Substack Sponsorships for Brands and How to Work With Writers

ML Media List Editorial Team Nov 11, 2026 17 min read

On June 15, 2026, Substack announced a native sponsorship program with seven launch partners, Yahoo Scout, Whatnot, Granola, Balenciaga, T-Mobile, Polymarket and Uber¹. On October 8, 2026, it added three brand formats called Upgrade, Unlock and Masthead². For the first time, a brand can buy a Substack placement through Substack itself.

There's a catch. The program is invite-based, its prices aren't public, and Substack's team does the matching by hand². This guide explains what the program offers, who's eligible, how brands get in, and how to sponsor any Substack writer directly by email, which is how most Substack deals still happen.

Facts and prices checked November 11, 2026. See something wrong? Tell us.

Key takeaways

Substack announced its native sponsorship program and Creator Kits on June 15, 2026, with Yahoo Scout, Whatnot, Granola, Balenciaga, T-Mobile, Polymarket and Uber as launch partners.
On October 8, 2026, Substack added three brand formats, Upgrade (a sponsored month of paid access), Unlock (a sponsored paywalled post made free) and Masthead (a themed collection with several writers).
Creator Kits are not public, and only brands in Substack's program that its team has connected with a publisher can see them.
Substack has not published pricing or its revenue cut, and writers set a minimum spend for each format in their Creator Kit.
Brands that aren't in the program can still sponsor Substack writers directly by emailing them, and a sponsored post must carry a clear disclosure under FTC guidance.

What Substack sponsorships are in 2026

A Substack sponsorship is a paid brand placement inside a Substack newsletter, podcast or post. Until 2026 there was no official way to buy one. Brands found a writer, sent an email and agreed on terms one deal at a time. Marketing Brew reported in March 2025 that some Substack creators closed deals over Venmo and managed partnerships in Google Docs³.

That changed in 2026. Here's the short timeline.

June 15, 2026. Substack announced the next phase of its native sponsorship program, a flagship partner group and Creator Kits, which are media kits writers build inside Substack⁴.
October 8, 2026. Substack added Upgrade, Unlock and Masthead, offered Kantar brand lift studies for large campaigns and confirmed that its team handles matchmaking².
October 22, 2026. Substack added podcast sponsorship tools for creators, including dynamic ad insertion across back catalogs and IAB Tech Lab certified download measurement⁵.

The deal that came first

The model Substack points to is older than the program. Emily Sundberg wrote an essay sponsored by Hinge in her newsletter Feed Me¹. Substack says that sponsored letter was Feed Me's fourth most engaged letter of 2024⁴. Nieman Lab notes the new program greatly simplifies that kind of deal¹.

Look at how that deal worked. A brand picked one writer whose readers it wanted, the writer kept her voice, and the ad read like the rest of the newsletter. You can still buy that way today, with or without Substack in the middle.

New to the channel? Our newsletter advertising guide covers formats, pricing and buying routes across all platforms.

The native program and Creator Kits

Timeline of Substack sponsorship milestones from June 15 to October 22, 2026

Substack calls its program native sponsorships. In its June post, it said creators choose who they work with, set the creative direction and keep full editorial independence, while Substack handles matchmaking, infrastructure and logistics⁴. The seven flagship partners were investing what Substack called millions of dollars in creators on the platform, with no total given⁴.

What a Creator Kit holds

A Creator Kit is a media kit a writer builds inside Substack. Publishing one tells Substack the writer is open to brand work⁴. Simon Owens, who writes a media newsletter on Substack, reported that the kit fills in subscriber count, open rate and geographic breakdown, with fields for an audience description and testimonials⁶.

Each kit lists ten sponsorship format options, and the writer sets a minimum spend for each one². That means price floors exist, but they belong to each writer and are not published.

Who can see the kits

Not you, unless you're in the program. Subscribers can't see Creator Kits, and only brands in Substack's sponsorship program that its team has connected with a publisher can view one². There is no public catalog to browse.

What Substack offers brands

Substack's page for brands lists four partnership types⁷.

Editorial integrations, such as a branded content series.
Events and experiences, sponsoring or co-hosting creator events.
Audio and video, host-read ads or custom segments in podcasts.
Subscriber perks, early product access or discounted subscriptions bundled with a writer's offer.

Granola's perk deal is a good example of the last type. Lenny Rachitsky's Product Pass gives his annual and insider subscribers access to products and trials from companies such as Granola, valued at more than $30,000⁴.

The October 8 formats are built around Substack's paywall, which makes them different from a normal newsletter ad².

