Substack in 2025: What You Need to Know (+ Special LIVE Event Today!)

Meet Ciler Demiralp who analyzed 75,000 Substack newsletters

Kristina God

Feb 24, 2025

UPDATE: Here’s the replay:

Many Writers Leave Money on The Table! Should I Raise My Substack Subscription Fees?

Kristina God and Ciler from Newsletter Circle

Feb 24

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Substack is my home, and if you're reading this, it's probably your (new home) too.

Whether you're writing about love, relationships, finance, parenting, midlife, gardening, mindfulness, fishing, horse breeding, tech, or the latest sourdough trend, Substack is where smallstackers and midstackers with zero to 1000 or 10000 subscribers thrive, own their audience, and get paid for being themselves.

But here’s the thing—understanding how the platform works will make your Substack journey so much easier (and way more successful) - if you want to grow from the inside out, meaning capitalizing on Substack as a platform.

As I’m currently updating my Substack School course for premium members, I’ve been diving deep into the data to give you an overview of the status quo of Substack in 2025. Also, we now have more than 15 hours of Substack tutorials + access to all replays, workshops now.

Tonight, We’re Taking It Even Further

📢 Join us LIVE at 1:30 PM EST / 10:30 AM PST as

Ciler from Newsletter Circle

, founder of Newsletter Circle, spills the tea on her analysis of 75,000 Substack newsletters.

She’s going to share:
✅ When to go paid (and when NOT to)
✅ How much to charge (based on real numbers, not just guesses)
✅ What successful Substackers are doing differently
✅ The mistakes most writers make

🔥 If you’re serious about growing your Substack, you don’t want to miss this. (Replays will be available if you sign up!)

I want to become a member and register!

Ask your burning questions LIVE and get direct insights from someone who has crunched the numbers and interviewed many successful newsletter writers from all fields of interest.

Substack’s Growth in 2025: What You Need to Know

Substack is no longer just a "newsletter platform." It’s a media and marketing powerhouse built around writing, podcasting, video, streaming, and community (as I shared in an in-depth 15-minute post here). And it’s growing fast, as I learned in my interview with Linda Lebrun from Substack.

4M+ Paid Subscriptions (and Climbing!)

In 2021, Substack had 1 million paid subscribers.
In 2024, it hit 3 million.
Now in 2025? 4+ million paid subscriptions (and growing rapidly).

The Top 10 Creators Make $40M+ Per Year

The biggest Substack writers collectively bring in more than $40 million a year.
50,000 earn money on the platform

Substack's Goal? 40 Million Paid Subscriptions.
Substack’s founders have big ambitions. They’ve mapped out a clear path to 40 million paid subscribers, which means:

More readers discovering new newsletters via built-in Notes audience
More people willing to pay for quality content
More opportunities for YOU to grow your audience and income

Medium vs. Substack: What’s the Difference?

I know, we have many new Medium writers on the list, so here’s a short breakdown.

I started writing online on Medium in December 2020, sharing stories about parenting, life, and everything in between.

As many shared on Notes, Medium is an all-you-can-eat buffet—subscribers pay one price (usually $5/month) for access to thousands of writers.

Substack is a direct subscription model—readers vote with their wallets and choose exactly who they want to support.

Both platforms have their strengths, but my strategy has always been: Why choose when you can have both? So, I encourage Medium writers to get on Substack and vice versa. I think building a content flywheel is key.

Medium + Substack = peanut butter and jelly.