🤑FREE or PAID? How To Decide If to Monetize or Not

🚀 On January 20th, I’m hosting the 2026 Substack Kickstarter Bootcamp. Learn how to grow your audience and make money on Substack:
👉🏻https://sbdy.io/YNGGYWx
or
👉🏻https://learn.onlinewritingclub.com/s...

Do you have to make your Substack paid? And if you turn on paid, does everything go behind a paywall? The short answer is no.

In this video, I show you exactly how Substack pricing really works and how to use paid subscriptions without hurting growth.

You'll learn
• if Substack is free to use
• when to turn on paid subscriptions
• how much you can charge
• what happens when you flip the paid switch
• how to mix free and paid content
• where to place your paywall
• how creators earn recurring income
• why you are always in control

This is for writers who want to grow first and monetize without pressure.

🚀 Join 17,000+ writers inside the Online Writing Club: learn to write, grow, and monetize your newsletter and email list → https://www.onlinewritingclub.com/

📩 Inquiries → kristina@onlinewritingclub.com

✨FREE Substack 101 resources → https://kristinagod.gumroad.com/

✅Table of Contents:
00:00 Do you have to make your Substack paid
00:04 Does paid mean everything is paywalled
00:10 Introduction and credibility
00:19 Substack is free to start
00:29 No fees and no catch explained
00:42 When to turn on paid subscriptions
00:52 The most common paid questions
01:00 Pricing calculator explained
01:17 Starting with your first paid subscribers
01:33 Minimum pricing tiers
01:39 Monthly annual and founding members
02:11 What 50 paid subscribers can earn
02:29 Becoming a Substack bestseller
02:45 Scaling paid subscriptions
03:00 Realistic income examples
03:08 Why recurring revenue matters
03:24 The Patreon model explained
04:06 Choosing which posts are paid
04:16 Free vs paid content mix
04:36 You control every post
04:49 How to place a paywall
05:09 Making free content convert
05:21 What value really means
05:57 Simple strategy for beginners
06:15 When to explore paid options
06:23 Why you can go paid from day one
06:50 Getting your first paid subscriber
07:02 Real examples from other writers
07:40 Free posts that convert
08:10 Paid posts that deepen trust
08:44 Supporting your work sustainably
09:02 Final advice and next steps

#freelancewriting #makemoneyonline #moneytips