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Substack gift subscription (2026): how to give one, schedule it, redeem it, and what happens when it ends
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 30 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: yes, you can gift a paid subscription to any Substack newsletter that has paid plans. Go to the publication's address with /gift on the end, pay, and optionally schedule it for a date. The recipient can read paid posts right away, needs no card, and gifts don't renew automatically, so nobody is charged when it ends.
Rules from Substack's help center (articles listed under Sources, checked 2026-10-30). A gift costs whatever that publication charges, so this page quotes no price; see Substack subscription price for the minimums writers can set. Substack doesn't pay us for this page.
How to give a Substack gift subscription
- Go to publication.substack.com/gift, replacing "publication" with the newsletter's subdomain (Substack: give a subscription as a gift).
- Enter the details the page asks for, including who it's for.
- To send it later, for a birthday or holiday, tick Schedule for later and pick the date.
- Pay. You get a receipt; the recipient gets an email (on the scheduled date if you set one).
What the recipient gets
- Immediate access to the publication's paid posts. If they have no Substack account, one is created for them and they sign in with the email you used.
- Reminders before it ends: Substack emails them a week before and a day before the end, with the choice to buy a paid plan or stay as a free reader (set up gift subscriptions).
- No renewal: gifts and donations don't auto-renew. If the recipient does nothing, they're unsubscribed from that publication on the expiry date.
Three kinds of Substack gift
| Type | Who pays | What the recipient gets | When it ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought gift | You, at the publication's /gift page | Paid access, no card needed; shows as "Monthly Gift" or "Yearly Gift" to the writer | No auto-renewal; reminder emails, then unsubscribed unless they act |
| Referral gift | Nobody: a free month the writer lets paying readers hand out | 1 month of paid benefits, no card needed | Becomes a free subscriber unless they add a payment method |
| Substack-funded gift | Substack, in select campaigns | 30 days of paid access, claimed in the Substack app with phone verification; only for engaged free readers without the app, in Australia, Canada, United States | Reminder email to buy a paid plan |
For writers: gifts on your Substack
- Gift page: readers can always buy gifts at your /gift page. With the "New paid subscriber" notification on, you get an email whose source says "gift", and the reader's status is "gift" in your Subscribers dashboard (Substack).
- Counting: bought "Monthly Gift" and "Yearly Gift" subscribers count toward your annual revenue figure (ARR); referral-gift recipients are trials, not revenue (Substack).
- Referral gifts: turn on "Enable paid subscriber gifts" under Settings → Growth features. New and some of the most engaged paid subscribers get a Gift Rewards page with up to 5 one-month gifts, and another batch once theirs are used and at least one is redeemed (unless you switch off re-up emails). It isn't sent to your whole existing paid list. Track it under Stats → Gift Referrals. To stop it, switch the same toggle off.
- Substack-funded gifts: on by default where available ("Enable gifts from Substack" in Growth features). Substack pays you for each claimed gift at your monthly price minus its 10% fee, via Stripe a few weeks after the campaign ends (Substack).
- Donations: readers can also pay for a subscription for someone they don't know at your /donate page.
For how gifts compare with free trials and the other free-to-paid tools, see Substack free trial and Substack paid subscribers.
Related: Substack free trial · Substack paid subscribers · Substack subscription price · Substack fees · Substack pricing
Sources
- Substack help (checked 2026-10-30): Give a paid subscription as a gift, Set up gift subscriptions, Automatic renewal, Gift referral program, Opt out of gift referrals, Substack-funded gifts, Donate a subscription
- Substack help: How much does Substack cost? (checked 2026-10-27)
FAQ
Can you gift a Substack subscription?
Yes. Gifts are per publication: go to the newsletter's address with /gift on the end (for example yourfavorite.substack.com/gift), enter the details asked for and pay. A paid subscription can't be shared between accounts, so a gift is the official way to give someone else paid access.
How do Substack gift subscriptions work?
You pay and get a receipt. The recipient gets an email and can read the paid posts straight away; if they don't have a Substack account, one is created for them. Before the gift ends, Substack emails them so they can pay to continue or stay as a free reader.
Do Substack gift subscriptions renew automatically?
No. Substack says gifts and donated subscriptions don't auto-renew, so nobody is charged when the gift ends. Without action, the recipient is unsubscribed from the paid list on the expiry date (for referral gifts they become a free subscriber instead).
Can I schedule a Substack gift for a birthday or holiday?
Yes. On the /gift page, tick "Schedule for later" and pick the date the gift should be sent.
How do I accept a Substack gift?
Open the gift email and sign in with that email address; the account is created automatically if you didn't have one. For a referral gift (a free month from a paying reader), no card is needed and you don't have to cancel anything. A Substack-funded gift has to be claimed in the Substack app with phone verification.
Is there a Substack gift card?
Substack's help center describes no Substack-wide gift card or gift code that works across newsletters, and no link that gifts a single paid post. Gifts are bought for one publication at its /gift page. To pay for someone you don't know, a publication's /donate page is the documented option.
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