Memberful vs Substack: fees & take-home (2026-07)
At $3,000/month over 60 sales, Memberful leaves you $104/month more than Substack. Here's the full breakdown — and where that flips.
| Memberful | Substack | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Membership platforms | Newsletter platforms |
| Entry price | from $49/mo | Free |
| Platform fee | Standard 4.9%; Enterprise custom/lower. Separate from Stripe. | Flat 10% of paid-subscription revenue; plus Stripe ~2.9%+30c and ~0.7% renewal → ~13-16% all-in |
| Take-home on $3k/60 sales | $2,699 | $2,595 |
| Effective take rate | 10.0% | 13.5% |
| Affiliate payout | — | — |
| Best for | Independent publishers adding memberships/paywalls to an existing site (strong WordPress integration) | Writers wanting the simplest paid-newsletter setup with zero fixed cost and built-in discovery |
Who keeps you more?
Modeled on each platform's entry tier, Memberful wins at $3k/month. But the Memberful/Substack gap depends on your revenue and sales volume — platforms with a monthly fee but 0% cut pull ahead as you scale, while free/percentage platforms win at low volume. Run your exact numbers →
Choose Memberful if…
Independent publishers adding memberships/paywalls to an existing site (strong WordPress integration).
Choose Substack if…
Writers wanting the simplest paid-newsletter setup with zero fixed cost and built-in discovery.