Substack is a publishing platform that combines a newsletter, a website and paid subscriptions in one place. Its distinguishing feature is the network: readers discover new writers through the app and through recommendations from other Substacks.
Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi founded it in 2017. Best had previously co founded the messaging app Kik.
Free to publish, with no monthly fee. Substack instead takes 10 percent of revenue from paid subscriptions, plus payment processing. If you never charge, you never pay.
It is strongest with writers doing essays and analysis. On this list that includes Lenny's Newsletter, No Mercy / No Malice, Exponential View and Write with AI.
10 percent of paid subscription revenue, on top of Stripe processing fees of roughly 3 percent. There is no charge on a free list of any size.
It is the best of the major platforms at it, because of recommendations and the app. Other writers can recommend you at signup, which sends real subscribers rather than impressions.
Less control. Design options are limited, the 10 percent cut grows with you, and your growth is partly tied to a network you do not own. Large publishers often leave once the cut exceeds what a flat platform fee would cost.
Yes, and your list comes with you. Substack lets you export subscribers including paid ones, and it does not lock the email addresses. Paid subscriptions have to be migrated to your own Stripe account.
Substack if you are writing essays and want discovery to do some of the work. Beehiiv if you are building a media property and want control over design, growth mechanics and ad revenue.
Yes. Publications can host audio and video alongside written posts, and paid subscribers can get a private feed.
Posts are on the public web and get indexed, which is more than a pure email tool gives you. Control is limited though, since you cannot tune much of the technical setup on a hosted domain.
