SubStack Alternatives
September 14, 2023 6:48 AM Subscribe
Is there a decent / more ethical alternative to SubStack?
Basically, I like SubStack as a platform, but I can't abide their tolerance/enabling of racists and fascists. I'd like something exactly like it, but with an ethical spine.
I like that SubStack takes all the hard work out of managing a mailing list and making content I might write available on the web. I don't have any plans to monetize but it's nice to dream about. I do not have an existing list I need to migrate over. This would be something that is starting from scratch.
I also like I can get started on SubStack for free. This is a personal project/experiment and I don't want to have to put money into it until I see if it is something I can sustain.
Basically, I like SubStack as a platform, but I can't abide their tolerance/enabling of racists and fascists. I'd like something exactly like it, but with an ethical spine.
I like that SubStack takes all the hard work out of managing a mailing list and making content I might write available on the web. I don't have any plans to monetize but it's nice to dream about. I do not have an existing list I need to migrate over. This would be something that is starting from scratch.
I also like I can get started on SubStack for free. This is a personal project/experiment and I don't want to have to put money into it until I see if it is something I can sustain.
Ghost is one option I’ve seen people use and switch to. (Comparison with Substack)
posted by staggernation at 7:04 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by staggernation at 7:04 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
The new hotness is Beehiiv—I haven’t used it myself, but the narrative is that it’s slicker than Buttondown but cheaper than Ghost (free under 2500 subscribers, if you’re willing to forego some premium features like A/B testing). I really love Buttondown’s one-on-one tech support, though I feel like it cannot possibly scale if the platform gets more popular, but the look is a little rough and ready.
posted by babelfish at 8:11 AM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by babelfish at 8:11 AM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Hello! I run Buttondown — just wanted to flag that as we've grown, we've hired customer support engineers and technical writers to make sure the one-on-one support does scale :) That being said, I'm always available to chat.
posted by jmduke at 9:01 AM on September 14, 2023 [30 favorites]
posted by jmduke at 9:01 AM on September 14, 2023 [30 favorites]
Buttondown is used by Mike Monteiro for his newsletter, which makes it a solid recommendation in my opinion. Monteiro is cofounder of Mule Design in San Francisco. For a while he was so much famous for a video in which his attorney explained to freelance designers why they needed to have contracts with their clients, video that was frequently punctuated by him saying “fuck you pay me.” At least that is how I remember it. I don’t know the guy but I know of him and he seems to have relatively high standards as humans go.
Buttondown seems like a really good choice if you are not worried about the network effect and prefer to deal with nonassholes. Jmduke doesn’t know me but we had a few email exchanges when I was considering using Buttondown. When I failed to produce much in the way of a newsletter, the issue became moot.
There are some wonderful people using Substack and some odious people using Substack. In both cases, Substack continues to be run by odious owners.
making content I might write available on the web.
As I understand it, Substack only makes your information available on the web in the sense that if you have a link to it, you can see it. But it is not indexed by Google. But I may be wrong. I don’t think people can simply stumble over it but maybe you don’t want that. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 12:38 PM on September 14, 2023
Buttondown seems like a really good choice if you are not worried about the network effect and prefer to deal with nonassholes. Jmduke doesn’t know me but we had a few email exchanges when I was considering using Buttondown. When I failed to produce much in the way of a newsletter, the issue became moot.
There are some wonderful people using Substack and some odious people using Substack. In both cases, Substack continues to be run by odious owners.
making content I might write available on the web.
As I understand it, Substack only makes your information available on the web in the sense that if you have a link to it, you can see it. But it is not indexed by Google. But I may be wrong. I don’t think people can simply stumble over it but maybe you don’t want that. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 12:38 PM on September 14, 2023
If you plan to have a paid tier or think you might, Patreon is probably worth a look, at least. It's hard to beat Substack and Patreon in terms of critical mass.
This is of purely anecdotal value, and moot if your plan is to mostly deliver via email, but as a reader, although I support people cutting ties with Substack in principle, I would have to be strongly connected to the writer to consider following them to another platform at this point- between this and the death of Twitter I feel really exhausted by this landscape of many newly hatched alternatives with few people setting up shop in any given place.
posted by wormtales at 3:10 PM on September 14, 2023
This is of purely anecdotal value, and moot if your plan is to mostly deliver via email, but as a reader, although I support people cutting ties with Substack in principle, I would have to be strongly connected to the writer to consider following them to another platform at this point- between this and the death of Twitter I feel really exhausted by this landscape of many newly hatched alternatives with few people setting up shop in any given place.
posted by wormtales at 3:10 PM on September 14, 2023
I switched to Buttondown when Mailchimp got bought. It's great.
posted by dobbs at 4:22 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 4:22 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Another happy Buttondown user here. Their support has been great whenever I have questions. I do find the very long settings screen a bit confusing at times but they also keep improving things, which is not a given on many websites/services. They recently made a price comparison tool for various similar platforms.
posted by fabius at 6:13 AM on September 15, 2023
posted by fabius at 6:13 AM on September 15, 2023
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They have a comparison with Substack.
posted by Klipspringer at 6:59 AM on September 14, 2023 [3 favorites]