Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
These are Substack's Terms of Use (effective April 21, 2025), governing use of the Substack publishing and reading platform. The terms are moderately fair for a content platform, notably affirming that creators own their content. However, they include standard but significant restrictions such as mandatory arbitration, class action waiver, broad license grants to Substack, and unilateral termination rights. The liability cap of $100 is very low, and Substack can change terms with limited notice. Overall, the document is somewhat typical for a SaaS/publishing platform but contains several clauses that materially limit user recourse.
Flagged Clauses
If you have a legal dispute with Substack, you cannot sue them in regular court — you must go through private arbitration in San Francisco, California. This can be expensive and inconvenient for users who don't live there.
“Any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of these Terms shall be finally settled by arbitration in San Francisco County, California, in accordance with the Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures of JAMS.”
You waive your right to join a class action lawsuit against Substack. If many users are harmed in the same way, each person must pursue their claim individually, which is often impractical for small claims.
“You and Substack Inc agree that all claims against the other can only be brought in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, consolidated, or other representative proceeding.”
Even if Substack causes significant harm, their maximum financial liability to you is capped at $100 or what you paid them in the past year — whichever is higher. For free users, that cap is just $100.
“Under no circumstances and under no legal theory shall Substack...be liable to you...for any amount, in the aggregate, in excess of the greater of (1) $100 or (2) the amounts paid and/or payable by you to us in connection with Substack in the twelve-month period preceding the applicable claim.”
Substack disclaims liability for any indirect or consequential harm — meaning lost income, lost data, reputational damage, or other downstream effects are not recoverable even if caused by Substack's actions.
“Under no circumstances...shall Substack...be liable to you or to any other person for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any kind.”
While you retain ownership of your content, you grant Substack a permanent, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to modify and reproduce it. Even if you delete your account, this license technically remains in effect.
“You hereby grant Substack a license to translate, modify, reproduce, and otherwise act with respect to your Posts...You agree that the licenses you grant are royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide.”
Publicly posted content is licensed not just to Substack but also to all other Substack users, allowing them to use and exercise rights over it as the platform permits.
“If you share a Post with other users on Substack, then you grant us the license above, as well as a license to display, perform, and distribute your Post. Also, you grant all other users of Substack a license to access the Post, and to use and exercise all rights in it, as permitted by the functionality of Substack.”
Substack can terminate your account at any time, for any reason, and without advance notice if they decide it's not practical. Creators who rely on Substack for income could lose access with no warning.
“Substack is free to terminate (or suspend access to) your use of Substack, or your account, for any reason at our discretion. We will try to provide advance notice...but we may not do so if we determine it would be impractical, illegal, not in the interest of someone's safety or security, or otherwise harmful to the rights or property of Substack.”
Deleting your account removes most of your content, but public posts may remain visible, and your content may persist in Substack's backups indefinitely.
“When you delete your account, any Posts associated with that account will also be deleted. However, any Post that you have made public may remain available. You understand and agree that it may not be possible to completely delete your content from Substack's records or backups.”
Substack can change the Terms unilaterally. Continued use of the platform after a change — even logging in — counts as acceptance of the new terms. 'Some other means' of notice is vague.
“We reserve the right to change the Terms at any time, but if we do, we will bring it to your attention by placing a notice on the website, by sending you an email, and/or by some other means...If you use Substack in any way after a change to the Terms is effective and notice has been provided, that means you agree to all of the changes.”
Substack can change, limit, or remove features of the platform at any time with minimal or no notice, which could impact creators' workflows or reader access to paid content.
“We may suspend or discontinue any part of Substack, or we may introduce new features or impose limits on certain features or restrict access to parts or all of Substack. We'll try to give you notice when we make a material change...but this isn't always possible or practical.”
If Substack gets sued because of something you did on the platform, you are responsible for paying their legal costs and damages. This is a broad indemnification that covers attorneys' fees.
“You agree to indemnify and hold Substack, its affiliates, officers, agents, employees, and partners harmless from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages (actual and consequential), losses and expenses (including attorneys' fees) arising from or in any way related to...your use of Substack.”
Substack explicitly states that creators retain ownership of their content, which is a user-friendly provision compared to many other platforms.
“First and foremost, you own what you create. Any original content you post...remains yours and is protected by copyright and any other applicable intellectual property laws.”
The Terms defer to a separate Privacy Policy for data practices. Data sharing, selling, and tracking details are not described in these Terms and would need to be reviewed in the Privacy Policy separately.
“Substack takes your privacy very seriously. For the current Substack Privacy Policy, please click here. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personally identifiable information from children under 16.”
Creators can change subscription prices whenever they want, but existing subscribers are protected from retroactive price increases. New pricing would apply going forward.
“Creators will set prices for their publications, and may change the prices at their sole discretion through their Creator account, though no price changes shall apply retroactively.”
Substack makes no guarantees about the platform working correctly, being available, or being fit for your intended purpose. If the service goes down or fails, there is no warranty protection.
“Substack is provided to you on an 'as-is' basis...That includes any implied warranties of merchantability, warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or any warranty that the use of Substack will be uninterrupted or error-free.”
Missing Protections
- No explicit data retention or deletion timeline — the document acknowledges content may remain in backups indefinitely without specifying limits
- No refund policy for paid subscriptions — there is no mention of whether readers can get refunds for subscriptions to creator publications
- No defined notice period for account termination — Substack says it will 'try' to give notice but provides no minimum guaranteed timeframe
- No opt-out mechanism for arbitration — many fairer agreements allow users to opt out of arbitration within a set window (e.g., 30 days)
- No SLA (Service Level Agreement) or uptime guarantee for paid creators who rely on the platform for income
- No explicit description of what happens to active paid reader subscriptions if a creator's account is terminated by Substack
- Data practices (collection, sharing, selling) are entirely deferred to a separate Privacy Policy not analyzed here
Fair Terms
- Explicit creator content ownership: 'First and foremost, you own what you create' — one of the clearest ownership statements found in platform ToS
- Subscriber list ownership: Creator subscriber lists are explicitly identified as belonging to the creator
- No retroactive price changes: Price increases by creators do not apply to existing subscribers
- Children's privacy: The platform explicitly prohibits users under 16 and commits to deleting any inadvertently collected data from minors
- SMS limited use: Substack states it only uses SMS for phone verification and not for marketing, with easy opt-out via 'STOP'
- Creators can delete their account at any time without restriction
- Injunctive relief carve-out: Both parties retain the right to seek emergency court relief even under arbitration, providing some recourse for urgent matters
Document information only — not legal advice.