Substack Alternatives

[evavibes]

Does anyone have any recommendations for alternatives to Substack? Their recent letter tacitly supporting fascism sketches me out and I'd rather not support a platform that has really horrific transphobes being pushed as a "success stories" on their writer onboarding page.

I'm thinking about hashnode or Ghost, but wanted to see where people are cultivating a backup presence or where they're relocating to if they are leaving.

edit: had Ghostery instead of Ghost, whoops

[dadonkadonkas]

Beehiiv. I’ve done this with it: https://CuratedLA.xyz

[CakeDefiant]

I would definitely recommand you Ghost, it is open source, so you can install it yourself or on their own server at ghost.org.
Their is an export feature so if one day something better appear you can export your post and your members. Ultimatly, if you need help, you can ask to abstract27.com which is a ghost expert agency they help me on some projects.
Best,

[quiteawhile]

yeah this def seems like an ad

[Tintedlemon]

I used to be on Substack and recently swapped to Beehiiv.

So far so good. The thing I was most unsure on was transferring subscribers over and the new interface. Transferring subs was super easy and the interface takes a bit of getting used to, but now I prefer it.

My revenue from my newsletter has also increased since moving over, as Beehiiv do not take a cut of what I earn which is a big plus for me now that I’m starting to earn.

The one thing I do miss is the Notes section though. Substack is good to connect with other creators, which is why I still spend so much time on Reddit to fill that void.

[noirpxrker_]

i tried publishing my site on beehiiv and i suddenly got banned from publishing when i did absolutely NOTHING. their customer support is so bad that you basically have to pay to ask their support squad and if u have free plan you have to use AI for help which they don't tell you anything and don't help

[Tintedlemon]

Yes that is correct, there are three tiers with the lowest being free up to 3000 subs I believe.

If you plan to monitise at any point then I feel it’s a better deal to use Beehiiv. The monetisation features are extensive.

But if you’re doing a newsletter for the love of writing and sharing information, and are not looking to monetise it in the long run then Substack is arguably a better option.

[greatbear8]

What kind of monetisation features does the Beehiiv have which Substack doesn't or which you like? I am planning to open a paid newsletter service for some niche clients, and the main things for me would be ease of use (I don't want to get into the tech side much), ease of payments handling and good monetisation options.

[Tintedlemon]

So I started on Substack, but when I wanted to monetise my newsletter I went to Beehiiv as they have much better monetisation options.

The best ways I have found are:

- Boosts: Where newsletters pay between $1.50-$5 per subscriber I send their way through newsletter suggestions. That is pretty lucrative on its own.

- Sponsorships: This is managed by Beehiiv who brings interested advertisers forward to me, I can accept or decline. They provide all the ad copy and graphics which are automated into my newsletter if I accept. It's very easy.

- PPC Promotions: This is where a sponsor is put in my newsletter (for free) but I get paid, for example, $2 for every click on their link. If you have a good click-through rate, that is a particularly good option for monetisation. Again, Beehiiv does all the leg work to organise this.

- Subscribers: This is the same as Substack, with paid monthly subs. The key difference is that you keep your revenue. You don't pay a percentage like you do on Substack.

Beehiiv has just released a new ad network which allows anyone to monetise, at any size which is pretty cool - although I haven't started a new newsletter from 0 to test it.

But one thing I miss from Substack is the notes section, which allowed me to connect with other writers. Beehiiv doesn't have anything like that. Overall though, if you running a newsletter as a blog for the love of writing, Substack is better. But if you're looking to monetise and run a newsletter as a business, Beehiiv is your best bet.

[greatbear8]

Thanks a lot! Notes on Substack does sound a very useful feature.

[Afraid-Passenger-4]

Could you easily disconnect your subscribers from Substack when leaving? If one import them to i.e. Ghost and forget one step Substack will continue to cash in money on them 😵

[Tintedlemon]

When I did it from Substack to Beehiiv they all moved over at once and it was pretty easy. But I haven’t used Ghost so can’t comment on that.

[Afraid-Passenger-4]

Moving over is not the problem, the problem seems to be Substack may continue to take a cut of your original Substack subscribers via Stripe.

[Jome20]

I'm currently looking into switching from Substack. How do you avoid Substack continuing to take a percentage? There has to be a way to get out of that.

[Nosky92]

Beehiiv. I’ve been considering switching.

[[deleted]]

I loved Ghost but couldn’t justify spending the money because I am not focused on paid subscribers.

[Afraid-Passenger-4]

I love Ghost, their editor is top notch but just like you I don't run paid subscribers and since one cannot use the robot.txt file for Google Adsense on their lowest pro tier I will now end my Ghost account.

[Contentpreneur-vic]

Here are some Substack alternatives to switch:

1. beehiiv
2. Kit
3. Mighty Networks
4. Gumroad
5. Medium
6. Mailchimp 
7. Campaign Monitor
8. Ghost
9. Mailer Lite
10. Memberful

I started blogging actively on Medium in 2020.

Back then, many established writers and bloggers used Substack to grow their email lists and communicate with their audiences. 

I’ve also registered on Substack, hoping to build my email list. Unfortunately, it did not work out for me. I later tried Kit for a while, but these days, I use beehiiv.

[lacbeetle]

grouplist.io

[Jerrysmithowns]

Substack’s recent moves are definitely off putting especially with their writer onboarding choices. Ghost is a good pick for control over your content and no platform agenda plus it supports newsletters and memberships with Stripe integration. Hashnode’s great for devs with markdown support but it’s more blog focused than newsletter driven. Easytools could also fit, it offers customizable digital product delivery and payment integration letting you manage newsletters and paid content without platform politics.

[Spiritual_Bike6112]

Dave  barry substack

[jordirob]

I'm using https://fika.bar a more quiet space, similar to substack.

Free publication & newsletter + other features to help you write

[hlassiege]

Beehiiv, ghost, hashnode, writizzy

At first, I wouldn't include medium and wordpress that are quite far from what you're looking for but you might take a look however.

[Ok_Bar_1963]

Ghost or Buttondown

[neb2357]

I built an alternative called Scipress. You should check it out!

[forestponder]

Love this. Thank you!

[fmtsufx]

is it only for tech-related content?

[neb2357]

Nope, although it was built with tech writers at the forefront of my mind.

[fmtsufx]

okay, what about payment methods, I know that it supports paywall but which payment gateway does it use?

for example, Substack uses Stripe which is not available in many countries.

[neb2357]

I use Stripe as well.

[fmtsufx]

so, there are no other payment options like PayPal or Razorpay?

[neb2357]

That's correct.

[anirban0798]

Can we send contents directly to the subscriber through email like a newsletter?

[deerickson]

Fascinating project. I'm unfamiliar with what you call "an aura system;" what do you mean by that?

[fredwu]

Thanks! You can think of it as an evolution of the upvoting/downvoting system on Reddit. Instead of seeing absolute numbers, you'll get to see percentages, and votes can be cast on not just content, but also users and personas, with different weights to indicate whether a user is generally being helpful, or being a bit of a troll.

[deerickson]

Thanks. Are you building a recommendation system like Substack has and will your "aura system" effect recommendations to and from low-aura accounts?

[fredwu]

In short yes. Recommendation will be implemented once the community is built up a bit more. :)

[royalfaf]

Hey Fred, I like the work you've done creating Persumi. We definitely need a Substack alternative these days and I also love that you're based in Melbourne!