The Subscriber Perks feature gives exclusive benefits to paying readers including promotional codes, digital downloads, or access to live videos on Substack. Subscriber Perks have a dedicated Perks tab on your publication's navigation bar, encouraging free subscribers to upgrade. At this time, Subscriber Perks are only available on your web publication and not the Substack app.
Before you start
You must have payments enabled on your Substack to see the Subscriber Perks feature in your publication’s Settings.
How to create a perk
1. Go to your publication's Settings page. Scroll to the Payments section and click Manage next to "Subscriber Perks." You can also go directly to your perks settings page.
2. Click Create Perk.
3. Select a perk type:
- Discount or promo code: a code you've created for an external site
- Digital download: a file up to 700 MB that subscribers can download (PDF, ebook)
- Community invite: a link to a private space, such as Discord
- Link: a link to an online resource such as a Zoom session
- Substack Live video: a link to a future live video for paying subscribers
4. Enter a title, description, and image for the perk. The image must be at least 1200 x 800 pixels.
5. Select who can unlock the perk: founding members, annual and founding members, or all paid subscribers (including monthly).
Note: To limit the perk to new paying subscribers only, turn on the New subscribers only toggle and set the date and time when they can access it.
6. Click Publish and your perks will appear in a dedicated tab in your site’s navigation bar.
To customize the Perks tab
To hide the Perks tab: Go to the Website section of your publication's Settings, then slide the toggle next to "Perks" to the left. The tab will be hidden from your navigation bar.
To rename the Perks tab: Go to the Website section of your publication's Settings, click “Edit” next to "Perks," and enter a new title.
How subscribers unlock a perk
Subscribers can unlock a perk directly on the Perks page or you can copy the perk's URL from your browser's address bar and share it directly with paying subscribers.
Paying subscribers who qualify can click Unlock to reveal the code, link, or download.
Free subscribers who try to access the perk see a prompt to upgrade and are sent to the subscription flow.
Visitors who try to access the perk are prompted to subscribe and become a paying reader.
Refund policy for perks
Substack does not honor refund requests from subscribers who cancel after redeeming a perk. Before unlocking a perk, subscribers must review and acknowledge that their subscription becomes non-refundable. You may issue a refund at your own discretion by following the steps here.