Newsletter Revenue Calculator

Formula

• opens = subscribers × open rate
• paid subscribers = subscribers × free-to-paid conversion rate
• net subscription revenue = paid × price × (1 − fees)
• sponsorship revenue = (opens ÷ 1,000) × CPM × sponsor slots
• total = net subscription revenue + sponsorship revenue

Methodology

Newsletters monetise in two ways that scale differently. Paid subscriptions depend on conversion rate, which for most publications sits between 1% and 5% of the free list. Sponsorships depend on opens rather than total subscribers, because that is the audience a sponsor's message actually reaches.

Fees are modest compared with other platforms — around 10% platform plus roughly 3% processing — but they apply to every recurring payment, so they matter at scale. Revenue per subscriber is the number to watch over time: it tells you whether the list is getting more valuable or just bigger.

Every figure here is an estimate. Real earnings move with your niche, audience country, season, advertiser demand and how a platform is paying that month, so treat the result as a planning range rather than a promise.

Example calculation

1. A 20,000-subscriber list with a 45% open rate reaches 9,000 opens per issue.
2. At 3% conversion, 600 paid subscribers at $8 gross $4,800; after 13% fees that is $4,176.
3. Four sponsor slots at a $30 CPM on 9,000 opens: (9 × $30) × 4 = $1,080.
4. Total: about $5,256 a month, roughly $1,314 per issue.

Frequently asked questions