Substack vs Medium: Which Is Better for Writers in 2026?

Substack vs Medium is one of the most common questions writers ask when they start publishing online. Both are free to join, both have paywalls and both promise readers. But they make money in completely different ways. Medium pays you a share of its own membership revenue. Substack lets your readers pay you directly.

This guide compares Substack and Medium on how they pay, who owns your audience, discovery, fees and SEO, and explains when it makes sense to use both, or neither. For deeper dives on each platform, see how much Substack writers make and how much Medium pays writers.

---

Substack vs Medium at a Glance

---

How Substack and Medium Pay Writers

How Medium pays

Medium shares part of its membership revenue with writers in its Partner Program. Your earnings depend mainly on how long paying Medium members spend reading your paywalled stories, plus engagement such as claps, highlights and responses. There's no fixed rate per view.

• Requirements: Medium's help center lists an active paid Medium membership, at least one published story, a complete profile, an eligible payout country and being 18 or older.
• Typical earnings: writers commonly report roughly $5 to $25 per 1,000 member reads, and most say they earn under $50 a month. Treat both as writer-reported ranges, not Medium data.

How Substack pays

On Substack you set your own subscription price, and readers pay you directly. Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges about 2.9% + $0.30 per payment plus 0.7% for recurring billing.

• What you keep: about $4.02 of every $5 monthly payment, or about $6.61 of every $8 payment.
• Typical earnings: depend on your list size and conversion rate. Many newsletters convert 1% to 5% of free readers to paid.

What that means in practice

Medium can pay something before you have an audience. Substack pays nothing until readers subscribe, but income grows with your list and stays with you if you leave.

---

Audience Ownership: The Biggest Difference

On Medium, your followers are Medium's readers. Medium decides how often they see your stories, and you don't get an email list you can export. If Medium changes its formula or you leave, your audience doesn't come with you.

On Substack, your subscribers are an email list. Every issue lands in their inbox, and you can export the list. That makes Substack more resilient, though your publication still runs on Substack's domain and rules unless you pay for a custom domain.

If owning your audience matters, Substack is the stronger choice. If you only want to write and be read, Medium asks less of you.

---

Discovery: Where New Readers Come From

• Medium shows stories in readers' feeds based on topics and follows, and its editors and publications can Boost stories to a wider audience. New writers can get readers on day one.
• Substack grows mostly through your own promotion, plus recommendations from other newsletters, Substack Notes and the Substack app. It usually rewards writers who already have some audience elsewhere.

Neither platform is built for Google search first. If search traffic matters to you, see our guide to why newsletter archives are invisible to Google.

---

Fees and Costs Compared

Substack's 10% grows with your income. At $5,000 a month in subscriptions, it's $6,000 a year. Our breakdown of Substack fees works through the math.

---

Can You Use Substack and Medium Together?

Yes, and many writers do. A common setup:

1. Publish on your main platform first, usually Substack or your own site, so that version is the original.
2. Adapt selected posts for Medium with a new title or angle, and link back to your newsletter at the end.
3. Use Medium for discovery and your newsletter for the relationship with readers.

Keep in mind that the Medium Partner Program only pays for stories behind Medium's paywall, so you'll need to decide which stories to paywall there.

---

A Third Option: Your Own Site

If you like Substack's direct subscriptions but want your own domain, lower fees and search traffic, your own site is worth considering. Our comparison of Postion vs Substack vs Ghost vs Medium covers the trade-offs.

Postion runs your writing as a blog and newsletter on your own site. Free posts are public and searchable, paid posts sit behind a paywall with a free preview, and you can sell paid subscriptions and one-time purchases from the same site. The platform fee is 5% on the Free plan, 2% on Launch and 0% on Pro, plus card processing at cost. Paid plans have a monthly price, and custom domains and newsletter sending start on Launch, with up to 100 newsletter subscribers on Launch and 500 on Pro. Postion doesn't have Medium's built-in readership or Substack's recommendation network, so it suits writers who bring readers from search, social or an existing list. See what Postion is.

---

Which Should You Choose?

• Choose Medium if you're just starting, don't have an audience yet, and want to get read without promoting your work.
• Choose Substack if you want to build a paid newsletter and an email list you own, and you're ready to promote it.
• Use both if you want Medium's discovery feeding a Substack newsletter.
• Choose your own site if you want your own domain, search traffic and lower fees as you grow. See the best Medium alternative for options.

---

FAQ: Substack vs Medium

Q: Is Substack or Medium better for beginners? A: Medium is usually easier for beginners because its feed and publications can bring readers without an existing audience. Substack works best once you can bring some readers yourself, since most growth comes from your own promotion and recommendations.

Q: Which pays more, Substack or Medium? A: It depends on your audience. Medium can pay small amounts early on, often under $50 a month. Substack pays nothing until readers subscribe, but a few hundred paying subscribers can earn far more than most Medium writers make.

Q: Can I post the same article on Substack and Medium? A: Yes. Many writers publish on their main platform first and adapt the piece for the other, often with a new title and a link back to their newsletter.

Q: Does Medium give you an email list? A: No. Medium readers follow you on Medium, but you don't get an email list you can export. Substack gives you a subscriber list you can export at any time.

Q: How much does Substack take compared with Medium? A: Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue, plus Stripe processing. Medium charges no fee, but you need a paid Medium membership to earn through its Partner Program, and Medium sets how much you're paid.

---

The Bottom Line

The Substack vs Medium choice comes down to one question: do you want to be paid by a platform, or by your readers? Medium is the easier start, and Substack is the better long-term business. Whatever you choose, collect readers' emails somewhere you control.

Want direct subscriptions on your own domain? See how Postion works to publish your blog and newsletter, sell paid subscriptions and one-time posts, keep every reader's email, and pay a platform fee from 5% down to 0%.