Link in Bio for Substack: Grow Subscribers From Social

The best Substack link for your bio is your sign-up page: your publication address with /subscribe on the end, like yourname.substack.com/subscribe. It takes new readers straight to the email box instead of your homepage. Add it in Instagram under Edit profile, then Links, and in TikTok under Edit profile, then Links, and use a Link sticker in stories whenever you publish.

Substack gives every publication a direct sign-up page at /subscribe. Add it to the end of your publication address:

Substack address: yourpublication.substack.com/subscribe
Custom domain: yourdomain.com/subscribe

When someone opens that link, what they see depends on whether Substack knows them. A new reader is asked for their email address first. Someone who is signed in, or whose email Substack knows from a recent visit, goes straight to your plans (Free, Monthly, Annual or Founding Member, if you have payments on).

To check what a stranger from Instagram will see, open your /subscribe link in a private or incognito window, as Substack's help center suggests. A private window isn't signed in, so it always shows the first-time view.

Which link to use where:

Link	Example	Use it for
Sign-up page	yourname.substack.com/subscribe	Your bio, when the goal is new subscribers
A single post	The post's own link	A story or caption about that post
Your profile	substack.com/@yourhandle	Your Substack profile

If you change your Substack handle later, links to the old @handle don't redirect, so use your publication address in your bio rather than your profile link.

Add your Substack to your Instagram bio

Substack's own help center recommends putting your Substack URL in your social bios as a clickable link. On Instagram you can add up to five links:

Tap Profile or your profile picture.
Tap Edit profile.
Tap Links, then Add external link.
Paste your /subscribe link and tap Done.

If you already have other links and want Substack first, go to Edit profile, tap Links, tap Options, then Reorder links, and move it to the top.

Say what it is in the bio text too. "Weekly essays on slow travel, free" tells people why to tap. Our guide on adding a link to your Instagram bio covers the steps in more detail.

Add your Substack to your TikTok bio

TikTok only lets you add a website if you have at least 1,000 followers or a Verified Business Account. If you qualify:

In the TikTok app, tap Profile.
Tap Edit profile.
Next to Links, tap Add.
Paste your Substack /subscribe link and follow the steps.

TikTok opens profile links in its in-app browser and recommends direct links, so people reach the page in as few steps as possible. Your /subscribe link is about as direct as it gets. If you don't meet either requirement yet, you can't add a website link, so point TikTok viewers to your Instagram until you can. See our guide to adding a link to your TikTok bio.

Your bio link works around the clock. Stories are where you remind people that something new is out.

Open the Instagram camera and add a photo, a screenshot of your post's opening, or a short video of you talking about it.
Tap Stickers at the top.
Choose Link and paste the post URL, or your /subscribe link.
Share, then save the story to a Highlight called "Newsletter" so it stays on your profile.

Instagram says not every sticker is available to everyone; if you don't see Link, update the app to the latest version. Our guide on adding a link to an Instagram story has more on link stickers.

If you publish video on Substack, it can do some of this for you. The video editor makes AI clips in Portrait or Landscape, or you can cut your own up to five minutes. In the Substack app, tap a post and select Assets to share clips to Notes, Instagram Stories and Reels.

Use Substack's own growth tools

A few Substack features help social followers turn into subscribers:

QR code: in your publication's Dashboard, go to Settings, scroll to the Growth section and click Download to save your QR code as a PNG or SVG. Put it on a story, a flyer or the last slide of a carousel.
Subscribe buttons in posts: when writing a post, select Buttons, then Subscribe now or Subscribe with caption, so people who arrive from a shared post can sign up.
Traffic sources: a post's stats show where readers came from. "Popular sites" lists the social sites where readers clicked a shared link, so you can see whether Instagram or TikTok is actually sending people.
A findable address: Substack recommends your name as your Substack URL. You can change it under Settings, Danger Zone, Change subdomain; if you do, update the links in your bios.

Publishing on Substack is free. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% and Stripe charges its own card fees (2.9% + $0.30 per US card, plus 0.7% for recurring billing). A custom domain is a one-time $50.

Keep Substack next to your other links

If Substack is the only thing you promote, the /subscribe link alone is enough. If you also have a podcast, a book, a shop or a YouTube channel, a bio only has room for so much. That's where a link in bio page helps: one link in your bio, with the newsletter at the top and everything else below.

Olaa is a link in bio tool: one short link, olaa.im/yourname, that opens a page with all your links. On the free plan you get unlimited links, a featured card to make your Substack stand out, website previews, social icons, a QR code and 7 days of analytics to see what people tap. Olaa has no Substack integration, so the signup itself happens on Substack: you link to your /subscribe page. Olaa Pro ($8 a month or $72 a year) adds scheduled links for a launch and 30 and 90 day analytics. Its built-in email signup sends to Mailchimp, not Substack, so for a Substack list, link to /subscribe instead. See what's included on the features page.

For newsletters on other platforms, see our guide on the link in bio for a newsletter, and for turning followers into customers more broadly, our pillar guide on how to sell on Instagram.

FAQ

What link should I put in my bio for Substack?

Use your sign-up page: your publication address with /subscribe at the end, such as yourname.substack.com/subscribe. New readers see an email box first, which is the quickest path to a signup. It also works with a custom domain.

How do I promote my Substack on Instagram?

Put your /subscribe link in your bio under Edit profile, then Links, and say in your bio text what the newsletter is about. Each time you publish, share a story with a Link sticker to the post and save it to a Highlight. If you publish video on Substack, share clips to Stories and Reels from the Assets option in the Substack app.

Can I add a Substack link to TikTok?

Yes, if you have at least 1,000 followers or a Verified Business Account. Tap Profile, Edit profile, then Add next to Links. If you don't meet either, you can't add a website link yet.

Where is my Substack QR code?

In your publication's Dashboard, go to Settings and scroll to the Growth section. Click Download to save it as a PNG or SVG.

Should I link my Substack profile or my publication?

For a bio, link your publication's /subscribe page, since it leads straight to signing up. Your substack.com/@handle profile changes if you change your handle, and old handle links don't redirect.