The Great Migration: Choosing the Best Creator Platform (Postion vs. Substack vs. Ghost vs. Medium)

Choosing a platform is one of the biggest decisions you'll make as a creator. It's not just a piece of software; it's the foundation of your digital home, your business headquarters, and your direct connection to your audience. Get it right, and you build a sustainable, profitable business. Get it wrong, and you face frustrating limitations, unfair fees, and the daunting task of starting over.

This is the creator's "Great Migration." You might be moving from a platform that no longer serves you, or you might be choosing your very first home. The options—Substack, Medium, Ghost, and new contenders like Postion—all promise to be the best. But they are fundamentally different.

To make the right choice, you need to ask the right questions. Before diving into comparisons, it's helpful to have a clear framework. We've compiled a list of 10 questions every creator should ask before choosing a newsletter platform to guide your thinking.

Once you have your priorities straight, you can evaluate the platforms on the four pillars that truly matter for long-term success.

Pillar 1: Monetization & Fees (Who Really Gets Paid?)

Your content is valuable. Your platform should help you capture that value, not take an excessive cut.

• Substack: The model is famously simple: free to start, but they take a 10% cut of your revenue, on top of Stripe's processing fees (~3%). This is great when you're making $100/month. It's punishing when you're making $10,000/month, costing you $1,000 every single month for the exact same service. As we break down in detail, Substack's 10% fee is costing you far more than you think. You are penalized for your own success.
• Medium: Monetization is indirect through the Partner Program. You're paid based on member engagement, not direct subscriptions. You have no control over pricing, the algorithm, or the customer relationship. It's like writing for a magazine, not running a business.
• Ghost: You keep 100% of your revenue (minus Stripe fees). This is fantastic. The trade-off is that you pay a fixed monthly hosting fee for their Pro service. For a detailed comparison, it's worth seeing a full cost breakdown of Substack vs. Ghost vs. Postion to understand the total cost of ownership.
• Postion: We believe in fair, transparent pricing. We combine the ease of Substack with a model that doesn't punish growth. With a small, flat transaction fee, you keep the vast majority of your earnings. This frees you to focus on not just subscriptions, but also building diversified income streams all in one place.

The Verdict: For serious creators, a model that doesn't scale fees with your revenue is critical. How you price your work also plays a huge role, which is why understanding the psychology of pricing your content is your next strategic step after choosing a platform.

Pillar 2: Content Ownership & Control (Are You a Renter or an Owner?)

This is the most overlooked—and most important—factor. Are you building your brand on your own land, or on someone else's?

• Medium: You are a renter, plain and simple. Your content lives on Medium.com, under their brand, subject to their rules and algorithm. If you're tired of Medium's paywall and algorithm games, you already know that owning your content is a smarter move.
• Substack: It's a step up. You can export your email list. But your site lives on a yourname.substack.com domain by default, and you have almost zero control over design, functionality, or SEO. You're building their brand as much as your own.
• Ghost: The gold standard for ownership. It's open-source. You have full control over your site, your data, and your brand. The downside? This control comes with complexity that can be a hurdle for many.
• Postion: We provide the ownership of Ghost with the simplicity of Substack. You get a custom domain from day one, which, as we explain, is essential for long-term SEO success. You have full ownership of your content and data. We believe data ownership for creators isn't just a buzzword; it's your most valuable asset.

The Verdict: True ownership means having your own domain, your own brand, and your own data, without needing a computer science degree.

Pillar 3: Growth & SEO (Is the Platform Helping You Grow?)

A platform shouldn't just host your content; it should help new people discover it.

• Medium: Benefits from a high domain authority, but you're ultimately building their SEO authority, not your own.
• Substack: Notoriously weak for SEO. It's designed as a newsletter-first tool, making it difficult to rank on Google.
• Ghost: Very powerful for SEO, but you are responsible for implementing the strategy.
• Postion: Built for growth. We provide a lightning-fast, SEO-optimized foundation. Features like our AI Search and Knowledge Hub are designed to help you go beyond the blog post to maximize content value. We automate best practices, turning your content into a well-organized library that search engines love.

The Verdict: A platform should be an active partner in your growth, with features specifically designed to maximize organic reach.

Pillar 4: Ease of Use & Creator Experience

Power and flexibility mean nothing if the platform is a chore to use.

• Substack & Medium: Both are incredibly simple, which is their main appeal.
• Ghost: The most powerful, but also the most complex. It's often overkill, which raises the question: for non-technical creators, is Ghost or Postion better?
• Postion: Our core philosophy: powerful, not complicated. We offer a beautiful writing experience that feels as simple as Medium, but with integrated tools like an AI writing assistant and content repurposing features. This "create once, distribute everywhere" approach lets you stop wasting time and maximize your reach.

The At-a-Glance Comparison

Stop Renting, Start Owning

The "Great Migration" is about moving from a platform that limits you to one that empowers you.

While Substack and Medium are great for starting out, and Ghost is excellent for tinkerers, Postion is built for the serious, independent creator who values ownership, growth, and fair monetization without the technical headaches.

It's your content. It's your audience. It's your business. It's time you had a platform that treats it that way. And if you're coming from Substack, we've made the transition seamless. Here is our 5-step migration guide for switching from Substack to Postion. It's easier than you think.

Ready to build your digital home? See how Postion empowers independent creators.