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Substack custom domain (2026): the one-time $50 fee, setup, root domain, and what a custom domain costs on beehiiv, Ghost, Kit and Buttondown

Q: Will my Substack emails come from my custom domain?

No. Substack says newsletters are still sent from yoursubdomain@substack.com; the custom domain is for your publication's web address only.

Last verified 20 Oct 2026 against official pricing pages · published 31 Oct 2026

Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.

Short answer: a Substack custom domain costs a one-time $50, with no sales tax or VAT, and there's no yearly fee. It doesn't include the domain itself: you buy that from a registrar (Substack doesn't sell domains). Your publication must run on a subdomain like www.yourdomain.com, setup takes up to 36 hours, and your emails still come from @substack.com.

Rules from Substack's help center and the other platforms' own pricing and help pages (listed under Sources, checked 2026-10-31). Plan prices from our pricing data. Registrar prices vary and aren't included anywhere on this page. No platform pays us for this page; some buttons elsewhere on the site are paid links.

What the $50 gets you (and what it doesn't)

Your publication on your own address (for example www.yourdomain.com) instead of yourname.substack.com. You can also forward the bare yourdomain.com to it (Substack: set up a custom domain).
One payment: Substack calls it a one-time $50 USD fee; no sales tax or VAT is charged on it. The receipt is under Settings → Domain → View receipt.
Not included: the domain registration (yearly, at your registrar) and email sending from your domain. Substack says newsletters are still sent from [email protected].
Not stated by Substack: whether the $50 is refundable, and whether a second publication on the same account needs its own $50.
You must be the publication's owner or an admin to add it.

How to set up a custom domain on Substack

Buy the domain at a registrar if you don't own it yet.
In your Substack dashboard: Settings → Domain → Add a custom domain → Add. Do this before touching DNS.
Pay the $50 and click Submit.
Enter your domain with a subdomain, e.g. www.yourdomain.com. To send visitors from yourdomain.com too, tick Enable root domain redirects.
At your DNS provider add a CNAME: Name/Host = www (your subdomain), Target/Value = target.substack-custom-domains.com. If you turned on root redirects, also add an A record: Name/Host = @, Value = 3.231.35.217. Leave TTL at its default.
Back in Substack's Domain settings, click Check status. Verification can take up to 36 hours; Substack emails you when it's live.

Field names differ by registrar ("Host", "Points to", "Value"); Substack links registrar guides for GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace Domains, Domain.com, DreamHost, Bluehost, Hover and Dynadot (configure a CNAME). The values above are copied from Substack's article; always use the ones your Domain page shows.

Why Substack needs "www" (root domain)

Some registrars, including GoDaddy, only allow a CNAME on a subdomain, so Substack requires one: www.example.com or newsletter.example.com work, plain example.com doesn't. The root domain can still forward to your publication with the root-domain redirect (A record 3.231.35.217). If you used a forwarding workaround before, remove the other A records on the root first (Substack: root domain).

Substack custom domain not working?

Check the CNAME: Name/Host must be your subdomain (e.g. www) and the target exactly target.substack-custom-domains.com.
Remove any AAAA record on the root domain.
On Cloudflare, set the CNAME's proxy status to "DNS only" (grey cloud, not orange).
Still broken after 36 hours: delete the domain in Settings → Domain and add it again. Substack says you won't be charged again.
Locked out of your dashboard? Go to yoursubdomain.substack.com/publish/settings; from Domain you can choose Disable Custom Domain to go back to the substack.com address, or ask a human in Substack's support chat to disable it (Substack).

Your yourname.substack.com address stays yours while the publication is active; Substack may reassign subdomains of long-inactive publications (Substack).

