttons must be displayed next to or following content.” In plain terms, a tip has to be for something you published. A bare “support me” page with nothing behind it doesn’t fit.
Where should the tip button go? Kit suggests the newsletter footer, your website header or footer, your link page and your welcome sequence. That last one matters, because people who tip on Kit are added to your email list. If you’re still drafting those first emails, the three-email welcome sequence you can adapt shows where an ask like this fits.
Paid Newsletter Platforms Compared by Monetization Feature
The best paid newsletter platform is the one whose free or entry plan already includes the method you plan to use first. Substack and Kit let you charge readers without a monthly bill, while beehiiv puts paid subscriptions, its Ad Network and paid recommendations on Lite, at $49/month billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers (beehiiv pricing).
This table puts every newsletter monetization platform in this guide on one page. “Plan” means the cheapest plan that includes the feature.
| Feature | beehiiv | Kit | MailerLite | Substack | Ghost(Pro) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free to start | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers | Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers | Yes, up to 250 subscribers | Yes, no subscriber cap stated | No free plan; Starter is $15/month billed yearly |
| Paid subscriptions | Lite | Free | Comfort | Free | Publisher |
| Fee on subscriptions | 0% | 3.5% + $0.30 | 0% commission | 10% | 0% |
| Built-in ad network | Lite | Paid plan for CPC campaigns | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Paid recommendations | Lite | Creator, 23.5% fee | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Digital products | 1 on Free | Free | 1 on Free | Not listed | Not listed |
| Tips | Lite | Free | Not listed | Founding member plan | Publisher |
Sources: each platform’s pricing and help pages linked in this guide, read October 24, 2026, in US dollars. “Not listed” means we didn’t find the feature on the pages we read.
What did our own accounts add? On beehiiv, the trial left out every earning feature, and settings showed “Private branding — Not included in free trial,” so the “Powered by” badge stays unless you pay for Pro. On Kit, the free form we built carried a “Built with Kit” badge. On MailerLite, the plan page read “Up to 250 subscribers. 2,500 emails.” None of that stops you from earning, but it shows what “free” includes.
For how these three tools compare on everything else, from signup to the first welcome email, see our seven-task test of beehiiv, Kit and MailerLite.
Are Newsletters Profitable? What to Check Before You Charge
Are newsletters profitable? Some are, and the time to a first dollar is shorter than it used to be: for newsletters launched on beehiiv in 2025, “the median time to a first dollar dropped to 66 days,” according to beehiiv’s State of Newsletters 2026. A first dollar isn’t a profit, though, and that report covers beehiiv’s own publishers only.
The honest answer depends on your costs as much as your revenue. A platform bill of $49 a month is $588 a year before you earn anything. A revenue share like Substack’s 10% costs nothing until you earn and more as you grow. So what should you check before you put a price on anything?
- Count what you already spend. Add your platform plan, domain and any design or writing tools. That total is the bar your first income has to clear.
- Pick one method that fits what readers already value. A newsletter people forward for its deals suits affiliate links. One people quote at work suits a paid tier.
- Check the plan gate. Look up whether that method is on your current plan, using the comparison table in this guide.
- Run the fee math on one payment. On an $8 monthly subscription, Substack’s 10% is $0.80, and Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 card fee is about $0.53, on both Substack and beehiiv.
- Start small and measure. Try one sponsor or one product for a month before you add a second method.
- Keep your list portable. Whatever you choose, make sure you can export subscribers if you move.
Email newsletter monetization works best in layers
Why do so many guides list twenty methods? Because the methods stack. beehiiv’s Ad Network FAQ says its offers “work alongside paid subscriptions, Recommendations, and any direct sponsorships you manage independently.” A common pattern for email newsletter monetization is a free issue with one sponsor slot, a paid tier with extra posts, and one product in the welcome sequence.
The order matters more than the number. Kit’s ads guide puts it plainly: “People often think that they need a large number of subscribers or need to sell products before they can make money from their email list. This isn’t true.” Small, steady income from one method teaches you what your readers will pay for.
Still building the list?
Every method in this guide scales with the number of people who read you. If you’re not there yet, start with where a new list’s first few hundred subscribers come from, because every one of these six methods starts there.
If you searched for how to monetise a newsletter (the British spelling), the answer is the same: pick the one method your readers already want, check that your plan includes it, and add the next one only when the first is working.
References
- InboxReads: The State of Newsletters in 2025
- beehiiv: The State of Newsletters 2026
- beehiiv: Pricing
- beehiiv: Ad Network
- beehiiv: Recommendations
- Kit: Pricing
- Kit Help: Sell digital products with Kit
- Kit Help: Creating a paid newsletter
- Kit Help: How to set up Tips in Kit
- Kit Help: What is the Creator Network?
- Kit Help: How to enable Paid Recommendations
- Kit Help: Monetizing your emails with Kit Newsletter Sponsorships
- Kit Help: How to set up Kit Ads (Programmatic)
- Kit Help: Kit affiliate commissions FAQ
- Substack Help: How much does Substack cost?
- Substack Help: How do I set up a paid publication?
- Ghost: Ghost(Pro) pricing
- Ghost Help: Tips & donations
- MailerLite: Pricing
- MailerLite: Paid newsletter subscriptions
- MailerLite: Sell digital products
- FTC: FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
- Amazon Associates: Program Policies