Medium had a few years’ head start in the race to be the best blog platform. Medium was started in 2012 by Ev Williams, who also started Twitter and Blogger. It was a good fit because it was a mix of the two. Medium is a website with blog posts that are about 500 words long. It is designed in a way that makes blogs easy to find by topic. This makes editorial content more social and helps new writers find a readership. Chris Best, who was also one of the people who started Kik, started Substack in 2017. It’s a way to deal with the instability of the journalism industry today.
It brings in well-known writers like Chuck Palahniuk and Salman Rushdie by promising them a steady income through subscriptions like Patreon. Substack wants you to start your blog right away by giving it a name and a description and importing your existing mailing list. Medium, on the other hand, starts you off in your reader feed and encourages you to follow blogs and tags that interest you. During the process, Substack also gives you the chance to follow blogs and topics, but the difference is clear. On Substack, your blog and audience come before anything else.
On Medium, your connection to the community comes before anything else. Both platforms make it easy to publish your writing with little setup. Even though these services aren’t as flexible as making your own site, you can sign up and start writing in less than a minute. Both Substack and Medium have editors that are similar. Both ask you to type in your title and subtitle, and then you can start writing. Substack’s is a little bit easier to use. It has a handy menu in the top right corner that lets you change the style of your text, add buttons, embed images, and more.
They also have the same choices for publishing. When you’re done writing, you can add a header image and change how your social settings work. This means adding tags to your Medium post so that it can be found. On Substack, you decide who can see the post, who can comment on it, and who gets it in their email.
Medium vs Substack Pricing
Different models govern how Medium and Substack charge. Users of Medium can read and view content for free because it uses a freemium business model. But they have a membership program called the Medium Partner Program where readers can pay a monthly fee to get access to exclusive content and support their favorite authors. Membership fees bring in money that is split between Medium and the authors who are taking part.
On the other hand, Substack takes a cut of the money authors make from subscriptions. Substack takes a cut of the money that authors make when they sell paid subscriptions to their newsletters as a “platform fee.” The exact number varies, but it’s usually between 5% and 10%. Substack gives authors the rest of the money made from subscriptions.
Medium vs Substack Comparison Table
| Feature | Medium | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Content Ownership | Medium retains some rights to your content | Creators retain full ownership of content |
| Monetization Options | Limited monetization options (Medium Partner Program) | Flexible monetization options (paid newsletters, podcast subscriptions, etc.) |
| Payment Structure | Memberships, with revenue sharing | Subscription-based revenue sharing |
| Discoverability | Medium has a built-in audience and curation | Substack relies on individual newsletter promotion |
| Platform Control | Medium has more control over design and layout | Substack offers more customization options |
| Reader Experience | Medium provides a unified reading experience | Substack offers a newsletter-centric reading experience |
| Community Building | Medium emphasizes community engagement | Substack focuses on individual newsletters |
| Integration Options | Medium offers limited third-party integrations | Substack supports various integrations (email service providers, analytics tools, etc.) |
| Analytics | Medium provides basic analytics for members | Substack offers detailed analytics for authors |
| Cost | Medium has a freemium model with paid features | Substack charges a percentage of subscription revenue |
| Official link | Visit Website | Visit Website |
Medium vs Substack User interface
Both Medium and Substack can be used in various ways, making them suitable for consuming various types of content. Because all of the articles on Medium are organized neatly and consistently, reading them is simple. It focuses on hand-picked collections and suggestions, which makes it easier for readers to find new content on the platform. Medium also focuses on getting people involved in the community. Users can leave comments and talk to authors and other readers.
On the other hand, Substack’s user interface is geared toward newsletters. It focuses on individual newsletters as the main type of content, and people who sign up for them get updates right in their email inboxes. The interface of Substack is made to show off and deliver newsletter content well, making reading more personal and intimate.
While Medium gives authors more control over how their articles look and are laid out, Substack gives them more ways to make their newsletters unique. Substack lets newsletter authors change the look of their newsletters in ways like branding, layout, and even custom domains. This gives creators the freedom to make their brand stand out and connect with their audience in their own way.
Medium vs Substack Platform Control
Users of Medium and Substack have varying degrees of control over their respective platforms. Because Medium is more centralized, the platform itself has more control over the layout and design of the content. It gives articles a standard format, so reading them is the same no matter where you are on the platform. This can be helpful for authors who want a simple publishing process, but it may limit the amount of personalization and branding they can do.
On the other hand, Substack gives creators more control over the platform and more ways to customize it. Authors have more freedom to make their newsletters look and feel like their brand and style. Substack lets creators brand their work in their own way by using custom domains, logos, and colors. This gives creators a unique and easy-to-recognize identity. This level of control makes it possible for authors to give their subscribers a more unique and personalized experience.
On the other hand, when you have more power, you also have more responsibility. Authors who use Substack need to put in time and effort to design and maintain the layout and branding of their newsletters. This can be helpful for people who want to build a strong personal brand or want a lot of creative control over how their content is displayed.
Medium: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Built-in audience and curation, providing potential exposure to a larger reader base.
- Offers a polished and unified reading experience for users.
- Emphasizes community engagement and interaction through comments and discussions.
Cons
- Limited monetization options through the Medium Partner Program.
- Medium retains certain rights to the content published on the platform.
- Less control over design and customization compared to Substack.
Substack: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Flexible monetization options, including paid newsletters, podcast subscriptions, etc.
- Creators retain full ownership of their content.
- Allows for greater customization and branding options for newsletters.
Cons
- Relies on individual newsletter promotion, requiring authors to build and maintain their own audience.
- Limited built-in audience or curation compared to Medium.
- Substack charges a percentage of subscription revenue as a platform fee.
Which one should you consider?
Medium vs Substack both have different features and ways of doing things. Medium is a curated platform that gives users more control over how content is presented and fewer ways to make money. Substack, on the other hand, has newsletters that can be customized, different ways to make money, and a focus on individual authors. Which one you choose depends on things like your content goals, how you want to make money, and how much control you want over the platform.
FAQs
By submitting, posting, or showing content on or through the Services, unless otherwise agreed in writing, you give Medium a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, make derivative works from, distribute, and publicly perform the content.
If you’re new to writing online, Medium is the best place to start. You won’t get paid anywhere else to try new things, learn more, and build your business. Or you could just write about anything you want, if that’s what you want to do. As a beginner, the best thing about Medium is how easy it is to use.
