Medium vs. Substack

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Medium
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Medium is a blogging and web publishing platform from the company of the same name in San Francisco, California.
$5
per month
Substack
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Substack is a subscription-based newsletter publishing platform.N/A
Pricing
MediumSubstack
Editions & Modules
Medium Member - monthly
$5
per month
Friend of Medium - monthly
$15
per month
Medium Member - annually
$60
per year
Friend of Medium - annually
$150
per year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MediumSubstack
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
MediumSubstack
Considered Both Products
Medium

No answer on this topic

Substack
Chose Substack
Substack is the DTC version of traditional blogging sites - you own everything, both upside, and risk, which appeals to me more. Compared to Blogger, the ability to monetize and site interface is night and day better. Compared to Medium, which I think has a better interface and …
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MediumSubstack
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User Ratings
MediumSubstack
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.7
(6 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MediumSubstack
Likelihood to Recommend
Medium.com
If you are vanity publishing and just want to see your stuff on the web, it is very, VERY easy to get involved with. Of course, your writing is not likely to stand out if you don't have a clear plan. The more I use it, the more I like it. The user interface is extremely well-done. I kinda wish my WordPress-based blogs had editors that were that easy to use.
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).
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Pros
Medium.com
  • Content categorization and grouping.
  • The option to make some money from sharing your passion and teaching.
  • Moderating content manually to not promote AI-generated content and boosting very authentic and impactful posts.
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.
Read full review
Cons
Medium.com
  • The payment wall can be confusing.
  • Hard to get traction if you're trying to go viral with an article.
  • Sometimes content gets buried too easily.
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.
Read full review
Usability
Medium.com
By comparison, most online editors are clunky. The Medium editor is amazingly powerful and still easy to use.
Read full review
Substack Inc.
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Medium.com
Medium is supported across android, iOS and the web. While it may not have all the languages supported, English is certainly an option and with a pricing model that ranges from free to $5 for a subscription, you can't go wrong whether you're a small or large business. Everything is hosted in the cloud so it is very accessible
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Substack Inc.
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Medium.com
Medium is dirt easy to use. The hard part is figuring out if it is worth the effort to include it as part of our content-marketing strategy.
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Substack Inc.
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Medium.com
There are a handful of other blogging platforms available. The biggest difference between Medium and others is how streamlined it is. It's straight to the point and is excellent at showing related content, be it your own or another users. There's no new design to navigate between posts, everything is where you expect it to be letting you focus on the post.
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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.
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Return on Investment
Medium.com
  • Good way to raise awareness of our content with @mentioned influencers
  • Good way to link back to your original content
  • Aside from publishing your own content Medium is a great news site in its own right. If you're looking for relevant industry news or other content, check in daily to see what's going on with others in your industry.
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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
Read full review
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