Newsletter LedgerButtondown vs Substack: which costs less at your size
Substack is free until readers pay, then keeps 10% of every subscription. Buttondown is free only for the first 100 subscribers, then charges a plan price by list size, plus a flat $9/month once you sell subscriptions, and takes 0% of revenue. For a free newsletter Substack is cheaper at every size. For a paid newsletter in our example Buttondown costs less at every size we checked, and about half as much from 5,000 subscribers up. Prices checked .
Quick answer
- Free newsletter: Substack is $0 at every size. Buttondown is $0 only up to 100 subscribers.
- Paid newsletter: Buttondown is cheaper in our example from 500 to 20,000 subscribers. At 500 the two are within a few dollars; at 20,000 Buttondown costs about half.
- Moving from Substack: Buttondown can keep paying readers' billing through the same Stripe account.
Monthly cost side by side
| Subscribers | Buttondown, free newsletter | Substack, free newsletter | Buttondown, paid newsletter | Substack, paid newsletter | Cheaper (paid) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $9.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $31.30 Standard | $33.30 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
| 1,000 | $9.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $44.60 Standard | $66.60 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
| 2,500 | $29.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $104.50 Standard | $166.50 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
| 5,000 | $29.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $171.00 Standard | $333.00 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
| 10,000 | $79.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $354.00 Standard | $666.00 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
| 20,000 | $139.00 Standard | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $680.00 Standard | $1,332.00 Substack (no plan fee) | Buttondown |
Per month, US dollars, plans billed yearly where the platform offers it, otherwise month-to-month. "Free newsletter" is the plan price only. "Paid newsletter" assumes 5% of the list pays $8/month and includes the plan, the platform's fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per charge. "Same" means within $1. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the vendor's own page. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
Disclosure: links to platforms go through /go/ redirects. Some are affiliate links (currently beehiiv, Systeme.io and Buttondown): if you sign up and pay, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. That never changes the numbers or the order of results. Full disclosure.
Visit Buttondown (opens in a new tab) · Visit Substack (opens in a new tab)
What each charges, from their own pages
Buttondown
- Free for the first 100 subscribers, then priced by list size: $9/month to 1,000, $29 to 5,000, $79 to 10,000 and $139 to 20,000.
- Paid subscriptions are a +$9/month add-on, and Buttondown says "You keep all of the money you make after credit card fees."
- No yearly price found, so our figures are month-to-month.
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Substack
- Free to publish at any list size: there is no plan price.
- Keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, on top of Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per card charge. Its help center also lists Stripe Billing at 0.7% of recurring payments.
- A custom domain is an optional one-time $50.
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Moving paid subscribers from Substack
Buttondown can keep existing paid subscriptions when you connect the same Stripe account that Substack uses, and it offers a free migration service. Its guide warns not to disconnect Stripe from inside Substack, which would cancel and refund those subscriptions. Official migration guide. More detail in Substack alternatives.
Who each suits, on cost
Buttondown
Paid newsletters that want a predictable flat price instead of a revenue share, and writers who like a simple, text-first tool.
Substack
Free newsletters of any size, and writers who value Substack's network and app more than the 10%.
Questions
Is Buttondown cheaper than Substack?
For a free newsletter, no: Substack is $0 at every size and Buttondown charges above 100 subscribers. For a paid newsletter with 5% of readers paying $8/month, Buttondown costs less at every size from 500 to 20,000 subscribers in our data, because it takes 0% of revenue while Substack keeps 10%.
Can I move paid subscribers from Substack to Buttondown?
Yes. Buttondown's guide explains connecting the same Stripe account that Substack uses, so readers keep paying without re-entering their card. Do not disconnect Stripe from inside Substack, which cancels and refunds the subscriptions.
We have not used either product as a publisher; this page compares published prices and plan limits only. See the methodology.