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Reader-funded journalists making good money
A growing list of newsletter writers and journalist run newsrooms relying primarily on reader funding (or at least making a good chunk of change from their reader base)
Lex Roman
September 20, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
✏️ This is a living blog post. Updated regularly! Want to correct your number? Email projects at lexroman
So much of making money is about our mindset.
Can anyone do this? Can I do this? Is this even a possible route?
Invasive doubts like that are why so many entrepreneurs quit a year or two into their ventures.
That’s why it helps to see relatable success stories. Get to know who else has been on the path you’re on. Understand a bit about what has worked for them and ramp up fast on what could work for you too.
That’s what this whole newsletter project is about, and this list is a running summary of reader-funded journalists who are paving the way.
Updated regularly as new info emerges!
Independent journalists
Publication name | Monthly pricing tiers | # of paid subscribers | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
Newcomer (Eric Newcomer) | $19/mo | Unknown—$1.6-2M/yr in revenue from mixed streams, 100k readers | Substack |
Read Max (Max Read) | $5/mo | 2,600 paying readers (as of Oct 2024) | Substack |
Popular Information (Judd Legum) | $6/mo | Unknown—349k+ readers | Substack |
Torched (Alissa Walker) | $5/mo, $10/mo, $100/mo | Unknown—New this year | Ghost + Outpost |
$8/mo | “100% reader-funded” | Wordpress (Custom?) | |
Notes on the Crises (Nathan Tankus) | $10/mo, $25/mo, $75/mo, $100/mo | Was 13th highest paid Substack in 2020 (migrated off Substack in 2021) | Ghost |
What the Fuck Just Happened Today (Matt Kiser) | $5/mo (and $50/yr and $100/yr) | Unknown—Matt is fully reader-funded and full time on project (Free subs 250k+, 2% are paid, operating budget is 200k/yr) | Wordpress (Custom), MailChimp and Memberful |
Court Watch (Seamus Hughes) | $9/mo | Over 400 paying readers (November 2024) | Substack |
Extra Points (Matt Brown) | $9/mo | beehiiv | |
reality blurred (Andy Dehnart) | $2/mo, $5/mo, $7/mo, $17/mo, $38/mo | Unknown—Primary income (Members, one time contributions and ad supported) | Wordpress (custom) + Patreon |
$5/mo | Unknown—Primary income, 13k+ readers | Ghost | |
Links I Would Gchat You if We Were Friends (Caitlin Dewey) | $7/mo | Unknown—Free subs 22k+ | Substack |
How Things Work (Hamilton Nolan) | $6/mo | 1500 paying readers (ESTIMATED—based on 8% paid and 19k total as of Nov 24) | Substack |
$7/mo | Unknown | Ghost | |
User Mag (Taylor Lorenz) | $7/mo | Unknown—new this year | Substack |
Status (Oliver Darcy) | $14.95/mo (and $595/yr) | Unknown—new this year | beehiiv |
Garbage Day (Ryan Broderick) | $5/mo | 3k+ paying readers (85k+ total readers) | beehiiv |
Journalist-owned newsrooms
Publication name | Monthly pricing tiers | # of paid subscribers | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
$10/mo and $100/mo | 6,000+ (as of Sept 2024) | Ghost + Outpost | |
$6.99/mo, $9.99/mo, $19.99/mo | 5,300+ (as of November 2024) | Ghost + Outpost | |
$10/mo, $25/mo, $50/mo | 600+ (as of Sept 2024) | Indiegraf | |
$7/mo, $10/mo, $99/mo | 3,700+ (as of Sept 2024) | Lede | |
$9.99/mo, $24.99/mo, $51/mo | (BRAND NEW) - Raised $275k+ in reader funding pre-launch (as of Sept 2024) | Ghost | |
$5/mo, $12/mo, $75/mo | Unknown (4 full time worker-owners) | Ghost | |
$5/mo, $10/mo, $99/mo | 4000+ (Very old figure, July 2023)- 80% reader-funded | Lede | |
$8/mo | Unknown—19k+ readers | Substack | |
$3/mo | Unknown—Raised $40k on Kickstarter pre-launch | Ghost | |
$7/mo, $12/mo, $100/m | (BRAND NEW) | Ghost + Outpost | |
$8/mo, $12/mo, $100/mo | 42k+ active subscribers at the peak of 2023 | Lede | |
$5.99/mo, $9.99/mo, $19.99/mo, $99.99/mo | Lede | ||
$8/$15/$25/$50 (Donation tiers) | Unknown—Nonprofit and worker-owned | Wordpress (Custom?) | |
$8/mo $30/mo | Ghost + Outpost | ||
$11.99/mo $21.99/mo $100/mo | Newspack (Wordpress + ActiveCampaign) | ||
$25/yr, $40/yr, $100/yr | Raised seed money on Kickstarter - over 1100 backers as of Nov 2024 | beehiiv |