All businesses / Paid newsletter
Starting a paid newsletter in Europe costs €100–€600 in 2026, with first income after about 28 weeks and earnings of up to €3,500 a month working full time.
Last updated: September 2026 · sources at the bottom of the page
Writing to a list that pays for it.
| Money to start | €100–€600 | What you spend before the first customer pays: kit, stock, licences, launch. |
|---|---|---|
| Hours a week | 6–20 | What it takes to run it properly, from part time to full time. |
| Weeks to first income | about 28 | How long you pay in before any money comes back. You still need to live in those weeks. |
| Kept of every €100 | €93 | What stays with you after running costs, before you pay yourself for your hours. |
| Most it earns a month | €200 part time · €3,500 full time + | A realistic ceiling for you running it. It can grow further, but only by hiring or adding units. |
| Competition | medium | Some competition: running it well is what decides. |
| Licence or qualification | not usually | Beyond registering the business and insurance, nothing specific in our research. |
The figure above is what this earns in the shape described: you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.
The maths is unforgiving but honest: free-to-paid conversion runs about 2–5%, so a list of 20,000 gets you perhaps 600 payers. At €8 a month that's €4,800 — real money, but 20,000 subscribers is two to three years of weekly writing.
These are the categories this business pays for in the first month. We go through the software side on the tools page.
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LaunchKit · €390 + VAT
A site made for your a paid newsletter business, Google profile, domain and email, a QR poster and a 30-day launch plan built on the numbers above. Live in about a week.
Between €100 and €600 to begin. That covers email platform, domain, payment platform and the rest of the setup. It does not cover your own living costs during the 28 weeks before the first income arrives, which is the cost most people forget.
Around 28 weeks to the first euro. Reaching the realistic maximum of €3,500 a month takes considerably longer, and assumes 20 hours a week.
Up to about €3,500 a month working full time, or €200 part time. Of every €100 it takes, about €93 stays with you after running costs. Past that it can grow, but by hiring people or adding units rather than by working more hours.
Yes, at a cost. Part time it realistically tops out around €200 a month, against €3,500 working full time, and it needs 6–20 hours a week.
Competition is medium. Neither crowded nor protected: winning comes down to how well you run it rather than whether you can enter.
Compare further: every business you can start with €500 · what it costs to start a business, across all 115 · all 115 ranked by startup cost
Where these numbers come from. Figures are rounded ranges for European markets; check the ones you are about to spend money on. Last checked September 2026.
These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your money, your hours and how long you can wait. Put them in and see.
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