Terms
Many of you will have seen that Revue an online platform that focuses on growing an audience with electronic newsletters as well as online publishing, has been closed down by its main company Twitter. Revue was founded in the year 2015 and was purchased by Twitter in 2021.
15 December 2022 only a few days after the new Twitter chief Elon Musk expressed an his interest in purchasing Substack (another newsletter platform), Twitter announced that they were phasing out Revue. What other options for newsletter platforms remain?
First, what is Substack?
Substack is an online platform that revolutionized how independent authors and journalists can earn money from their writing by allowing them to create and distribute newsletters, as well as other written content.
Substack.com Home Page substack.com home page (c) Substack
But it's not the sole platform that is similar to it, as there are a number of Substack alternatives that have the same features. In this article we'll take deeper look at some of the main rivals to Substack and then compare their features and capabilities.
We'll dive deep into various newsletter software products in order to determine what suits your individual requirements. Also, we'll provide the cost of each software.
Substack's pricing model
There's no cost to publish through Substack, no matter how many subscribers you've. If you activate paid subscriptions and then begin charging your customers, Substack takes a 10 per cent fee on every transaction , and their payment processing platform Stripe charges 2.9 30% + 30C/ per transaction.
Ghost - great for blogging
Another rival that is similar to Substack is Ghost, an open-source blogging platform. Ghost is comparable to Substack in the sense that it permits users to write and publish content, but it includes additional features that Substack does not have that could be a good choice for more established independent bloggers or small publications.
. ghost.org home page (c) Ghost
One of the major differences among Ghost and Substack is the degree of control users have over their content. Ghost allows users to do more 'heavy lifting' when it comes to customization by offering customized templates and themes to alter the style and appearance of their publications, while Substack has a more limited range of options. Ghost provides multi-author support and allows multiple authors to contribute to a single blog or website, making Ghost a great choice for groups.
Ghost's pricing model
Ghost prices start at $11/month, or $108/year with the Starter plan, including an employee user, free Ghost web themes as well as integrated integrations that are standard, as well as a maximum of 500 members. There are three higher tiers beginning with the Creator plan at 25 dollars per month for 1,000 members and extra functionality such as customized integrations.
Medium - great to publish in the community
Medium is another platform with features that are similar to Substack. Medium is a writing and blogging platform which allows users to share stories, and it has a large reader and writer community. Medium is renowned for its clean, easy-to-use interface, and its emphasis on quality content. It encourages readers to discover stories, thinking, and know-how on any topic.
The medium.com homepage (c) medium.com
Medium is a great platform for journalists and writers who want to engage an audience, and so is easily a part of Substack's most popular competitors as it has a loyal readership built into the platform however, the audience is focused on online and the app and not email newsletters. The membership and paywall option allows authors to monetize their content.
Medium's pricing model
There is no charge to publish on Medium, no matter how many subscribers or members that you be able to. Medium earns money through charging users to read your stories as well as other stories at $5/month or $50/year.
Indeed, members of Medium Partner Program can earn money. Medium Partner Program can earn money through referrals. The successful referrals earn you half of a membership fee of a new member for the duration of time they're a paying member, minus the typical 2.9 percentage plus $0.30 on processing costs. If you could get 100 members to join a monthly Medium membership, you'd receive an average of $227 for each month.
ConvertKit is great for automatizing
ConvertKit is an automation and email marketing platform that is designed specifically to help creators like bloggers as well as journalists, podcasters and bloggers. It's designed to help people build an email list and automate emails, and create segments for audiences to be targeted marketing. ConvertKit includes features like opt-in forms, landing pages, and email comms , just like the other Substack competitors.
The IxT1XhZ5oqe1jmreBgs The converkit.com homepage (c) ConvertKit
One of the main focuses of Convertkit is to automate the process of connecting with new subscribers and converting their growth into loyal customers. It also has a visual automation builder which allows users to build complicated automation flow without programming. The software also has tools to manage affiliate relationships and providing exclusive content to paid subscribers.
Pricing model for ConvertKit's ConvertKit
New creators can take advantage of the free service. ConvertKit is free for as many as 300 users. For those with a growing audience, ConvertKit costs from $15/month or $108/year, again for 300 or more customers, however, it also comes with access to email sequencesas well as automation builders and integrations with third party companies plus another team member.
