Free calculator
Newsletter income calculator
How much can a newsletter make? Most earn from two places, sponsors and paying readers. Enter your list and we add both, using published sponsor rates and each platform's real fees.
Fees checked Nov 2026Rates linked to sourcesSee all benchmark rates
Your estimate
An estimate from the inputs you set, not a promise of income. Inputs marked Example input are not from a published source.
How the calculator works
Fees from beehiiv pricingSubstack helpKit pricingGhost (Ghost(Pro)) pricing and Stripe pricing (2.9% plus 30c per US card payment), checked Nov 2026. Plan prices are not included.
Where newsletter money comes from
Most newsletters earn from sponsors, paid subscriptions, or both. Sponsors pay a flat fee per issue that tracks your list size and how well your readers match what they sell. Paid subscriptions depend on how many readers value the work enough to pay each month.
Sponsor rates fall per reader as lists grow. Book a Sponsor read the advertise pages of 321 newsletters in September 2026. Lists under 5,000 asked a median $69.84 per 1,000 subscribers for the main slot, while lists over 100,000 asked $6.66 per 1,000. The total price still rises with size, from a median $150 to $1,300, but small lists earn far more per reader. Press the Median for my list size button and the calculator picks the right band for you.
Niche moves the rate more than size
sponsorships.ai reports CPMs of $80 to $200 per 1,000 for B2B, SaaS and finance newsletters and $25 to $70 for consumer and lifestyle lists. A 5,000 person newsletter read by software buyers can out earn a 50,000 person general list. If you write for a business audience, try the B2B preset and see how far the total moves.
These are asking prices and published ranges, not guaranteed deals. Book a Sponsor notes that most of its prices came from Passionfroot storefronts and that a deal can close above or below them. Your real rate depends on open rate, clicks and whether you sell the slot at all, which is why the share of issues sold is an input you set yourself.
A worked example
Take 5,000 subscribers, four issues a month, half of them sponsored at $36.30 per 1,000. Sponsors bring in about $363 a month. Add paid subscriptions at the 0.62% median and $10 a month on beehiiv and you get 31 paying readers worth about $291 after Stripe. That is around $650 a month in total before any plan fee.
Change one input at a time to see what matters. For most small lists a better sponsor match moves the total more than a higher subscription price.
Benchmarks used on this page
| Channel | What it measures | Value | Audience size | Audience type | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletter | Main sponsor slot per 1,000 subscribers | $69.84 median per 1,000 subscribers | Under 5,000 subscribers | general | Book a Sponsor, 321 newsletter rate cards 29 Sep 2026 |
| Newsletter | Main sponsor slot per 1,000 subscribers | $36.3 median per 1,000 subscribers | 5,000 to 19,999 | general | Book a Sponsor, 321 newsletter rate cards 29 Sep 2026 |
| Newsletter | Main sponsor slot per 1,000 subscribers | $19.23 median per 1,000 subscribers | 20,000 to 49,999 | general | Book a Sponsor, 321 newsletter rate cards 29 Sep 2026 |
| Newsletter | Main sponsor slot per 1,000 subscribers | $10.53 median per 1,000 subscribers | 50,000 to 99,999 | general | Book a Sponsor, 321 newsletter rate cards 29 Sep 2026 |
| Newsletter | Main sponsor slot per 1,000 subscribers | $6.66 median per 1,000 subscribers | 100,000 or more | general | Book a Sponsor, 321 newsletter rate cards 29 Sep 2026 |
| Newsletter | Sponsorship CPM, B2B, SaaS and finance | $80 to $200 per 1,000 subscribers | All sizes | B2B | sponsorships.ai, newsletter sponsorship rates 1 Jul 2026 |
| Newsletter | Sponsorship CPM, Consumer and lifestyle | $25 to $70 per 1,000 subscribers | All sizes | B2C | sponsorships.ai, newsletter sponsorship rates 1 Jul 2026 |
| Newsletter | Free to paid conversion | 0.62% median, about 6 paying per 1,000 | All sizes | general | beehiiv, State of Paid Newsletters 2026 22 Jun 2026 |
| Newsletter | Paid newsletter price | $10 a month or $100 a year (median) | All sizes | general | beehiiv, State of Paid Newsletters 2026 22 Jun 2026 |
Every figure above comes from our Creator Benchmark Rates table, with filters by audience size and type.
Tools that help
beehiiv
Free up to 2,500 subscribers; paid plans from $49/mo (annual)
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you, and it never changes the numbers.
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The best newsletter platform for creators (2026)beehiiv vs Substack, which newsletter platform should you use?Kit pricing, explained in plain numbers
Frequently asked questions
How much do newsletters make per subscriber?
It varies widely. Using Book a Sponsor's 2026 medians, a main sponsor slot on a list under 5,000 lists at about $70 per 1,000 subscribers per issue, while beehiiv's median paid newsletter converts 0.62% of readers at $10 a month.
How much do newsletter sponsors pay?
Book a Sponsor's September 2026 read of 321 newsletters found median main slot prices of $150 under 5,000 subscribers, $310 at 5,000 to 19,999, $520 at 20,000 to 49,999, $700 at 50,000 to 99,999 and $1,300 above 100,000.
Can a small newsletter make money?
Yes. Small lists earn the most per reader from sponsors, and beehiiv reports that newsletters launched in 2025 took a median 66 days to earn their first dollar.
Does this include platform plan fees?
No. Plan prices depend on list size, so check the beehiiv or Kit pricing pages. Transaction fees for paid subscriptions are included.
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