Creating a Paid Newsletter

With Paid Newsletters, you can earn income by creating engaging content and encouraging your readers to subscribe to your site.

To set up Jetpack Newsletter, you need a publicly accessible self-hosted WordPress website with Jetpack installed. See this support guide for information about the requirements for running Jetpack on your site.

You also need a Stripe account to process payments and transfer funds to your bank account and a WordPress.com account that is connected to Jetpack. See this support guide for information on how to connect your Stripe account to your WordPress.com account.

Getting Started

Before you prepare your content for subscribers:

1. Add a Subscribe block to your site or any post or page of your choice to encourage subscribers to sign up for your newsletter. Note that you have to activate Jetpack Newsletter for this to work.
2. Next, set up a paid plan by clicking Set up a paid plan from the Subscribe block toolbar.

This is a way to prepare the ground for your paid content. Inviting subscriptions ahead of creating your content can set you up for success. Non-subscribers will still be prompted to subscribe to access your content based on the access restrictions you set, as described below.

Setting Up a Payment Plan

You will want to set some price for access to your paid newsletters, define the renewal frequency, and give your plan a name. You can also allow customers to pick their own amount or mark the plan as a donation.

When you click Set up a paid plan on the Subscribe block toolbar, you’ll be taken to Tools → Earn → Payment plans on your WordPress.com dashboard and the new payment plan form will be displayed.

You can also go directly to Tools → Earn from your WordPress.com dashboard to set up your payment plan. If you haven’t connected your Stripe account, you will see the Connect Stripe to Get Started button.

To add a new payment plan after connecting to Stripe:

1. While on Tools → Earn on your WordPress.com dashboard, click Payment Plans.
2. Click the Add a new payment plan button.
3. Use the payment plan form to set:
   • A name for your plan, which you can type in the box marked Describe the offer. This name will be seen by your subscribers when they sign up.
   • The Renewal frequency: You can charge your subscribers on a monthly or yearly basis or just a one-time payment.
   • The Amount (currency and price) you will charge subscribers.
   • Turn on the option Paid newsletter subscription. If you get to the form by clicking Set up a paid plan on the Subscribe block toolbar, it should be turned on by default.
   • Welcome message: This is a brief message to welcome your subscribers.
   • Click Advanced options to see the following options. You can turn these options on or leave them turned off.
     • Enable customers to pick their own amount (“Pay what you want”).
     • Enable customers to make the same purchase multiple times (likely not suitable for paid newsletters).

Writing Your Post

Next, start writing your post:

1. Go to your site’s WP Admin.
2. Navigate to Posts → Add New.
3. Craft your post and add any images and other content using the WordPress editor.

To combat writer’s block, you can utilize the Jetpack AI Assistant block to get started.

Restricting Access to Your Post

When published, a blog post is public by default. To limit visibility to paying subscribers, you have two options:

• Access Settings: To restrict full post access to any subscriber or only paying subscribers.
• Paywall Block: To display a portion of the post to all readers and restrict the remaining content to all subscribers or paying subscribers only.

Selecting an Access Option

You can find Access options in the post settings, located on the right sidebar. If the Post Settings sidebar is hidden, click the top-right Settings icon, resembling a square with two uneven columns, to reveal it.

1. Scroll to the Access section.
2. Choose one of the following options:
   • Everyone: the post will be visible to the public.
   • Anyone subscribed: the post will be visible to your subscribers only. This includes free subscribers. Those who have not subscribed will see an option to subscribe.
   • Paid subscribers only: the post will be visible only to subscribers who have paid through the payment plan you set up earlier.

Using the Paywall Block

You can also use the Paywall block to give full content access to any subscriber or just paying subscribers while showing a preview to non-subscribers.

To add the Paywall block:

1. Click on the + Block Inserter icon.
2. Search for “paywall”.
3. Select the Paywall block.

You can also use the slash command:

1. Hit the forward-slash (/) key followed by “paywall”, as in  /paywall, on a new line.
2. Press Enter to add the block.

For more information, see how to add blocks in WordPress.

You can place the Paywall block early in the post. Content before the block will be publicly accessible. Content after will be made accessible to any subscriber or paying subscribers, based on the block toolbar selection: “Anyone subscribed” or “Paid subscribers“:

You can also use the Paywall block settings to restrict content to subscribers or paid subscribers:

1. Select the Paywall block.
2. Go to the Block Settings sidebar. If you can’t find it, click the top-right Settings icon, resembling a square with two uneven columns, and then click the Block tab to reveal it.
3. Under Content access, select “Anyone subscribed” or “Paid subscribers“ from the options.

Publishing Your Post

Now that your post is ready and access restrictions are in place, it’s time to publish.

Click Publish to share your post with the selected audience, who will then receive an email newsletter in their inbox. When you publish the post, you will see the number of subscribers your post has been sent to based on your selected filter.

What Subscribers Will See

Paying subscribers will have access to the complete content of the post, while non-paying subscribers will be unable to view it. Instead, they will see a notice stating that the post is exclusive to paid subscribers.

Non-paying subscribers will also be given an opportunity to enter their email address to subscribe and get access. If you have created a payment plan following the steps above, they will also be prompted to pay to access the content.

If you used the Paywall block, non-subscribers will see the preview or teaser content added before the Paywall divider, and then they will see the option to subscribe.

Managing Plans, Subscribers and Earnings

To manage your subscriptions, see customers, and monitor your revenue:

1. Go to WordPress.com.
2. Switch to your Jetpack-connected site from the left sidebar.
3. Navigate to Tools → Earn.

You will see your earnings and customers/subscribers on this page. You can manage and edit your existing payment plans from here. You can also disconnect your Stripe account from this page.

Note that subscribers are authenticated with WordPress.com and are not added locally as users on your site.

Related Fees

Please see this support article for information about associated transaction fees.