Custom domain cost on Substack vs beehiiv, Ghost, Kit and Buttondown

Cheapest way to run your newsletter on your own domain at up to 1,000 subscribers, excluding the domain registration:

Platform	Which plan	Cost	Emails from your domain?	Root domain
Substack	Any publication, one-time $50 (no VAT)	$50 once; 10% of paid revenue if you charge	No: still sent from @substack.com	Subdomain required (www/newsletter); root redirect via A record
beehiiv	Paid plans only (not on Free); Lite at up to 1,000 subscribers	$588/yr billed yearly ($59/mo monthly)	Yes, the same domain can be your sending domain and branded links	Subdomain recommended; optional root redirect
Ghost(Pro)	Every plan, incl. Starter (max 1,000 members, no paid subscriptions)	Starter $180/yr billed yearly ($18/mo monthly); Publisher (paid subs) $348/yr	Custom sending domain on Publisher and up, not Starter	Root or subdomain via CNAME; one-year free .link domain
Kit	Free plan and up, for landing pages	$0 on Free (up to 10,000 subscribers)	Custom tracking (link) domain on Pro only; sending domain not stated on the pricing page	Not stated on the pricing page
Buttondown	Paid plan for archives on your domain	$9/mo base at up to 1,000; pricing page lists "Archives on a custom domain" as a +$29/mo add-on	Yes, on every plan (sending domain is free)	Not stated

Over two years Substack's domain cost stays $50; the others are subscriptions, so their cost repeats every year. Substack's real cost is its 10% cut if you charge readers: see Substack fees and Is Substack worth it?
beehiiv verifies DNS for up to 72 hours and can add the records automatically for supported registrars (beehiiv: DNS records). If you move an existing site to beehiiv, keep the same domain and set up redirects for old page addresses.
Kit's free custom domain is for landing pages ("connect your own custom domain so all your landing pages are branded"), not a hosted blog like Substack's.
Buttondown's docs say a custom hosting domain "requires a paid plan" (the archives page says "Available on the Standard plan"), while the pricing page lists it as a +$29/month add-on. Check the price shown in your account before relying on either.

Moving later? The domain stays registered to you, so you can point it at another platform. Our migration guides cover the details: Substack to beehiiv, Substack to Ghost, beehiiv to Substack, Ghost to Substack.

Sources

Substack help (checked 2026-10-31): Set up your custom domain, Root domain without www, Configure a CNAME, Custom domain issues / can't access publication, Keeping your Substack subdomain, How much does Substack cost?
beehiiv help (checked 2026-10-31): Use a custom domain for your publication, Add DNS records manually; beehiiv pricing (prices checked 2026-10-27)
Ghost(Pro) pricing (custom domain and sending-domain rows checked 2026-10-31; prices checked 2026-10-27) · Kit pricing (customizable domain and tracking-domain rows, checked 2026-10-31)
Buttondown (checked 2026-10-31): pricing, URLs & domains for archives, Sending from a custom domain

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FAQ

How much does a custom domain cost on Substack?

A one-time $50 (USD), paid in Settings → Domain. Substack charges no sales tax or VAT on it. It doesn't include the domain itself: you must already own it, and Substack doesn't sell domains, so the registrar's yearly fee is separate.

Is a Substack custom domain free?

No. Publishing on Substack is free, but connecting your own domain costs a one-time $50. Without it, your publication stays at yourname.substack.com at no cost.

Is the $50 a yearly fee?

No. Substack describes it as a one-time fee. If setup fails and you delete the domain and add it again, Substack says you won't be charged again. Whether the $50 is refunded if you stop using the domain is not stated in Substack's help center.

Can I use my root domain (example.com) without www on Substack?

Substack requires the publication to run on a subdomain such as www.example.com or newsletter.example.com. Tick "Enable root domain redirects" and add an A record so example.com forwards to it.

How long does a Substack custom domain take to work?

Up to 36 hours. Substack emails you when it's live and the "Check status" button changes to "View configuration".

Will my Substack emails come from my custom domain?

No. Substack says newsletters are still sent from [email protected]; the custom domain is for your publication's web address only.

Which newsletter platforms include a custom domain for free?

Ghost(Pro) includes a custom domain on every plan (from $15/month billed yearly) plus a one-year free .link domain. Kit's Free plan can connect your own domain to landing pages. beehiiv needs a paid plan (Lite from $49/month billed yearly). Substack charges a one-time $50.

Comparisons: beehiiv vs Kit · beehiiv vs Substack · Substack vs Ghost · beehiiv vs Ghost · Kit vs Substack · Kit vs Ghost · beehiiv vs Buttondown · Buttondown vs Substack · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers

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