Terms
A lot of people know that Revue an online platform that focuses on building an audience through electronic newsletters as well as online publishing, has been closed down by its parent company Twitter. Revue was launched in 2015, and then purchased by Twitter in 2021.
On 15 December 2022, just a few days after newly appointed Twitter director Elon Musk indicated his interest in purchasing Substack (another newsletter platform), Twitter announced that they were phasing out Revue. So what newsletter platform options remain?
In the beginning, what exactly is Substack?
Substack is an application that has changed how independent authors and journalists earn money for their work by allowing them to create and distribute newsletters and other written material.
substack.com home page (c) Substack
However, it is certainly not the only one that is similar to it, as there are many Substack rivals that provide the same features. In this piece we'll look at deeper examine several of the major competitors to Substack and evaluate their capabilities and capabilities.
In this article, we'll take a deep dive into different email software options, so you can best choose the one that best fits your specific requirements. We'll also include the pricing for each one.
Pricing model for Substack
It's free to post your content on Substack regardless of how many subscribers you have. If you activate paid subscriptions and start charging your audience, Substack takes a 10% fee on each purchase and their processing platform Stripe charges 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per payment.
Ghost - great for blogging
Another rival in the same space as Substack is Ghost the open-source blogging platform. Ghost is like Substack in the sense that it permits users to publish and create material, but Ghost has extra features Substack is missing that might make it an appealing option for bloggers with a long history of independence or publications with a small number of readers.
. ghost.org home page (c) Ghost
One of the main distinctions in Ghost as well as Substack is the degree of control the users enjoy over their content. Ghost permits users to carry out more of the heavy lifting in terms of customization by offering customized templates and themes to edit the look and feel of their blogs, whereas Substack offers a less extensive range of options. Ghost is also able to support multi-authors that allows several users to contribute to a single blog or website, making Ghost a great choice to work in teams.
Ghost's pricing model
Ghost costs from $11/month or $108/year for the Starter plan, including the staff member, one user, no-cost Ghost website themes and integrated integrations that are standard, as well as up to 500 users. There are three higher tiers beginning at the creator plan which is $25/month for 1,000 Members and extra functionality such as customized integrations.
Medium is great for community publishing
Medium is a different platform which offers similar features to Substack. It's a blogging and writing platform, which lets users write stories, and boasts a vast reader and writer community. Medium is renowned for its clear, user-friendly interface and the emphasis on content that is of high quality. The site encourages users to explore ideas, thoughts and knowledge on any subject.
The medium.com home page (c) Medium
Medium is an ideal medium for journalists and writers looking to reach an engaged audience, and so can easily be considered one of Substack's top competitors, because it is a dependable built-in community of readers however, the audience is focussed online or on the app and not on emails. The membership and paywall option allows authors to monetize their content.
Medium's pricing strategy
It's free for publishing on Medium no matter how many subscribers or members that you might have. Medium makes its money by charging readers to read your stories as well as other stories at $5/month or $50/year.
Actually, authors on Medium Partner Program can earn money. Medium Partner Program can earn money via referrals. The successful referrals earn you the equivalent of half of a membership fee of a new member for while they're an active member. This is less the usual 2.9% + $0.30 for processing costs. So, if you got 100 readers to sign up for an annual Medium membership, you'd earn $227 per month.
ConvertKit is great for automatizing
ConvertKit is an automated and marketing email platform that is designed specifically for bloggers or journalists as well as podcasters. ConvertKit is designed to aid users build an email list to automate email sequences and divide audiences into segments to enable specifically targeted marketing. ConvertKit includes features like the opt-in form, landing page as well as email communications, similar to similar Substack rivals.
The IxT1XhZ5oqe1jmreBgs The converkit.com home page (c) ConvertKit
One of the main focuses of Convertkit is to automate the process of connecting to prospective subscribers, and then nurturing the process of turning them into clients. Convertkit also includes a graphic automation tool that allows the creation of intricate automation workflows without the need for programming. The software also has tools to manage affiliate relationships and providing exclusive content for customers who pay.
The pricing model used by ConvertKit
New creators can take advantage of the free service. ConvertKit is completely free up to 300 customers. For those with a growing audience, ConvertKit costs from $15/month or $108/year for up to 300 subscribers, but also with access to email sequencesas well as automation builders and third-party integrations as well as an additional team members.
MailChimp - great for email
The Mailchimp email marketing service that allows businesses and organizations to develop and deliver emails to (often large) audience. Mailchimp offers the ability to build custom templates for email, segment and target your audiences, measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, and also integrate with different tools and services in order to create an Substack competitor.
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home page. The mailchimp.com home page (c) Mailchimp
Through Mailchimp You get statistics and trackers to help you understand how your campaigns are performing and take data-driven decision making. It's less focussed on publishing , and is more focused on emails that are CRM-related or for e-commerce, as such it provides integrations with site builders, e-commerce platforms as well as other tools to automate creating and sending email campaigns.
Pricing model for MailChimp
Mailchimp offers a free plan, which allows you to use most of the basics features, and up to 2,500 emails sent for up to 500 recipients using basic reporting. Paid plans for bigger lists and advanced features begin at $20 per month for as much as 6000 email messages for up to 500 recipients.
Patreon - great for creators
Patreon provides independent creators, like musicians and writers to receive financial support from their audience, to finance their efforts and to create new material. Creators can create a profile through the Patreon platform, and their fans, or "patrons," can choose to support them with regularly scheduled monetary contributions. Patrons in return receive unique content or other rewards.
The patreon.com homepage (c) Patreon
Patreon runs on a subscription model, so users are charged a fixed amount over a regular basis (usually each month). Creators are able to provide different levels of support with different rewards for every level. This means that patrons can choose to contribute a little or a lot according to their budgets and the degree of engagement they're looking for. The independent creator is able to continue producing content without being beholden to advertisers or traditional gatekeepers.
Pricing model for Patreon
Patreon Lite costs 5% of the income per month that you make on Patreon, plus the cost of processing payments, and includes the creator's page, social media tools, and accessibility to Patreon workshops. Patreon Pro is the most expensive plan. Patreon Pro plan takes 8 percent of the income that you make plus processing fees and offers in additional membership tiers, analytics and data, and also a way for running promotional campaigns.
SendFox - great for campaigns
Sendfox is a platform for software that allows users to create, send, and track campaigns for email marketing. The platform offers many tools, such as email templates, automation, segmentation, and analytics. Sendfox is designed specifically for companies that are of any size. It can be used to promote the products and services of your business, increase customers' relationships and boost sales.
The sendfox.com homepage (c) SendFox
There's a trial version of SendFox which allows sending newsletters to 1000 contacts , with branding from SendFox and no automated messages. The Lifetime Plan costs just one payment of $49 (not ongoing) and allows up to 5000 members and a limited SendFox branding and unlimited automations. This could be the cheapest of all Substack competitors.
SendFox's pricing model
The Sendfox free plan allows for unlimited sending to up to 1,000 users, but the email messages bear SendFox branding. The Lifetime Plan costs just $49 per month - it's currently reduced from $480. The plan also includes the possibility of 5,000 members as well as increased deliverability.
- great for membership
It would be remiss of us in not mentioning ourselves! Membership management software allows creators to manage membership programs with custom price tiers and access levels to monetize their content. works well for online course (eCourse) creators or podcast hosts as well as other content creators who want to increase their reach.
The .com home page
The most relevant feature here is the Posts feature, which is a replica of Substack's 'combined email and online' approach! allows you to publish only to members via newsletters and a hosted website. The user can include text as well as images, select which of your members you want to reach, then make the article public or plan the post for the future. Check out our help documentation to find out more details.
Pricing model for's
The Starter plan is free with an additional 10% cost for transactions. It allows you to create two membership plans that allow no limit on members, as well as website-only integrations. For access to Posts, our Posts option, users require the Pro plan which costs $25/month (or the Premium plan which costs $100/month but the transaction fee reduces to 4.9 percent. It also grants unlimited membership and plans along with all integrations as well upgrades such as selling private podcasts.
Conclusion
This is a fantastic option to anyone seeking Substack competition: there's a plethora of platform options that permit you to create and distribute email newsletters to an audience, and to create revenue for creating revenue from it.
Whether you're more interested in an application that is focused on email or the concept of community publishing, or membership or some other thing, it is contingent on the kind of content you wish to create and other factors such as the frequency of publication and the desired amount of customisation.
Hope this will help to make publishing more enjoyable!