MailChimp - great for email
Mailchimp is an email marketing tool that allows companies and other organizations to create and send emails to (often massive) audiences. Mailchimp offers the ability to design custom email templates as well as segment and focus your audiences, measure the performance of your campaigns and connect with other applications and tools to replicate the performance of a Substack competitor.
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home page. The mailchimp.com homepage (c) Mailchimp
With Mailchimp it provides statistics and trackers to assist you to understand the performance of your marketing campaigns and to make informed decisions. It's not as focused in publishing and more geared towards marketing via email or online; therefore, it offers integrations to website builders, e-commerce platforms, as well as other tools to automate the process of creating and sending out email messages.
MailChimp's pricing model
Mailchimp has a trial package that allows you to use most of the basics features, and up to 2,500 emails sent at up to 500 users and basic reports. Paid plans for bigger lists and advanced features begin at $20 per month for up to 6000 emails sent for up to 500 recipients.
Patreon is great for creators.
Patreon lets independent creators such as musicians, writers, and authors to get financial backing from their audience, to finance their efforts and creating new content. Creators set up a page through the Patreon platform and patrons, also known as "patrons," can choose to help them by making an ongoing monetary donation. As a result, patrons get exclusive content and/or perks.
The patreon.com homepage (c) Patreon
Patreon is the basis of subscriptions, which means users are charged a fixed amount over a regular basis (usually every month). Creators are able to provide different levels of support with different rewards for each level, so patrons are able to donate to a modest or substantial amount according to their budgets and the degree of engagement they're looking for. It allows independent creators to keep producing content, without being obligated to advertising or gatekeepers.
The pricing model of Patreon
Patreon Lite costs 5% of the income per month you earn on Patreon and charges for payment processing, and comes with an artist page, communications tools, and the ability to attend Patreon workshops. Its Patreon Pro plan takes 8 percent of the income that you make plus processing fees and includes other membership levels, as well as analytics and insight, as well as a tool for running promotions.
SendFox - great for campaigns
Sendfox is a platform for software that allows users to create email marketing campaigns, track, and send emails for marketing. The platform offers many features including email templates, automation, segmentation, and analytics. Sendfox is designed specifically for companies of all sizes and can be utilized to advertise the products and services of your business, increase the customer relationship, and improve conversions.
The 0yeAR0hSBm3pjHsWmX The sendfox.com home page (c) SendFox
There's a no-cost version of SendFox which allows sending newsletters to 1000 contacts with SendFox-branded emails and no automations. Lifetime Plan Lifetime Plan costs just one payment of $49 (not per-month) and allows the use of up to 5000 subscribers and a limited SendFox branding and unlimited automatizations. This could be the cheapest among all Substack rivals.
Pricing model of SendFox
The Sendfox free plan permits unlimited sending to up 1000 members, however messages are branded with SendFox branding. The Lifetime Plan costs just $49 per month - that's currently down from $480. The plan also includes the possibility of 5,000 members as well as enhanced deliverability.
- great for membership
It would be remiss of us not to mention us! This software for managing memberships lets creators manage their membership programmes with customized price levels and access levels in order to make their content monetizable. Works well for online courses (eCourse) creators, podcast hosts, and other content creators who want to expand their audiences.
The .com homepage
Particularly relevant here is our Posts feature, which is a replica of Substack's 'combined email and online method! allows you to publish only to members via newsletters as well as a -hosted website. You can add text and images, select who you wish are to be targeted, and then either publish the post or schedule it to be published in the future. Visit our help documents to find out more details.
Pricing model for's
Our Starter plan is free and comes with a 10% fee for transactions. You can create two membership plans with unlimited members, and website-only integrations. If you want to use the Posts feature, you'll require the Pro plan which costs $25/month (or premium plan which costs $100/month but the transaction fee is reduced to 4.9%. It also grants unlimited membership and plans, plus all integrations as well upgrades such as the ability to sell private podcasts.
Conclusion
There's a great choice when you're searching for Substack competition: there's a plethora of platform options that permit you to publish and distribute email ewsletters for an audience, as well as to create revenue for doing so.
What you're looking for in a platform that concentrates on email or the concept of community publishing, or membership or something else, will depend on the type of content that you'd like to create along with other aspects like the frequency of publication and the desired amount of customisation.
We'd like to thank you for this. - happy publishing!