Is Substack Still Worth It?

Maybe... it's complicated

Hi Substacker,

Someone asked me the other day if my other newsletter has been worth it, considering all the work I’ve put into it and all the time it took to get to bestseller status. They wanted to know…

Would I do it all again?

In this post, I’ll tell you whether Substack is still worth it for me and help you figure out if Substack is (or will be) worth it for you.

In this post I WON’T repeat all the slop you’ll find online about Substack these days, like “It’s still early days for Substack, jump in now and you’ll make a gazillion dollars with just 2 hours per week, but only if you follow my 6 step blueprint (just $497!)” or “Substack’s too crowded, it’s become like Twitter and all the cool people are leaving”.

Substack is neither an automated money-making machine for writers or a platform that’s lost all its credibility and become a social media machine.

Substack is simply a place where you can carve out a little slice of internet for yourself (for free!), meet people who want to hear from you and ask them to pay for the privilege. Or not: your choice.

Is Substack still worth it (for me)?

Background

Before I jump in and tell you whether Substack has been worth it for me, here are some things you should know.

I’m going to be talking about my other publication, created under a different account (Karen Cherry is a pen name), not the publication you’re reading now.

That publication is for food safety professionals (yup, it’s kinda niche). It’s four years old. It has 4,695 free subscribers, 252 paying subscribers, and an annual retention rate of 87%. It generates US$26K per year (gross)¹.

In that publication, I’ve published 216 weekly issues, 186 weekly podcast episodes and 193 supplementary posts, which are not emailed to subscribers but are linked in weekly issues or special resource collections.

If that sounds like a lot, it is.

If you’re thinking it’s been a lot of work, you’d be right.

If you’ve checked out any of my weekly issues or special supplements, you might be thinking whoa, this has taken hours and hours. And you’d be right.

And while $26K per year is nothing to sneeze at, it’s definitely not mega-bucks.

So, has the time and effort been worth it for me so far? And will it still be worth it in 2026?

Spoiler alert: That publication and its thousands of hours has totally been worth it for me, though way less lucrative than I hoped when I launched it 😆.

What’s great about it

Thinking solely about my other publication, here’s why Substack is (still) worth it for me:

• It’s an ultra-reliable, recurring revenue stream, with $$ coming in throughout the year, even when other income in my food safety business is slow/non-existent.

• Scalability = GOLD. Every week I get one or two new paid subscribers. So every week I do the same amount of work and earn more than the week before! Since most people choose to pay for an annual subscription, that’s an extra $100 per week every single week.

• I’ve met awesome people and got a couple of very lucrative consulting gigs through those connections.

• I’ve been able to legitimately reduce tax by taking overseas trips to conferences and conventions – travel is my favourite way to take money out of my business tax-free (Australian tax rates are killer).

• I genuinely enjoy putting the newsletter together; I learn something new every single week.

• I can do the work from anywhere, and can prepare some of it in advance for vacation periods.

• I control the deadlines and the working hours (unlike in consulting work).

• It’s the one part of my week where I know EXACTLY what I need to do and how to do it when I sit down at my desk, whereas every other project I do is different, which requires a lot more energy.

• My newsletter-writing day is the ultimate introvert’s party for one 😛.

Here’s what’s not so great

• The hourly rate I earn with that publication is really low compared to food safety consulting - I spend around 8 to 12 hours per week on it and earn (gross) USD26K.

• When my paid subscriber growth rate slows, I get demotivated, and it’s hard to promote the newsletter or deliver top-notch work during those times.

• When the time comes to shut it down, the process will be brutal due to Substack/Stripe processes and the fact that almost all my subscribers pay annually.

Other things you should know

• There’s no built-in audience in Substack for my other publication – even if my ideal readers are hanging out on Substack, they are here for personal leisure time and are not in ‘work mode’, so I have to sign them up elsewhere.

• The average reader for that publication is, due to the nature of their work, a very particular kind of person. They are university-educated, they like to get information by reading (or skimming), and they spend a lot of time in their email inboxes. This makes them a perfect fit for an emailed text-based newsletter – not all audiences are a good fit.

Will Substack be worth it for you?

Maybe.

First, you have to define what ‘worth it’ is. What will make you keep going if you are not seeing the benefits you initially hoped for?

What’s your ‘Why’? Why are you here? What are you trying to achieve? The answer is different for everyone.

For me, my other publication is an extra revenue stream for my business that doesn’t rely on the whims and schedules of my consulting clients and can easily accommodate vacations and travel. Plus, every week I earn a little more without spending more time. That makes it worth it for me.

For you, your Substack ‘why’ might be the joy of creating. Or the satisfaction of publishing each week. Or the chance to help your readers. Or the joy of sharing a topic you are passionate about.

If you’re here for the money, Substack will only be worth it if you’re getting enough money for the hours you’re investing each week, or your current growth trajectory will get you enough money within your desired timeframe, and if the time you’re spending on Substack isn’t costing you too much in terms of other (lost) opportunities.

But one thing I know for sure:

Whether you’re here for the creative process or the money, you must - absolutely must - love the process of creating content for people you genuinely care about, or Substack will not be worth it for you.

Non-negotiable: you must love the process of creating content for people you genuinely care about or (I promise) Substack will not be worth it

Key takeaways

Substack is not a magic monetization machine for writers.

Substack is not too saturated or too social-media-ish.

Substack is a place for you to create, to publish, to meet people who want to hear from you and (optionally) earn some dollars doing something you love.

Substack is worth it for you if you love what you do here, genuinely care about your subscribers and don’t miss important opportunities by spending time here.

If earning income is a goal, I recommend that you define the minimum hourly rate you’re willing to work for and check that you can achieve it within a reasonable timeframe based on your current growth trajectory. This will help you know if Substack is worth it for you.

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Okay, that’s it for this week.

Let us know what you decide: is Substack worth it for you?

Karen

1. Want to check out the stats, revenue figures and subscriber numbers straight in my dashboard? Book a call with me ($249), and I’ll give you a guided tour - access all areas.