Member-only story
Differences
Medium versus Substack
Which is better for you?
This started as a response to an explanation of the differences between Substack and Medium. It turned into a long one, so I made it my own story.
I am a not-paying member of Substack and a Not-A-Friend paying member of Medium. I write here on Medium and have earned some money; it is not much, as you will read. I do not write on Substack, mostly because I do not write enough, and I do not have enough to say about a particular topic to warrant anyone paying for a subscription to my writing.
The two writing/reading platforms have very different business plans, including revenue-sharing plans that differ significantly. This story is about the two platforms and some of the differences.
SUBSTACK
If a reader wants to read, say, the writings of Heather Cox Richardson, a tenured professor of history at Boston College, published author, and one of the most popular Substack writers with over two million followers, including hundreds of thousands of paying customers, one can do so without paying anything; merely subscribing to her emails gets everything she writes in my inbox every day.
I have been one of her readers for a long time, long before I knew the emails I got were from Substack, but I do not pay. Because of this, I have limitations on what I can do on her Substack page; for example, I can “heart” every essay, but I cannot comment on any because that is a privilege restricted to paying subscribers only.
Pay-to-play at Substack
Substack charges USD $5.00 per month per writer (with an annual payment option), but the option of how much of the writer’s product to make available to non-payers like me is entirely up to the author. Once a writer account is started — this is different from what I have, a reader-only account — one has the option of making choices. How much to make available to non-subscribers (all, some, or none); whether to permit comments from non-subs; whether to offer limited-time free access; even how much to charge are options available to a Substack writer.
A Substack writer gets payment from a paying subscriber, so no paid subs, no pay. For example, if I opened a…
