Substackvs
Beehiiv
Beehiiv: The all-in-one platform for newsletter creators
Substack
The newsletter platform for writers and publishers
As of 30 August 2026, Substack is free to use. Substack is a newsletter publishing platform that allows writers and journalists to send newsletters directly to subscribers. Softwr lists it under News. Substack is made by Substack Inc, launched in 2017, available on Web, iOS, Android.
Overview
What Substack does
Substack is a newsletter publishing platform that allows writers and journalists to send newsletters directly to subscribers. It provides monetization options through paid subscriptions and has become the go-to platform for independent journalists and newsletter creators. Simple, focused, and creator-friendly.
What people use it for
- Newsletter distribution
- Reader monetization
- Community building
- Subscriber management
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Substack.
- Substack does not publish pricing on its public pricing page
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Substack
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- SubstackvsFeedly
Feedly: Organize, read, and share content you care about
- SubstackvsInoreader
Inoreader: The content reader for power users
- SubstackvsChartbeat
Chartbeat: Real-time analytics for publishers
Pricing
What Substack costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Unlimited newsletters
- Basic design
- Archive access
- Email delivery
Pro
$12 /mo
- Custom domain
- Advanced analytics
- Member chat
- Priority support
Capabilities
Features
Newsletter publishing
Subscriber management
Paid subscriptions
Email analytics
Post scheduling
Archive creation
Free/paid tier split
Comments & discussion
Apple News
Integration with Apple News
Spotify
Integration with Spotify
Stripe
Integration with Stripe
Twitter
Integration with Twitter
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does Substack cost?
Substack does not publish rates on its pricing page. The site emphasizes earning potential for writers with the tagline Make money doing the work you believe in.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Substack
- Company
- Substack Inc
- Based in
- San Francisco, CA
Keep looking
Where to go from Substack
- Substack alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Substack pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Substack badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All News softwareThe full category
- Best News softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best News software for
Compare Substack with
- Beehiiv
- Buttondown
- Chartbeat
- Feedly
- Inoreader
- TinyLetter
- Medium
- Ghost CMS
- Revue
- Arc Publishing
- Brightspot
- ConvertKit
- Mailbrew
- Microsoft Start
- News Break
- NewsBlur
- NewsWhip
- Medium
Other News software
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Pricing on request6 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Substack, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Substack
Substack alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Substack pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Substack
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Substack badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best News software alternatives
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
Per user per month
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
Open source, no licence feeThe easiest way to start and grow your newsletter
