Substack
“The place to publish, grow and earn from your audience.”
Substack is a publishing platform where writers, journalists, and creators send newsletters, publish posts, host podcasts, and stream video directly to subscribers. It is free to use with no monthly fee — Substack takes 10% of all paid subscription revenue when you monetize. In Q1 2026, the platform crossed 8.4 million paid subscriptions and 35 million total active subscribers.
Tech Specifications
“Substack is the right starting point for any writer who wants to build a paid audience without upfront risk. The discovery network is real, the onboarding is the fastest in the industry, and the editorial independence is genuine. But as revenue grows, the 10% take rate becomes an increasingly expensive trade. Serious newsletter businesses earning $2,000+/month will save money on a flat-fee platform like beehiiv — the question is whether the Substack network is worth the cost difference at your stage.”
Key Features
- Free publishing with no monthly fee — pay only when you earn
- Paid subscription monetization with reader-set pricing ($5/month minimum)
- Substack Notes — a social feed for short-form posts and reader engagement
- Recommendation Network — grow via mutual endorsements from other Substack writers
- Podcast hosting with episode publishing and subscriber-only audio
- Video posts and livestreaming (Substack TV launched in January 2026)
- Community threads and subscriber comments
- Full subscriber data export at any time — no lock-in
- iOS and Android Reader app with in-app subscription management
- Substack Defender — legal support program for writers facing cease-and-desist
- Custom domain support