Kit leaves you more of every paid newsletter dollar than Substack. A $10 monthly payment loses $0.65 on Kit’s free plan and $1.66 on Substack, so 100 payments leave $935 on Kit and $834 on Substack. Substack’s 10% buys a reader network, and that is worth paying for only while your list is small.
How much do Substack and Kit take?
Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment, and Stripe then charges 2.9% + $0.30 plus a 0.7% Billing fee. Kit charges 3.5% + $0.30 per US-dollar sale, and that one fee covers card processing.
| Fee, as of October 2026 | Substack | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | $0 | $0 on Free, up to 10,000 subscribers |
| Platform fee | 10% of each payment | 3.5% + $0.30, processing included |
| Card processing | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 | Included |
| Recurring billing | Stripe 0.7% | Included |
| Total on a $10 monthly payment | $1.66 | $0.65 |
| Total on a $100 annual payment | $13.90 | $3.80 |
What do you keep at $400, $1,000 and $5,000 a month?
The figures below are arithmetic on published fees, not payout records. They assume $10 monthly payments on US cards, every subscriber paying on the web and Kit’s free plan.
| Monthly paid revenue | Substack | Kit Free | Kit’s lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400, 40 payments | $334 | $374 | $40 |
| $1,000, 100 payments | $834 | $935 | $101 |
| $5,000, 500 payments | $4,170 | $4,675 | $505 |
On Kit’s free plan there is no crossover, because Kit’s fee is lower on every payment. Substack’s fees come to 13.6% + $0.30 and Kit’s to 3.5% + $0.30, so Substack costs an extra 10.1% of revenue at any price you set.
Kit’s paid plans add a monthly bill, which you need past 10,000 subscribers or for automations. A Kit plan pays for itself against Substack once 10.1% of your paid revenue exceeds its price. Creator at $39 a month for 1,000 subscribers breaks even at about $386 of paid revenue, and the $59 tier in Kit’s billing example at about $584.
Two fees can shift the math. Substack’s iOS app lets readers subscribe through Apple, which takes 30% in the first year and 15% after, and Substack still takes 10% of your web price. Kit takes 23.5% of the revenue from its newsletter ads and a 20% service fee plus 3.5% on paid recommendations, which only paid plans can earn.
Which pays out faster, Substack or Kit?
Substack, for web subscriptions. Stripe usually pays each payment to your bank within 48 hours, on a daily or weekly schedule you choose, with no Substack minimum.
Kit pays sales revenue weekly on Fridays from a Kit-managed Stripe Express account. The first payout takes 7 to 14 days on both. Substack’s slow money is iOS in-app revenue, which arrives up to 45 days after the end of the month, and Kit’s is ad revenue, released 45 days after the month the ad ran. We score Substack 8 and Kit 7 on payouts.
Does Substack or Kit grow your list faster?
Substack is better at growing a list from nothing. We score Substack 7 and Kit 6 for discovery, because Notes, recommendations and the Substack app put your posts in front of readers browsing other writers.
Substack’s recommendations work as a referral loop. Publications you recommend appear after someone subscribes to you, the writers you recommend are prompted to return the favor, and a tab shows how many free subscribers each recommendation sent. Kit’s Creator Network works in a similar way, showing your picks to new subscribers and filling five Smart Recommendation slots on the free plan, but Kit gives paid accounts priority and has no reading app.
Ownership favors Substack, 7 to 6 in our reviews. Substack’s web subscriptions run through your own Stripe account, so paying subscribers can move with you, though iOS in-app subscribers cannot and exports leave out names. Kit exports your list to CSV in a few clicks, but its payments run through a Kit-managed Stripe account, and Kit cancels every active subscription if your account closes.
Each has a catch. Substack newsletters still send from a substack.com address even after you pay $50 for a custom domain. On Kit, a reader who unsubscribes from your emails also stops paying for your paid newsletter.
What features actually differ?
Kit is an email marketing tool that can sell, and Substack is a publishing network that can charge.
| Feature | Substack | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| What you can sell | Paid subscriptions and founding member plans | Paid newsletters, digital products and tips |
| Billing periods | Monthly and annual | Monthly, quarterly and yearly |
| Sales tax | Collected and remitted from December 1, 2026 | VAT if you turn it on, no US sales tax |
| Free plan limit | None, publishing is free at any list size | 10,000 subscribers |
| Selling limits | US-dollar minimum of $5 a month or $30 a year | Six currencies, sellers in 39 countries |
Substack’s December 1, 2026 tax change is a real gain for US writers, since it replaces the Stripe Tax setup where you registered with each tax authority yourself. Kit leaves US sales tax to you.
Kit’s free plan leaves out visual automations, email sequences and RSS campaigns, which need Creator at $39 a month or Pro at $79 for 1,000 subscribers.
Which should you choose?
Choose Kit if you already have readers, and Substack if you need help finding them. Kit keeps about $101 more of every $1,000 on its free plan, which adds up to $505 a month at $5,000 in paid revenue. Our guide to starting a paid newsletter covers setup, beehiiv vs Kit and Substack vs beehiiv cover the third option, and our best platforms for writers ranks them all.
- Pick Substack if you are starting from zero and want readers to find you through Notes, recommendations and an app.
- Pick Substack if you want sales tax and VAT collected and remitted for you from December 1, 2026.
- Pick Substack if you want web subscribers in your own Stripe account, so they can move with you.
- Pick Kit if you bring your own audience from YouTube, a podcast or social media.
- Pick Kit if you want to keep about $101 more of every $1,000 in paid revenue.
- Pick Kit if you sell digital products or take tips alongside a newsletter.
- Pick Kit’s Creator plan if you want email automations, from $39 a month.