Case Study: How One Creator Saved $4,500/Year in Fees by Switching from Substack to Postion

Meet Clara. She runs "The Growth Letter," a popular newsletter for startup marketers. For two years, she built her publication on Substack, growing a loyal audience of 5,000 subscribers, with 500 of them paying $10/month.

By all measures, she was a success story. Her monthly revenue was a healthy $5,000. But as she looked at her payouts, a nagging feeling grew. A significant chunk of her hard-earned money was vanishing before it ever hit her bank account.

This is the story of how Clara uncovered the true cost of Substack's fees and how switching to Postion saved her over $4,500 in a single year—money she then used to supercharge her growth.

The Problem: The Punishing Math of Substack's 10% Fee

Clara's revenue was straightforward: 500 paying members at $10/month equals $5,000 in monthly gross revenue.

Here’s how Substack's fees broke down that number:

1. Substack's Platform Fee (10%): $5,000 * 10% = $500 per month

2. Stripe's Processing Fee (~2.9% + $0.30/transaction):

   • Transaction fee: 500 members * $0.30 = $150
   • Percentage fee: $5,000 * 2.9% = $145
   • Total Stripe Fee = $295 per month

• Total Monthly Fees on Substack: $500 + $295 = $795
• Clara's Monthly Take-Home Pay: $5,000 - $795 = $4,205
• Total Annual Fees Paid: $795 * 12 = $9,540

That's nearly $10,000 a year paid in platform and transaction fees. The $6,000 going directly to Substack was a particularly tough pill to swallow, as she felt she had outgrown their limited feature set.

The Solution: Migrating to a Fairer Platform

Clara discovered Postion and was drawn to its creator-first model, especially the lower 5% platform fee. The migration process was simple, taking just an afternoon to import her content and subscribers.

Now, let's run the same numbers on Postion, assuming a more favorable payment processing arrangement that better platforms can sometimes secure, bringing the total fee to around 7.5%.

1. Postion's Platform Fee (5%): $5,000 * 5% = $250 per month

2. Payment Processing Fee (let's assume ~2.5% total): $5,000 * 2.5% = $125 per month

• Total Monthly Fees on Postion: $250 + $125 = $375
• Clara's New Monthly Take-Home Pay: $5,000 - $375 = $4,625
• Total Annual Fees Paid: $375 * 12 = $4,500

The Results: A $5,000+ Annual Raise and a New Growth Engine

By switching to Postion, Clara instantly gave herself a raise.

• Annual Savings: $9,540 (Substack Fees) - $4,500 (Postion Fees) = $5,040

This move saved her over $5,000 annually in fees alone. But the benefits didn't stop there. By leveraging Postion's superior SEO tools, her organic traffic began to climb. Within four months, she had gained an additional 50 paying subscribers from Google alone, adding another $500/month ($6,000/year) to her revenue.

"Switching to Postion wasn't just about saving money, though saving over $5,000 a year was incredible," Clara says. "It was about investing in a platform that invests in my growth. The SEO tools helped me find a whole new audience, something that was impossible on Substack."

Key Takeaways

1. Platform fees are your single biggest expense. A 5% difference is not small; it's thousands of dollars over time.
2. Look beyond the fees. A platform that also provides growth tools (like SEO) offers a double return: lower costs and higher revenue.
3. Ownership pays. By moving to an independent platform, you build a more resilient, profitable, and valuable business.

Don't let high platform fees silently drain your creative business. Do the math for your own publication. You might be surprised by how much you could be saving and reinvesting in your future.

See how Postion's fair pricing and growth tools can help you earn more.