# Base vs Substack

Substack is for publishing: you write posts, readers subscribe by email, and paid subscribers unlock what you choose, with Substack keeping 10% plus Stripe's fees. Base sells access to a body of documents rather than a stream of posts: buyers question it in the browser or from their own AI and get answers that quote the source. Many writers would use both, Substack for the publication and a Base for the research and data behind it.

Updated October 7, 2026. Canonical page: https://createbases.com/compare/substack

## At a glance

|  | Base | Substack |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built for | Selling access to research and documents | Publishing a newsletter, with paid subscriptions |
| What buyers get | A knowledge base: overview, cited facts, timeline and the documents you allow | Posts, by email and on the web |
| Pricing | One-time or monthly, from $1 | Paid subscriptions |
| Fee | 10% of the price plus card processing (2.9% + 30¢); $8.41 of a $10 sale reaches you | 10% of subscription revenue, plus Stripe's processing fees |
| Questions | Buyers ask the Base and get answers that quote your documents, in the browser or their own AI | Readers reply and comment |

## When Substack is the better choice

- You publish regularly and readers want each new piece in their inbox.
- Growing an email audience is the goal.

## When Base is the better choice

- What you sell is a reference, not a feed: reports, datasets, filings, interview notes, a research archive.
- Buyers want to ask questions across all of it and check each answer against the source.
- Buyers work in Claude, ChatGPT or another AI and want the material there.
- You want to sell once as well as monthly.

## Using both

Write on Substack and sell the material behind the writing as a Base: the full dataset, the source documents, the archive. Link the Base from a post; the link itself is the storefront.

## Questions

### Can I give my paid Substack subscribers access to a Base?

Yes, by inviting them. In a paid Base, people you invite by email get in free, beside the people who buy. There is no automatic link between the two services.

### What does Base keep from a sale?

10% of the price plus card processing (2.9% + 30¢). $8.41 of a $10 sale reaches you, paid out to you through Stripe.

## Sources checked on October 7, 2026

- [Substack Help: how much does Substack cost?](https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost)