When writers today consider where to publish their work online, two platforms consistently dominate the conversation: Medium and Substack. While both serve as homes for independent writers and their audiences, they represent fundamentally different philosophies about what online publishing should be.
The Core Philosophy
Medium positions itself as a discovery platform, a place where readers come to find interesting content across countless topics. When you publish on Medium, you’re joining a vast ecosystem of articles, and the platform actively works to surface your writing to readers who might enjoy it, even if they’ve never heard of you. The interface is clean and distraction-free, and every article looks polished regardless of the author’s design skills. Medium wants to be a destination where curious readers browse, much like they might wander through a bookstore.
Substack, by contrast, is built around the newsletter model and direct relationships between writers and readers. It’s less about discovery and more about loyalty. When someone reads your work on Substack, they’re typically subscribing specifically to you, not browsing the platform. The content arrives in their inbox, making it personal and direct. Substack believes the future of publishing lies in creators building their own audiences and monetizing those relationships directly, without intermediaries.
Making Money
The revenue models reflect these different philosophies. Medium operates on a membership model where readers pay a monthly subscription to access all paywalled content across the platform. Writers earn money based on how much engagement their stories receive from Medium members, measured through reading time. This means you can earn from readers who never specifically chose to follow you, as long as they’re Medium subscribers who find and read your work. However, you’re sharing those subscription dollars with every other writer on the platform, and Medium takes a cut of the overall subscription revenue.
Substack takes a more straightforward approach. You set your own subscription price, readers pay you directly, and Substack takes ten percent of your revenue. There’s no pool to share, no algorithm deciding your earnings. If someone pays five dollars a month for your newsletter, you get four-fifty. This simplicity appeals to many writers, though it also means you’re entirely responsible for convincing readers to pay. There’s no existing pool of subscribers browsing the platform who might stumble upon your work and generate income.
Building an Audience
Growing your readership happens very differently on each platform. Medium’s algorithmic distribution can be powerful for new writers. A single story can go viral within the Medium ecosystem, exposing you to thousands of readers you could never have reached on your own. The platform’s curation team highlights exceptional work, and the recommendation engine suggests your articles to interested readers. Tags and publications expand your reach beyond your immediate followers. For writers without an existing audience, this discovery mechanism is invaluable.
Substack offers no such algorithmic boost. You start with zero subscribers, and every reader you gain comes from your own promotional efforts. You’ll need to leverage social media, your existing reputation, guest appearances, or other channels to drive people to subscribe. Substack does feature some newsletters in its app and on its homepage, but this represents a tiny fraction of the platform’s content. The upside is that every subscriber you gain is genuinely interested in your specific work, creating a more engaged and loyal audience. The downside is that growth can be slow and grinding, especially in the beginning.
Content and Control
Medium imposes certain constraints on how you publish. The editor is simple but limited. You can’t deeply customize the look of your articles beyond basic formatting. Your author page exists within Medium’s design framework. This standardization ensures everything looks good, but it also means your work doesn’t stand out visually from anyone else’s. You’re also publishing on Medium’s domain, not your own, which has implications for brand building and search engine optimization.
Substack gives you more control over your newsletter’s appearance and branding. You can customize colors, add a logo, and structure your publication in ways that reflect your personality. Each newsletter goes out under your own subdomain. The publishing interface is similarly straightforward, though it lacks some of Medium’s polish. Importantly, you own your subscriber list and can export it at any time, giving you portability that Medium’s follower system doesn’t provide.
The Reader Experience
For readers, Medium offers serendipity. They can browse topics of interest, follow tags, and discover new voices. The reading experience is consistent across all articles, which many readers appreciate. A single subscription unlocks everything on the platform, making it economical for voracious readers. However, readers might feel less connection to individual writers since Medium emphasizes the platform over personalities.
Substack readers make deliberate choices about which newsletters to follow. Each newsletter arrives in their inbox on a schedule they can predict, creating anticipation and routine. This intimacy fosters stronger relationships between writers and readers. The tradeoff is inbox clutter. Subscribe to too many newsletters, and your email becomes overwhelming. There’s also no central place to browse and discover new Substack writers beyond the platform’s limited recommendations.
Which Platform Is Right?
The choice between Medium and Substack ultimately depends on what you value and where you are in your writing journey. If you’re starting from scratch with no audience and want the possibility of rapid growth through discovery, Medium offers advantages. If you’re writing about topics that fit Medium’s general interests—technology, culture, society, politics, personal development—the platform’s reader base might align well with your content.
If you already have an audience elsewhere or prefer building something that feels truly yours, Substack makes more sense. The direct relationship with subscribers, the simplicity of the business model, and the portability of your subscriber list provide long-term advantages. Writers who view their newsletter as a business rather than just a creative outlet often gravitate toward Substack’s transparent economics.Some writers use both platforms strategically, publishing different types of content in each place or using Medium to drive traffic to their Substack. There’s no rule saying you must choose one exclusively, though maintaining multiple publishing channels requires more effort.
Both platforms have proven that writers can build sustainable careers outside traditional media gatekeepers. Whether you prefer Medium’s communal discovery or Substack’s direct relationships, the opportunity exists to find your readers and, if you choose, to earn a living from your words.
