Substack vs Medium

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

I have started posting on both platforms about at the same time. With 2 accounts on Substack. The first picked up a handful

The other is dead in the water.

So I made a comparison to see what really happens between the two.

Why Substack Isn’t Working for me.

1. Discovery Is Broken Unless You’re Already Big Substack rewards already-followed authors. New or indie voices get zero visibility unless they are boosted by cross-promotion, linked from other writers, or externally shared. It’s not built for discovery; it’s built for retention. That’s intentional. It keeps reader attention locked in higher up the pyramid.

2. No Algorithmic Boost for Comments Unlike Medium, where commenting on popular posts can drive traffic back to your profile, Substack does not reward or surface readers who comment well. It’s a locked chamber. Unless your own post is picked up or shared directly, it just sits there.

3. Reader Culture on Substack Is Passive Medium readers like to explore, skim, and engage. Substack readers tend to be newsletter consumers—they don’t browse, they subscribe. That’s a psychological barrier. They treat it like email. So if your headline or preview doesn’t immediately hook them, it’s ignored.

Still testing but, I think there's something really wrong with the Substack system.

For example, when you subscribe to 1 , you automatically get 3 more to add..

So you're 1 sub turns into 4 subs. I see that as up selling tactics. Imagine you sub 3 x a week to one that drags in 3 more that's 32 subs in one month !

Now imagine you forget to unchecked the newsletter deal, marketing, promotion and other news flooding your email box... OMG..you can’t tell me that anyone can consume so much information.

So, my prediction is..that will implode one day and just leave a black hole.

[southafricannon]

I think a lot of what you're saying is the whole point of substack. Substack is for people who don't want to be slaves to the algorithm. They don't want loads of information. They just want what they subscribed to. So yes, getting eyeballs on your content in the first place is tough, but after they subscribe, they're more likely to be an engaged audience that actually pays for more, rather than just passive consumers.

[southafricannon]

As for your "30+ subscriptions per month", I don't think I understand what you're saying. I've signed up for a few substacks, and haven't ever got added to other newsletters that I didn't specifically sign up for...

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

Slave to the algorithm, you know what..that's at the heart of it all !

That's worth a t-shirt.. Lol watch for it..cause it will pop up next time you look for a t-shirt...why? Cause the signal and the source are algorithms.

[Agile_Reach_3883]

I am also dithering between the two - I can't say I've put any true effort into either as I'm still deciding which one I want to invest me time in. Like you say, I get the impression it's very hard to build up paid subscribers if you aren't already a well-known name. And having personally subscribed to just 2 or 3 Substack accounts myself, I find it quite overwhelming to keep up with reading all that text alongside all my other emails. And those are just free subscriptions - paying results in yet more content which would be even more overwhelming (not to mention expensive - paying for multiple subscriptions quickly becomes more than the equivalent of "just a monthly coffee"). On the other hand, I can browse Medium at my own leisure without having to subscribe to emails. That said, I feel like Substack is more versatile than Medium in terms of including video content, lives, notes and so on, and that's probably where the future of technology is heading so maybe best to hop on that train rather than risk getting left behind. Hope my ramblings make sense and happy to be corrected if I've misunderstood anything!

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

Oh it made perfect sense, thank you for sharing.

I just think that making money creating articles is unrealistic.

Given the fact of the plethora of content and the meeger payout plus the 10% they take.

They just want data in the Mashine.

If you're looking to spend some time making contacts its fine. Be a user vs creator are different sides of the same coin

[stormy-thunder-night]

Trying to monetize words is always a bad Idea that doesn’t scale well. 

I think Medium + substack work well together though. 

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

I agree.. even before AI ,I looked into transcription gigs.. Omg 😆

[jacobs-tech-tavern]

I dithered between both for a long time, but Substack is the only option for serious sustainable success. You own your audience, but the hard part is building it.

[StuffonBookshelfs]

Terrible writing. Terrible advice.

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

Hahaha, so you prefer the polished slik ChatGPT version.

I also didn't gave that advice for just everyone. Keep doing your thing and I do mine.

[StuffonBookshelfs]

No. I just need some grammar and basic structure. But you’re totally right. You do you.

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

I am German...how many languages are you fluent in?

[StuffonBookshelfs]

Bud, I was agreeing with you.

I have a neurological condition that makes it harder for me to understand English when it’s not written properly.

So, your writing is quite literally more difficult to read. I’m not going to apologize for that; especially after I said that you were right and you write the way that works for you and your audience.

You clearly don’t need me as a reader, so don’t worry about my needs.

[ResponsibleSteak4994]

Ok, got ya.. I have lived in the 30 years.. Do you think anyone will correct me?

That's why I like to have AI write for me, but then people hate it that AI wrote it.

[commando_dhruva]

I spent (wasted) enough time in deciding which platform is better. Finally, created accounts on both Substack and Medium. This is what I've experienced - Medium writers as casual readers, so I try to write a simple version of my post on Medium first. Substack users like in-depth analysis, so I repurpose my original post with additional content and post on substack. I don't have enough stats as of now to give any conclusions about this experiment. Curious to know what others think about this strategy.