Format	What the brand pays for	What the reader gets	What's not public yet
Upgrade	A month of paid access for a writer's free subscribers²	Paid posts for a month, then the choice to subscribe	How the writer is paid and how the brand is credited²
Unlock	One paid post made free for anyone to read²	A normally paywalled post at no cost	Price and placement rules
Masthead	A themed collection with several writers in a dedicated space on Substack²	A curated set of posts on one theme	How writers are picked and who controls editing²
Creator Kit formats	Ten format options, each with a writer-set minimum²	Depends on the format	Whether the three new formats are among the ten²

Owens called the unlocked post idea clever, because the reader sees the brand as the reason they got something for free⁶. For a brand, Unlock is closest to a classic sponsored article. Upgrade is closer to a sampling program. Masthead is an alternative to launching your own brand publication².

Measurement

For large campaigns, Substack offers Kantar studies, which are surveys that measure awareness, perception and consideration². Substack hasn't defined what counts as large, who pays for the study or whether writers see the results². For smaller buys you'll track results yourself with links and codes.

Who is eligible on the writer side

Creator Kits launched for Substack bestsellers⁴. A bestseller is a Substack with at least 100 paid subscribers¹. PPC Land found that Substack's help page, as of October 22, 2026, opened kits to all Bestseller publications and publications with at least 100 paid subscribers, though the page carries no date².

Owens argues the 100 paid subscriber bar is a smart filter, because paid readers are harder to fake than free sign-ups and it keeps subscriptions first⁶. For a brand, it means the program favors writers who already earn from readers.

How big the pool is

Substack says more than 100,000 publishers earn money through subscriptions on the platform, and its top 10 publishers earn more than $100 million a year combined⁴. In March 2025 it passed 5 million paid subscriptions, more than 50,000 publications and over 35 million active subscriptions⁸.

Two takeaways for a buyer. First, the writers in the program are a small slice of everyone on Substack. Second, plenty of Substack writers with loyal readers will never publish a kit, because joining is optional². If you only buy through the program, you only reach the writers who opted in and got matched.

How brands get in, and what isn't public yet

To join, a brand or agency goes to Substack's sponsorships page, clicks Become a sponsor and fills in a form to be considered for the next phase⁷. The page lists no budget minimum, eligibility rules or contact email⁷.

After that, matching is manual. Substack says its team is bringing small groups of bestsellers and brands together while it tests². Here's what Substack has not published as of November 2026.

Prices, minimum budgets and a launch date for the new formats².
Substack's revenue cut on sponsorships¹.
Whether deals are flat fee or cost per click¹.
How creative approval and negotiation work, and whether a brand can buy across several Substacks at once¹.

Owens guessed Substack hasn't settled many of these questions and needs more bestsellers in the system before it can test ad products⁶.

What that means for your plan

Apply if you're a large brand with a budget for a test and time to wait. But don't build a quarter's plan on an invite you may not get. You can't browse writers, see their minimums or pick who you work with until Substack's team connects you. Meanwhile, the writers you want are already on Substack, and many of them answer their own email. The slow part is finding 30 of them in your niche and getting a working address for each.

Buy direct, skip the middleman

Find newsletters that fit, and email the writer today

Search newsletters with contact emails, save a shortlist and ask for rates.

Filter by category, country and language
Unlock contact emails and save shortlists, from $99 a month
Send outreach from built-in campaigns on Professional ($399 a month)
3-day trial, $0 today, cancel anytime

Start your 3-day trial → Pay on this page. Cancel anytime.

Sponsoring Substack writers directly

Nothing in the program stops a writer from selling their own sponsorships. Joining is optional for writers², and many Substack newsletters publish their own rate cards.

A real Substack rate card

OpenLampTech, a Substack newsletter with 1,150+ readers, posts its prices publicly⁹.

Placement	What you get	One issue	Four weeks
Classified ad	Two sentences and a link⁹	$7	$20
Mid-email shout-out	One paragraph with one link⁹	$20	$65
Top of email ad	Logo, three paragraphs and a call to action, one spot per issue⁹	$55	$175

The writer labels paid content as sponsored, approves all copy before it runs and takes bookings by email⁹. That's what a direct Substack deal usually looks like. You email, you agree on a slot and a date, you send copy, and you pay.

