Now anyone can pay for a Substack subscription in iOS

We’re enabling in-app purchases—and introducing tools to protect your revenue, relationships, and control

The Substack app drives more than 30% of all paid subscriptions, making it a major source of discovery and discussion. Until now, however, it hasn’t always been possible to upgrade to a paid subscription directly in the app.

That’s changing. Apple now allows Substack to include external links for paid subscriptions in the iOS app in the U.S., while also requiring that all publications offer in-app purchase (IAP) as an option.

For users in the U.S., this is what the subscribe screen in the app now looks like:

More than 30,000 Substack publications already have IAP enabled, and early tests suggest that the additional options help bring in more paid subscribers.

Hunter Harris

has seen a jump in paid sign-ups since her IAP launched:

“With the Substack iOS app, subscribing to

Hung Up

now happens in just a few taps—without leaving the app. Whether readers pay via the web link or Apple’s in-app purchase, it’s been a huge boost for growth by making it easier than ever for devoted readers to become paid subscribers in seconds.”

About Apple’s fees

Subscriptions from outside the app and via the app’s external link flow are billed as before. For IAP subscriptions, Apple collects a percentage of the payment. To protect your earnings, Substack automatically sets your iOS app price higher so you take home approximately the same amount as a web-based subscription. By default this adjustment is on, but you can turn it off in your settings if you prefer. We’ve also built migration tools so you can export those subscriber relationships, if needed.

What’s next

In-app purchase is now fully enabled for all paid publications in the Substack iOS app, and the improved subscribe flows are already live in the app. No action is required unless you want to adjust prices via your publication settings.

For more details, check out the FAQ. And if you have any questions or feedback, leave a comment below or contact Support.

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