New tools for international writers and readers

We’re rolling out a series of improvements to help bring writers and readers across the world closer together

Today we’re announcing a suite of product improvements that will make it easier for readers outside of the U.S. to discover, experience, and pay for your publication. For writers, these updates will unlock international growth, while enabling readers everywhere to find and support publications they love.

Pay in your local currency

Substack has implemented pricing in 13 different currencies, so readers can now pay for a subscription plan using their local currency. This is automatically suggested based on their location. Localized pricing is enabled by default for paid publications, but you can opt out anytime by navigating to your publication settings.​​

Local payment methods

New subscribers in Europe can now pay for their subscription using alternative methods such as direct debit or paying directly via a bank’s payment portal. New payment methods supported include iDEAL, Bancontact, Sofort, and SEPA direct.

We have been testing these local payment methods, and the early results are very promising, showing an 85% relative lift in paid conversion rates when offered. 

Stripe fees for these payment methods will apply, and are dependent on the country where you registered your Stripe account in. If you’d like to only offer the option to pay using a debit or credit card, you can disable “New payment methods” in Settings. 

Choose your language

For writers who publish in Spanish, French, Italian, German, or Portuguese, you can now select one of these languages as the default language for your Substack experience.

The translations will affect reader surfaces including your posts and emails, the buttons on your posts and Substack publication, subscriber plans and benefits, and paywalls on paid posts, as well as your personal dashboard on your publication.

To manage your language, head to your publication’s Settings page and scroll to “Language” in the Basics section.

We’re encouraged to see that new readers around the world are discovering writers and supporting them directly. We hope these new features will continue to foster those connections.

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback about these features, we would love to hear from you in the comments.