Route	Who arranges it	Formats	Pricing public	Best for
Substack native program	Substack's team, by manual match²	Upgrade, Unlock, Masthead, Creator Kit formats²	No²	Large brands that want brand lift studies
Direct with the writer	You and the writer, by email	Top slot, mid-email mention, classified, sponsored post, podcast read	Sometimes, on the writer's own rate card⁹	Niche reach, tests and any budget size
Agency	An agency buyer	Whatever the writer sells	No, plus the agency's fee	Teams with no time to run outreach
Subscriber perk	You and the writer, or Substack⁷	Product access or discounts bundled with a paid tier⁴	No	Software and apps that want trial users

What a direct Substack sponsorship costs

Comparison of Substack's native sponsorship program and a direct deal with a writer

Substack writers set their own prices, so there's no Substack rate. Use outside benchmarks to sanity check a quote.

One newsletter ad marketplace's Q3 2026 benchmark prices newsletters per 1,000 subscribers, not per open. It lists education at $7.21, finance at $7.11, health and wellness at $5.60, tech at $4.76, news at $2.47 and lifestyle at $1.22¹⁰. PPC Land notes the report has some internal inconsistencies, so treat it as a rough guide¹⁰.

A worked example

Say a Substack writer covers personal finance and has 20,000 subscribers. At the $7.11 finance benchmark, one placement is about $142, which is 20,000 divided by 1,000, times $7.11¹⁰. If the writer quotes $500, ask why. A high open rate, a strong paid tier or a reader base of exactly your buyer can justify it. A big free list with weak opens can't. For more on this niche, see how to advertise in finance and investing newsletters.

Now compare a tiny niche list. OpenLampTech charges $55 for its top slot with 1,150+ readers⁹. That's about $48 per 1,000 readers, far above the marketplace's category averages. Small lists in narrow niches often cost more per reader, and they're often worth it when every reader is a buyer.

Questions to ask before you pay

How many total subscribers, and how many paid?
What were the opens and clicks on your last three sponsored issues?
Is the sponsorship in the email, on the web post, in the podcast, or all three?
Will the ad run once, or can I book a run of four issues at a lower rate?
How will you label it, and can I see the final copy before it sends?

How to email a Substack writer about a sponsorship

Keep the first email short. Writers get pitched often, so say who you are, why their readers fit, what you want to buy and what you need back. Treat a sponsorship email as commercial email and follow these rules. Use an honest subject line, identify yourself, include a valid postal address and give a clear way to opt out¹¹.

A short template

Subject. Sponsoring [Newsletter name] in [month]

Hi [first name],

I run marketing at [Company]. We make [one-line product description] for [audience]. Your post on [specific topic] is exactly what our customers read, so I'd like to sponsor [Newsletter name].

Could you send your rates for a top placement and a sponsored post, your subscriber count and recent open and click rates, and your next open dates? We're planning a test of [one to four] issues in [month].

Thanks,
[Your name], [Title]
[Company, postal address]
Not a fit? Reply no and I won't email again.

Tips that get replies

Name one real post you read. It proves you're not blasting a list.
Ask for numbers, not a call. Most solo writers prefer email.
Offer a short run. A one to four issue test is easy to say yes to.
Follow up once after a week, then stop.

More templates are in our newsletter sponsorship email template guide.

Disclosure and labeling on Substack

Whichever route you use, the ad has to look like an ad. The FTC says a disclosure is more likely to be seen when it's very close to, or part of, the endorsement, and that consumers may miss one at the bottom of a page¹². It suggests clear wording such as This is an ad for BRAND, and says Sponsored by XYZ is clearer than Sponsored alone¹².

For a sponsored post written in the writer's voice, the FTC's native advertising guide applies. An ad must not imply it's anything other than an ad, and disclosures are judged by whether readers actually recognize it as one¹³.

Your responsibility as the brand

The FTC says advertisers need reasonable programs to train and monitor the people who promote them, and that handing a campaign to an outside company doesn't remove the advertiser's responsibility¹². In practice, put the label wording in the agreement and check the live post.

Links in web posts

Substack posts also live on the web. Google's spam policies treat paid links that pass ranking credit as link spam, and say paid links are fine when marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow"¹⁴. You're buying readers, not search rankings, so ask the writer to mark your links that way. Our guide to sponsored post disclosure rules covers the details.

Substack vs beehiiv for advertisers

Stats showing more than 100,000 earning publishers, more than $100 million a year for the top 10 and more than 5 million paid subscriptions

The two biggest newsletter platforms have taken opposite paths on ads. AdExchanger reported in July 2026 that Substack has avoided building its own ad platform, while beehiiv offers both subscriptions and ads¹⁵.

Substack sells custom, invite-based partnerships with its most influential writers, matched by hand²⁷.
beehiiv runs an ad network that bills per 1,000 unique opens or per verified click, and only places ads in newsletters sent through beehiiv¹⁶. beehiiv has about 60,000 publishers, per AdExchanger¹⁵.

