# Letterhead vs Substack — the publisher-first newsletter platform

Source: https://www.tryletterhead.com/lp/vs-substack.html

Letterhead vs Substack

# For publishers who want to own the business, not rent it.

Substack is a great place for an individual writer to start a paid newsletter. If you're a publisher or media team — running a portfolio, selling ads, and building a business on your audience — you want ownership and control that a consumer platform isn't built to give you.

- Your audience and first-party data, fully yours — export, segment, and act on it
- No revenue share on your sends — Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue
- Direct, programmatic, and house ad ops, not just paid subscriptions
- Easy to move — send with Letterhead, or keep your current ESP if you need to

Trusted by New York Post, Condé Nast, Townsquare Media, and hundreds more.

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_The world's leading newsletter teams run on Letterhead_

## What teams see after moving to Letterhead.

Great content earns engagement. Engagement earns revenue. Revenue drives the business. Teams using Letterhead see all three improve within the first 90 days.
+32%Engagement lift
on existing newsletters, 90 days after switching to Letterhead
+22%Revenue lift
on monetized sends after 180 days through sales, CTAs, advertising
75%Less production time
per edition, on average

_Where Letterhead is different_

## Built for a media business, not a single byline.

### You own the asset

Your audience and first-party data are yours to export, segment, and build on — not locked inside a consumer network.

### Revenue beyond subscriptions

Direct, programmatic, and house inventory with sponsor reporting — and no revenue share on your sends.

### A whole portfolio

Run every title and brand from one workspace, with roles and approvals for a real team.

### First-party intelligence

Content attribution and reader tiers from your own data, so you can grow on what actually works.

### Your brand, not theirs

Every send is your brand end to end — not a page inside someone else's marketplace.

### Fits your stack

Send with Letterhead or keep the ESP you already run. Moving is days, not quarters.

“We've never seen open rates this high before in the history of our sending.”

— Townsquare Media

## Questions, answered.
Is Substack a bad choice?
No — it's a great on-ramp for an individual writer building a paid newsletter. The question is fit. If you're a publisher running a portfolio, selling ads, and building a business on your audience, Letterhead is built for that.
What does Substack cost vs. Letterhead?
Substack takes 10% of your subscription revenue (plus payment fees). Letterhead is priced on the number of newsletters and audience size, with no revenue share on your sends — so as you grow, more of the revenue stays yours.
Can we bring our audience over?
Yes. We map your subscribers and templates and get you live in days. Send with Letterhead, or keep sending through your current ESP if you'd rather.
Can Letterhead handle paid subscriptions and ads?
Yes — subscriptions, direct and programmatic ads, and house promotions all run inside your sends, with reporting per send and per sponsor.

## See Letterhead on a portfolio like yours.

Tell us what you're trying to do with newsletters. We'll show you the product, answer the questions a deck won't, and hand you a pricing anchor for your size.

[Book a test drive](#signup)