Best Investing Newsletters on Substack
The best investing newsletters on Substack are independent research desks you subscribe to directly, with no fund minimum and no platform gatekeeper. This page ranks every investing-focused publication in the index on Research Authority Score and publishes what the other lists leave out: the subscription price, the asset class, the niche and the founding year of each desk. Rankings are independent. Paid placement changes visual prominence only and never a score, a description or a classification.
Key findings
- —Median entry price across the 55 indexed desks that publish a price is $33/month (median top tier $40/month).
- —168 of 207 indexed publications are thesis-driven analysis rather than trade signals — roughly 17 analysis desks for every pure trading service.
- —64.7% of indexed publications are free or freemium to read, so you can sample a desk before paying.
- —Median founding year is 2016: the median indexed desk predates the 2020 retail-investing boom, and only 4.9% launched in 2023 or later. The oldest is BCA Research (1949).
- —127 of 207 desks publish an X/Twitter handle, so you can assess a writer's thinking before you subscribe.
Data verified 2026-10-03 · 61 desks ranked · independent scoring, no paid rankings
Top of this shortlist: Quartz Sea Research at 98/100 ($30/mo · $500/mo · $25,000/yr).
Quartz Sea Research
European Aerospace & Defense Equity Research | Sovereign Procurement Ledger
Niche · European defense & aerospace equities
Net Interest
Financial Sector Insights from a Former Hedge Fund Manager
Niche · Banks, fintech & the financial sector
The Diff
Inflections in Finance & Technology
Niche · Technology & financial infrastructure
Stratechery
Analysis of the Business & Strategy of Technology
Niche · Technology platforms & strategy
SemiAnalysis
Semiconductors, AI Compute & Supply Chain Research
Niche · Semiconductors & AI compute supply chain
Aurelion Research
Equity Research & Live Model Portfolio
Niche · Quality compounders & live model portfolio
Compounding Quality
Quality Compounders & Portfolio Tracking
Niche · Quality compounding equities
Mostly Borrowed Ideas
Institutional-Grade Deep-Dive Equity Research
Niche · Large-cap compounders & software deep dives
Capital Allocators
Allocator Interviews & Operations
Niche · Institutional allocator playbook
Yet Another Value Blog
Special Situations & Modern Value Investing
Niche · Spinoffs, mergers & special situations
Kakashii's Materials
AI, Semiconductors & the Magnificent 7 — Due Diligence & Red Flags
Niche · AI/semis red flags & the Mag-7 bear case
The Information
Deep Tech, Media & Business Journalism
Niche · Technology, media & venture capital
The Bear Cave
Short-Seller & Investigative Equity Research
Niche · Short ideas & forensic investigations
Asian Century Stocks
Asian & Emerging Market Equity Research
Niche · Asian & emerging-market equities
A Wealth of Common Sense
Behavioral Finance & Wealth
Niche · Behavioral finance & wealth
Yellowbrick
Hedge-Fund Stock Pitch Aggregator
Niche · hedge-fund stock pitch aggregator
Hindenburg Research
Investigative Short Research
Niche · investigative short research
Musings on Markets (Aswath Damodaran)
Valuation & Corporate Finance
Niche · valuation & corporate finance
The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz)
Macro, Markets & Investor Behavior
Niche · Macro, markets & behavioral finance
The Science of Hitting
Long-Term Equity Investing & Consumer Franchises
Niche · Consumer & quality equities
Of Dollars And Data
Data-Driven Personal Finance
Niche · Personal finance & data
FINK (David Belle)
Momentum & Thematic Investing System
Niche · momentum & thematic investing system
Muddy Waters Research
Forensic Accounting Research
Niche · forensic accounting short research
Focused Compounding
Concentrated Value Compounding
Niche · concentrated value compounding
Meb Faber Research
Quant Asset Allocation & The Idea Farm
Niche · Quant asset allocation
Klement on Investing
Data-Driven Investing Commentary
Niche · Data-driven investing
The Irrelevant Investor
Markets, Behavior & Wealth
Niche · Markets & investor behavior
Pragmatic Capitalism
Macro & Portfolio Construction
Niche · Macro & portfolio strategy
The Acquirer's Multiple (Tobias Carlisle)
Quantitative Deep-Value Investing
Niche · quantitative deep value
The Investor's Podcast
Investing Education & Interviews
Niche · investing education & interviews
The White Coat Investor
Physician Personal Finance
Niche · physician personal finance
Early Retirement Now
Safe Withdrawal & FIRE Research
Niche · safe withdrawal & fire research
The Reformed Broker
Markets, Wealth Management & Commentary
Niche · Markets & wealth management
Real Investment Advice (Lance Roberts)
Macro & Market Technicals
Niche · macro & market technicals
Abnormal Returns