Neither one covers the other's writers. Many strong newsletters run on other email tools entirely. If your buyer reads a mix, you'll end up buying direct for part of the plan anyway. Our comparison of the beehiiv ad network and buying direct goes deeper.

A simple plan

Apply to Substack's program if your brand fits its flagship style.
At the same time, list 20 to 40 newsletters your buyer reads, on any platform.
Email each writer for rates and dates.
Book a small test on the five best replies, with a unique link and code for each.
Rebook the winners and drop the rest.

For ways to build that list, see how to find newsletters to sponsor.

Find and email Substack writers today

Substack's program decides who you meet. Going direct, you decide. Media List gives you the list and the contact.

Search 28,000+ newsletters you can email, filtered by category, country and language, on Substack and other platforms.
See who writes each newsletter. Emails unlock from your plan's allowance, no bot checks.
Save your shortlist as a list and export it.
On Professional, send your rate request from built-in email campaigns using your own mailbox, then track replies and follow up.

Media List shows you who to contact and how. It doesn't publish rates or subscriber counts for newsletters, so you ask each writer. Basic at $99 a month covers search, saved lists and exports. Built-in email campaigns come with Professional at $399 a month. Start with a 3-day trial at $0 today, and cancel anytime. See the pricing page.

Buy direct, skip the middleman

Start your newsletter sponsorship list now

Search newsletters with contact emails, save a shortlist and ask for rates.

Filter by category, country and language
Unlock contact emails and save shortlists, from $99 a month
Send outreach from built-in campaigns on Professional ($399 a month)
3-day trial, $0 today, cancel anytime

Start your 3-day trial → Pay on this page. Cancel anytime.

Questions, answered

Yes. Brands can apply to Substack's native sponsorship program through its sponsorships page, or email a Substack writer directly and agree on a placement. Many writers sell their own sponsorships and post rate cards.

How do I join Substack's sponsorship program as a brand?

Go to Substack's sponsorships page, click Become a sponsor and fill in the form. Substack's team matches brands with writers by hand, and it hasn't published budgets or eligibility rules for brands.

How much does a Substack sponsorship cost?

Substack hasn't published prices for its program, and writers set a minimum spend for each format in their Creator Kit. Direct prices vary widely. One Substack tech newsletter with 1,150+ readers charges $55 for its top slot.

Upgrade pays for a month of paid access for a writer's free subscribers. Unlock makes one paid post free for everyone. Masthead is a themed collection of posts from several writers in a dedicated space on Substack.

Who can get a Substack Creator Kit?

Kits launched for Substack bestsellers, which are publications with at least 100 paid subscribers. Only brands in Substack's program that its team has connected with a writer can see a kit.

Does Substack take a cut of sponsorships?

Substack has not published its revenue cut for the program. On a direct deal, you pay the writer and agree terms with them.

Do sponsored Substack posts need a disclosure?

Yes. The FTC expects a clear label close to the ad, such as Sponsored by your brand. Links in sponsored web posts should be marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" under Google's spam policies.

Sources

Nieman Lab, Substack is launching a sponsorship program (Jun 16, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
PPC Land, Substack adds three formats that let brands pay to open paywalled posts (Oct 2026), checked 2026-11-11
Marketing Brew, Newsletter platforms build tech tools for advertising (Mar 14, 2025), checked 2026-11-11
Substack, A business model that works for creators (Jun 15, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
AlternativeTo, Substack introduces podcast sponsorship program (Oct 22, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
Simon Owens, My thoughts on Substack's sponsorships rollout (Jun 16, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
Substack, Sponsorships for brands, checked 2026-11-11
Tubefilter, Substack passes five million paid subscriptions (Mar 12, 2025), checked 2026-11-11
OpenLampTech, Newsletter sponsorship rate card, checked 2026-11-11
PPC Land, Newsletter ad marketplace finds HR newsletter ad rates run 15 times higher than lifestyle lists (Aug 30, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
FTC, CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business, checked 2026-11-11
FTC, FTC's Endorsement Guides, what people are asking, checked 2026-11-11
FTC, Native advertising, a guide for businesses (Dec 2015), checked 2026-11-11
Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, checked 2026-11-11
AdExchanger, Why beehiiv is betting on programmatic to scale its ad platform for newsletters (Jul 20, 2026), checked 2026-11-11
beehiiv, Ad Network, checked 2026-11-11

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Substack Sponsorships for Brands and How to Work With Writers

Key takeaways