Spawned vs Substack Pricing: Which Creator Platform Saves You Money?
Choosing between Spawned for launching a Solana token with a website and Substack for a traditional newsletter? This guide breaks down the real costs. Substack charges a 10% fee on creator revenue, while Spawned uses a 0.30% per-trade model, offers holder rewards, and includes an AI website builder at no extra monthly cost. The right platform depends entirely on whether you want to build a token-based community or a paid subscriber list.
- •Substack takes 10% of all your subscription revenue. Spawned charges a 0.30% fee per token trade and 0.1 SOL (~$20) to launch.
- •Spawned pays 0.30% of every trade back to token holders as ongoing rewards, a feature Substack lacks.
- •Spawned includes a free AI website builder (saving $29-99/month). Substack only provides a newsletter-focused site.
- •For Web3 creators building a tokenized community, Spawned offers better long-term economics and ownership.
Quick Comparison
Verdict: Who Should Choose Which Platform?
Don't waste time. Here's the quick answer based on your goals.
Your choice hinges on your medium and your monetization goal.
Choose Substack if: Your primary content is long-form writing (articles, essays), your audience expects email delivery, and you want a straightforward subscription model (reader pays you monthly/yearly). It's for traditional digital publishing.
Choose Spawned if: You are a creator, artist, or community leader in the crypto space and want to launch a token to represent your brand or project. This is for building an asset-based community where members hold your token, not just read your emails. Spawned is for those who want the combined utility of a token launchpad and a professional website without ongoing SaaS fees.
For crypto-native creators, Spawned's model of low per-transaction fees, holder rewards, and a bundled website presents a more modern and community-aligned economic structure than Substack's 10% revenue share.
Fee Structure: 10% Revenue Share vs. 0.30% Trade Fees
How each platform makes money determines how much you keep.
This is the core financial difference. Substack's model is simple: they take a cut of the money you earn. Spawned's model is based on facilitating and incentivizing trading activity for your token.
| Fee Type | Substack | Spawned |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | 10% of all subscription revenue you generate. | 0.30% fee on every buy and sell trade of your token. No fee on transfers. |
| Creator Revenue | You keep 90% of subscription revenue (minus payment processor fees). | You earn 0.30% of every trade, flowing directly to you in SOL. |
| Upfront Cost | $0 to start publishing. Fees apply only when you earn. | 0.1 SOL (approx. $20) to launch your token and website. |
| Additional Costs | Payment processor fees (Stripe). Potentially costs for custom domains or design. | No monthly fees. The AI website builder is included. You pay Solana network (gas) fees for transactions. |
Key Insight: Substack's fee is a direct tax on your success. If you make $10,000, you pay Substack $1,000. Spawned's fee is aligned with community activity; you earn when your token is traded.
Holder Rewards vs. Subscriber-Only Access
The monetization philosophy diverges completely.
Substack's Model: Paywall Access. Readers pay a monthly or annual fee to access your content. The value exchange is clear: money for articles. Your community is defined as paying subscribers. There is no inherent benefit to being a long-term subscriber beyond access.
Spawned's Model: Tokenized Ownership & Rewards. Supporters buy your token. Holding it can represent membership, governance, or access. Crucially, Spawned has a unique 0.30% holder reward. On every single trade of your token, 0.30% of the trade value is distributed proportionally to all current holders. This creates a direct, ongoing financial incentive to hold and support your project long-term.
Example: If your token has $100,000 in daily trading volume, $300 is generated daily for holder rewards. This rewards loyalty in a way a static subscription cannot.
The AI Website Builder: Spawned's Included Advantage
Spawned isn't just a launchpad; it's a full website solution. This is a major cost saver.
- Fully Included: No separate monthly fee. Comparable website builders (Webflow, Squarespace) cost $29-$99 per month.
- AI-Powered: Generates a professional site based on your project description, saving hours of design work.
- Token-Integrated: Your website natively displays token price, charts, and has a built-in buy widget. A Substack site cannot do this.
- Ownership: You control the domain and content fully. While Substack hosts your site, it remains on their platform.
For a creator needing a hub for their brand beyond a newsletter, Spawned eliminates a significant recurring expense. Learn about building a crypto website.
- No extra monthly cost (saves $348-$1188/year)
- Built-in token price and chart displays
- AI generates copy and layout
- Full customization control
Long-Term Value and Platform Lock-in
Where will you be in a year? The economics shift over time.
Consider where you build your equity over 1-3 years.
| Consideration | Substack | Spawned |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Ownership | You own your email list and content, but it lives on Substack. Migrating is possible but disruptive. | You own your SPL token (on the Solana blockchain) and your website (hostable elsewhere). The asset is fully portable. |
| Revenue Ceiling | Your income is limited by your subscription price and number of subscribers. | Your income from trade fees and the token's market cap are theoretically uncapped, tied to community growth. |
| Post-Graduation | N/A. You remain on Substack. | Projects can "graduate" from the launchpad. Spawned uses Token-2022 to take a perpetual 1% fee on trades, ensuring ongoing support revenue without taking tokens. |
| Community Tool | Comments and notes. Centered on discussion of your writing. | A token that can be integrated across Web3: used for Discord roles, event access, NFT mints, etc. |
The Spawned model treats your project as a startup with a liquid asset. The Substack model treats it as a media publication.
How to Decide: A 4-Step Checklist
Follow these steps to make a data-driven choice.
- Define Your Primary Offering. Is it written content delivered via email? Choose Substack. Is it a community, brand, or project where membership/ownership is key? Choose Spawned.
- Calculate the Fee Impact. For Substack, take your projected annual subscription revenue and calculate 10%. For Spawned, estimate potential trading volume for your token and calculate 0.30%. Which fee structure feels more aligned and sustainable?
- Audit Your Tech Needs. Do you need just a newsletter blog? Substack works. Do you need a full website with token integration, charts, and a custom design? Spawned's included builder is essential.
- Consider Your Audience. Are your followers primarily on Web2 (Twitter, email lists)? Substack is familiar. Are they in crypto, using wallets and trading tokens? They will understand and value the Spawned model immediately.
Still unsure? Compare Spawned to other no-code platforms for more context.
Ready to Launch Your Token and Website?
If you're building the future of your creator brand on Solana, Spawned provides the complete toolkit. Launch your token with a clear economic model, reward your holders automatically, and deploy a professional website—all in one place and for a single, low upfront cost.
Start for 0.1 SOL (≈$20). No monthly website fees. No 10% tax on your revenue. Just a platform designed for crypto creator economics.
Launch on Spawned Today and begin building your tokenized community.
Related Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
No, Spawned is not a newsletter distribution platform. Its core function is launching a Solana SPL token and providing an AI-generated website for your project. For email newsletters, you would need a separate service. Spawned is for creating a token-based asset and community hub, not for managing email subscriptions.
It depends on your volume and model. For a creator with high trading volume but lower direct subscription revenue, the 0.30% per-trade fee can be far more efficient. For example, 0.30% on $1M in monthly volume is $3,000 in fees. On Substack, you'd need $30,000 in monthly subscription revenue to generate the same $3,000 fee. The Spawned model scales with token activity, not a direct cut of your primary revenue.
After launch, the main fees are the 0.30% per trade (which is also your revenue source) and standard Solana network gas fees for transactions. There is no monthly fee for the website builder. If your project grows significantly and graduates from the launchpad, Spawned uses the Token-2022 standard to apply a perpetual 1% fee on trades, which funds ongoing platform development and support.
Not directly. They are different systems. You could use your Substack newsletter to announce and educate your subscribers about your new token launch on Spawned, offering them early access or a specific allocation. This is a common strategy: using an existing Web2 audience to bootstrap a Web3 community. The token then offers utility beyond just content access.
No coding is required. The AI builder asks for your project description and automatically generates a complete website with sections, text, and layout. You can then use a simple editor to customize text, images, colors, and sections. It's designed to be as simple as using a tool like Substack's publication designer but with outputs tailored for a crypto project.
For a total beginner focused solely on writing, Substack has a lower barrier to entry ($0 upfront). For a creator in the crypto space, even if just starting, Spawned's all-in-one cost of ~$20 for a token and website is very accessible. The key question is your end goal: a paid newsletter or a tokenized brand. Spawned offers more long-term tools for the latter path from day one.
Ready to get started?
Try Spawned free today