Curated Market & Investing Links
Niche · Curated investing links
Notable Calls
Analyst & Research Call Aggregation
Niche · analyst call aggregation
Behavioural Investment (Joe Wiggins)
Behavioural Finance
Niche · behavioural finance
Sure Dividend
Dividend Screening & Research
Niche · dividend screening & research
Portfolio Charts
Portfolio Construction Tools
Niche · portfolio construction tools
Morning Brew
Business & Markets Daily Briefing
Niche · Daily business & markets briefing
Greenbackd (Tobias Carlisle)
Deep Value & Special Situations
Niche · deep value & special situations
The Evidence-Based Investor
Evidence-Based Investing
Niche · evidence-based investing
Dividend Growth Investor
Dividend Growth Investing
Niche · dividend growth investing
Financial Samurai
Personal Finance & Real Estate
Niche · personal finance & real estate
The Brooklyn Investor
Value Investing Case Studies
Niche · value investing case studies
The Conservative Income Investor
Conservative Income Investing
Niche · conservative income investing
Physician on FIRE
Physician FIRE & Investing
Niche · physician fire & investing
The Measure of a Plan
Personal Finance & Investing
Niche · personal finance & investing
Frequently recommended investing desks, re-scored
Desks that appear repeatedly in other investing roundups, each scored on the same independent Research Authority scale used across this index. Scores are not affected by any commercial relationship.
Citrini Research
Thematic Equity & Global Macro, Cross-Asset
Niche · Thematic equity megatrends & cross-asset macro
Stenos Signals
Global Liquidity, Macro & Cross-Asset Positioning
Niche · Global liquidity & cross-asset macro
How this list stays current
Most roundups of financial newsletters are written once and never revisited. Publications go quiet, writers move platform, prices change, and a reader who follows a stale recommendation pays for something that no longer exists.
This index is rebuilt from a maintained dataset, so an entry only stays on the page while it is still publishing and still matches its classification. Two examples of the kind of drift we correct: one widely recommended growth-stock publication ceased publication in late 2025 and now points its readers to a fund vehicle instead, and one macro desk moved its core research off Substack to an independent platform while keeping the Substack for occasional free posts.
Where a desk has moved or a publication has stopped, we say so rather than leaving a dead link in a ranked list. Prices are verified against the publisher's own pages, and the verification date is shown above.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best investing newsletters on Substack?
On this index the highest-scoring investing publications are Compounding Quality in equity research and Doomberg in hard assets and energy, with Citrini Research leading thematic cross-asset research. The list above ranks 61 investing-focused desks by Research Authority Score, which weights primary-source rigour (35%), niche depth (25%), track record and vintage (15%), institutional adoption (15%) and transparency (10%).
Are paid investing newsletters on Substack worth it?
That depends on whether the desk produces primary research or commentary. A useful test: does the writer publish their own data, filings work or model output, and do they state a track record? The median paid tier across the index is $33/month, and 64.7% of desks offer free or freemium access, so most readers can evaluate quality at no cost before subscribing.
How much do investing newsletters cost?
Across the 55 publications in this index that publish a price, the median entry tier is $33/month and the median top tier is $40/month. 70.9% of them start below $50/month, and paying annually instead of monthly saves a median of 16.7%.
Which investing newsletters on Substack are free?
81 of the 207 indexed publications are free and a further 53 are freemium, where the archive and some posts are open. Freemium desks are the cheapest way to test a research style before paying.
Is Jonah's Growth Stock Deep Dives still published?
No. Growth Stock Deep Dives stopped publishing in November 2025. The final post states that the author is no longer running the service and directs readers to a fund vehicle instead. It is widely recommended on lists that have not been updated since, and this index does not list it as a live subscription.
What is the best investing newsletter for someone starting out?
64.7% of the desks in this index can be read free, and the low-cost entry tiers cluster near $33/month. A practical sequence is to start with a free generalist for market context, then add one specialist desk in the sector you actually follow, rather than subscribing to several broad market commentaries that repeat the same headlines.