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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe InDesign

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AAdobe InDesign supports creating digital and print documents such as flyers, stationary, posters, and other types of media, with rich graphics, images, and more. Adobe InDesign is available standalone or as part of the Adobe Creative Suite collection of media management and creation products.

    $31.49

    per month

    Substack

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ASubstack is a subscription-based newsletter publishing platform.N/A
    Pricing
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Editions & Modules
    Monthly Plan
    $31.49
    per month
    Annual Plan, Prepaid
    $239.88 ($19.99)
    per year (per month)
    Annual Plan, Paid Monthly
    $251.88 ($20.99)
    per year (per month)
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    No answer on this topic
    Substack Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    84 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    75 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    72 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Small Businesses
    Affinity Publisher
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Blogger
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (101 ratings)
    8.7
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.5
    (11 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (64 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe InDesignSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    Adobe InDesign is very well-suited to creating professional-looking page designs. If you want a newspaper or magazine to have attractive pages that go beyond simple templates, InDesign is the best option out there, to my knowledge. It's less suited to scenarios where people without page design skills are responsible for creating pages, as it requires some training and skills to use effectively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    I think Substack is better for people who want to set up a personal-facing branded website vs people who just want to post random musings every so often. Monetization is better there than any other collective publishing platform as well as organic reach via email. Substack also allows you to build direct relationships with your readers via emails and own them 100% which is great long-term if you use it to pivot to another site or another form of writing/content creation. Substack would be less helpful for someone wanting to write as a part of a group, not individually, or someone who's unwilling to put their personal brand behind their content. It's less optimized for SEO (which other platforms allow you to do) and can be harder to curate content based on your interests (you really have to go in knowing what you want vs finding it on the fly).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • Customization - With Adobe InDesign, as well as many other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite, I can fully customize my workspaces and save different workspaces. This makes it easy to navigate through my project and have the panels and tools I need easily accessible and configured based on my project needs.
    • Styles - Adobe InDesign has character styles, object styles, and tables styles. This speeds up my workflows and allows me to easily apply the same format across multiple elements. This is super helpful, especially when working with length documents.
    • File compatibility - I can easily export my files into so many different file types.
    • The Book feature - This feature is really helpful when creating books or very long documents with multiple sections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • Because it has a very high Domain Authority ranking relevant backlinks in a published article will help make my store more searchable.
    • Substack is very easy to work in. The toolset they provide may not be as extensive as other platforms but it is certainly enough to create a meaningful, interesting post.
    • Substack is very focused on creating a community of writers that support each other. They run an ongoing email campaign that reinforces their focus on building a community of writers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • Not naturally a WYSIWYG display (this is an option, and doesn't always work as intended)
    • Moving images and photos around while holding an additional key
    • Layers or objects are not easily clickable behind other objects.
    • Adobe InDesign does require some fair system resources to work smoothly
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • editor is on the primitive side - it's wysiwyg, but missing some embed options
    • integrate with google analytics
    • percentage cut that Substack takes can become a burden as your revenue grows. Problems scaling.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    I've had great experiences with the product and plan to continue to use it. It has been my go-to product for designing and creating materials. I have had great luck with it and have been able to create all of the needed marketing materials that have been requested for our company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Adobe
    If you know what you are doing it is an amazingly granular and powerful application. You can control pretty much any aspect of the design and layout of your documents and make changes globally and rapidly. But, if you don't know what you are doing...you will be staring at your screen in bewilderment for a long time. You can learn it, but be ready for a hefty time investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Adobe
    I've needed Adobe InDesign team very little which is a bonus in and of itself.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Adobe
    One of the advantages of Adobe InDesign is it is faster and less glitchy than Microsoft Word.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    Adobe support is ok but not great. Chat support often doesn't initially understand the question at-hand and it takes awhile to get to the right agent. Phone support has long wait times, and though I've had more luck there, it does take quite a time investment if you are looking for help. However, Adobe does have some online learning solutions available as well as a knowledgebase for frequently asked questions. If you're looking to learn how to use the platform, there are lots of resources which can typically be found in a few Google searches. If you have a technical issue with the system, that's going to be a bit more of a time investment as far as getting a tech's assistance to resolve the problem.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    Adobe
    Attending Adobe MAX each year is extremely valuable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Adobe
    The online training works well and is not wholly necessary as it is user-friendly and you can learn by doing.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    Implementation was smooth and easy.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    Microsoft products do not match the aesthetic tools that [Adobe] InDesign offers, cannot support the customizable options available for export, and do not produce documents with as high a degree of accessibility. That said, they do have their place in collaboration in a team- I'd consider Office to be the first step and [Adobe] InDesign to be the final product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    Medium is not so good for running newsletter. I find the mail that a user gets is very easily readable. Also as a creator it's very easy for me to track the analytics and monetise my blogs unlike Medium. Blogger is a very old technology. The kind of integrations and the support for Markdown / different media is very great in Substack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Adobe
    Working in a cloud environment makes it easy to scale and share resources.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • A great ROI for time in my small architectural practice, [especially] when a design has been updated and a report needs to be submitted. We can be submitting many reports that all look similar, clean and beautiful. We just save as the file and replace the images with more updated images. This way the client finds it easy to navigate updated reports, as many as they can be.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • I haven’t made any money from it
    • Can be disheartening when you realise you’re putting in maximum effort for minimum audience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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