Leaving Substack? A Case Study on Saving $4,500/Year in Platform Fees

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 due to the Substack pricing model.

This is the story of how Clara uncovered the true cost of Substack fees, and how finding a better Substack alternative 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 the Substack 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 in creator platform fees. The $6,000 going directly to Substack was a particularly tough pill to swallow, and it was the main reason she started thinking about leaving Substack.

The Solution: How to Migrate from Substack to a Fairer Platform

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

Now, let's run the same numbers in a direct Substack vs Postion comparison:

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 in the Substack pricing model is thousands of dollars over time.
2. Look beyond the fees. The best Substack alternative also provides growth tools (like SEO) for 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 creator platform fees silently drain your business. Do the math for your own publication. You might be surprised by how much you could be saving.

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