Summary:
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Substack is testing sponsored placements in newsletters, a departure from its ad-free model. Creators maintain control in this limited experiment.
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Competition in the newsletter space pushes Substack to explore new revenue options, without automated ads or programmatic placements.
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Sponsorship income may benefit writers in popular categories, offering a new revenue stream to diversify earnings.
Substack is taking a step it has avoided for years. The company has begun quietly testing sponsorship placements
inside newsletters, according to Adweek, giving a small group of writers the option to run paid ads directly in their emails. It’s a limited experiment, but it signals a meaningful adjustment for a
platform that built its identity around subscription revenue and a clean, ad-free reading experience.
For most of Substack’s existence, writers who wanted sponsorship income had to set it up themselves. They reached out to brands, negotiated rates, and dropped ad copy into their newsletters manually. The new test puts some structure around that process while keeping it optional. Substack isn’t taking a share of the money during the pilot, and creators maintain full control over which sponsors appear.
The timing isn’t surprising. The newsletter space has become more competitive, and rival platforms have expanded their tools faster. Beehiiv has leaned heavily into advertising from the start, offering an ad network that connects writers with sponsors automatically. Patreon, meanwhile, has upgraded its email features in an effort to draw newsletter writers into its subscription ecosystem. Substack still attracts large audiences, but it has lagged behind in offering diversified revenue features.
What Substack isn’t doing is just as important as what it is. The company isn’t rolling out programmatic ads or automated placements. There are no banners, no algorithmic targeting, and nothing inserted without a writer’s approval. The sponsorships resemble the style often seen in established newsletters and podcasts — straightforward, chosen by the creator, and tied directly to the audience they’ve built.
For writers, the potential impact depends largely on their niche. Sponsorship demand tends to favor categories where brands already spend heavily, like tech, finance, business, and culture reporting. Writers who focus on more personal or niche subjects may not see an immediate benefit. Still, the option itself represents another income path at a time when many creators rely on several streams to stay afloat.
Substack hasn’t said when the feature might be available to more writers.
