Estimate your newsletter ad (CPM sponsorship) revenue, paid subscription income, and subscriber LTV — with a 12-month growth projection. Works with Substack, beehiiv, and any email platform. Free, multi-currency, no sign-up.
Calculator
Total monthly revenue
$4,980.00per month
From 10,000 subscribers at 40% open rate.
Ad revenue
$480.00
Subscription revenue
$4,500.00
Subscriber LTV
$162.00
How newsletter revenue is calculated
Ad (sponsorship) revenue is based on CPM — cost per 1,000 opens, not per 1,000 subscribers. Newsletters typically sell impressions based on opens rather than sends, which means your open rate directly multiplies your ad income. Industry CPM benchmarks reported by beehiiv run from $20 for broad audiences to $50+ for high-value niches like finance or B2B.
Subscription revenue depends on how many free readers convert to paid, the monthly price, and the platform fee. Substack takes 10% of paid revenue; beehiiv Grow charges a flat monthly fee instead. Your net subscription revenue is paid subscribers × price × (1 − fee%). Subscriber LTV is the average monthly net revenue per paid subscriber multiplied by the average paid lifetime (18 months is the widely-cited industry benchmark).
The 12-month projection applies your expected monthly growth rate compounded each month. Even modest list growth of 5–10% per month produces dramatically higher revenue by month 12, illustrating why audience-building is the highest-leverage activity for newsletter creators.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good CPM for newsletter sponsorships?
Newsletter CPMs vary widely by niche and audience quality. General-interest newsletters typically see $20–$30 CPM, while high-value niches like finance, technology, or B2B SaaS can command $40–$80 CPM. Premium publications with highly engaged, professional audiences sometimes exceed $100 CPM. The key driver is how valuable your audience is to advertisers — a smaller, highly targeted list often outperforms a large, general one.
What paid conversion rate should I expect on Substack or beehiiv?
Most newsletters see 5–10% of free subscribers converting to paid, though the range is wide. Conversion improves with clear value differentiation (exclusive content, early access, community), consistent publishing cadence, and direct calls-to-action. Some niche newsletters with highly dedicated audiences exceed 20% paid conversion. If your rate is under 2%, focus on strengthening the free tier first to build trust before pushing paid upgrades.
How does the platform fee affect my earnings?
Substack charges a 10% revenue share on paid subscriptions (plus Stripe payment processing fees of ~2.9% + 30¢). beehiiv's Boosts and paid tiers work differently — beehiiv charges a flat monthly subscription to the creator rather than a percentage cut, which can be more economical at scale. If you are earning over $2,000/month from subscriptions, compare total platform costs, not just the headline percentage.
What is subscriber LTV and why does it matter?
Subscriber LTV (lifetime value) is the total net revenue you expect from a single paid subscriber over their lifetime. Using the 18-month average paid lifetime, LTV = monthly price × (1 − platform fee) × 18. This is useful for deciding how much to spend on paid acquisition — if your paid-subscriber LTV is $162, spending $30–$50 to acquire a paid subscriber via advertising is a strong return. Track your actual churn rate to refine the estimate for your specific newsletter.
12-month revenue projection
Ad revenue: $820.96 · Subscription revenue: $7,696.53
Show data table
12-month revenue projection
Ad revenue
Subscription revenue
Month 1
$480.00
$4,500.00
Month 2
$504.00
$4,725.00
Month 3
$529.20
$4,961.25
Month 4
$555.66
$5,209.31
Month 5
$583.44
$5,469.78
Month 6
$612.62
$5,743.27
Month 7
$643.25
$6,030.43
Month 8
$675.41
$6,331.95
Month 9
$709.18
$6,648.55
Month 10
$744.64
$6,980.98
Month 11
$781.87
$7,330.03
Month 12
$820.96
$7,696.53
Results are estimates. Verify with a professional for important decisions.
About this calculator
This calculator estimates how much revenue your newsletter can generate each month from two sources: sponsorship ads priced on a cost-per-thousand-opens (CPM) basis, and paid-tier subscriptions net of platform fees. Enter your subscriber count, open rate, ad rates, and conversion data to see your current monthly revenue, a per-subscriber lifetime value, and a 12-month growth projection.
How to read your results
The headline figures show your monthly ad revenue, subscription revenue, and their combined total. Below those, the stacked chart plots both income streams across 12 months as your list grows at the rate you set — so you can see which stream compounds faster. The subscriber LTV tells you the net revenue one paid subscriber is expected to generate over an average 18-month retention window.
Worked example
10,000 subscribers with a 40% open rate, CPM sponsorship of 30, 2 ad slots per issue, 4 issues per month, a paid tier at 10 per month, 5% paid-conversion rate, and a 10% platform fee.
4,000 opens per issue generate 960 in monthly ad revenue. 500 paid subscribers contribute 4,500 after the platform cut. Combined monthly revenue is 5,460, and each paid subscriber is worth 162 in lifetime value.
Frequently asked questions
What is CPM and how does it affect ad revenue?
CPM stands for cost per mille (thousand). If your CPM is 30 and an issue reaches 4,000 opens, each ad slot earns 120 per issue. Multiply by the number of slots and issues per month to get total monthly ad revenue. Higher open rates and tighter niches command higher CPMs.
How is subscriber lifetime value (LTV) calculated?
LTV equals your paid-tier monthly price multiplied by the net factor (1 minus the platform fee percentage) and then by the average subscriber retention of 18 months. For example, a 10 monthly subscription with a 10% fee gives an LTV of 10 × 0.9 × 18 = 162.
What does the 12-month projection assume?
The projection applies your monthly growth rate to the starting subscriber count every month, compounding it. Open rate, CPM, conversion rate, and pricing are held constant. In reality these variables shift, so treat the projection as a directional estimate rather than a forecast.
Does the calculator account for taxes or churn?
No. Revenue figures are gross minus platform fees only — income tax, payment processing beyond the fee, or subscriber churn are not modelled. Subtract your effective tax rate and average churn to arrive at a realistic net figure.
Which platform fees apply?
Substack charges roughly 10% of paid subscription revenue; beehiiv’s paid plans charge 0% but carry a flat monthly fee. Enter whichever percentage matches your platform. The ad-revenue stream is not subject to the platform fee in this model — only the subscription stream is.
How it's calculated
Monthly ad revenue equals (subscribers × open rate ÷ 100) ÷ 1,000 × CPM × ad slots per issue × issues per month. Monthly subscription revenue equals subscribers × (paid conversion rate ÷ 100) × monthly price × (1 − platform fee ÷ 100). Total monthly revenue is the sum of the two. Subscriber LTV equals monthly price × (1 − platform fee ÷ 100) × 18, the industry-consensus average paid retention in months sourced from beehiiv and Substack creator data. The 12-month projection applies the compound growth factor (1 + monthly growth rate ÷ 100) to the subscriber base each month while holding all other parameters constant.
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