# Substack Reviews **Vendor:** Substack **Category:** [Content Creation Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/content-creation) **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 17 ## About Substack Substack is an online platform that empowers writers, podcasters, and video creators to publish content directly to their audience through subscription-based newsletters. Launched in 2017, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for content creation, distribution, and monetization, enabling creators to build sustainable businesses around their work. Key Features and Functionality: - Flexible Publishing: Supports various content formats, including text, audio, and video, allowing creators to engage their audience through multiple mediums. - Subscription Management: Facilitates both free and paid subscriptions, with customizable pricing options for monthly, annual, and founding member tiers. - Monetization Tools: Provides built-in mechanisms for creators to earn revenue directly from their subscribers, with Substack taking a 10% fee on earnings. - Audience Growth: Offers discovery tools like 'Notes' and recommendations to help creators expand their reach and attract new subscribers. - User-Friendly Interface: Features a clean, distraction-free editor and seamless email integration, ensuring a straightforward publishing experience. Primary Value and Solutions: Substack addresses the challenges faced by independent creators seeking to monetize their content without relying on traditional media outlets or advertising revenue. By providing an all-in-one platform for publishing, audience engagement, and revenue generation, Substack enables creators to maintain control over their work and build direct relationships with their subscribers. This model fosters a sustainable ecosystem where quality content is directly supported by its audience, reducing dependence on external platforms and algorithms. ## Substack Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users appreciate the **ease of use** on Substack, simplifying audience growth and content sharing effortlessly. (2 reviews) - Users find Substack's **ease of learning** beneficial for developing their writing skills quickly and effectively. (1 reviews) - Users enjoy the **easy editing** process, finding it simple to write, publish, and engage with their audience. (1 reviews) - Users love the **simplicity** of Substack, making it easy to write effectively and improve their writing skills. (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users express frustration over **limited features** , wishing for more robust options for writing and content monetization. (2 reviews) - Users find Substack's features beneficial, but navigating them can be challenging for **those unfamiliar with the platform**. (1 reviews) - Users find Substack's features **limited** , wishing for more options to effectively monetize their content. (1 reviews) ## Substack Reviews ### 1. A Simple, Focused Platform to Share Design Work and Connect with Creatives **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Muzammil M. | Founder – Muzammil Graphic | Interior and Graphic Designer | Transforming Spaces and Brands Visually , Graphic Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 11, 2026 **What do you like best about Substack?** What I like best about Substack is that it gives me a simple and focused platform to share my design work and ideas without distractions. I use it to publish my creative posts, which helps me present my work in a clean and professional way. It also allows me to connect with other designers and creatives, which makes it easier to learn, share knowledge, and get inspired. Overall, it supports me in building my creative presence and helping others through my design insights **What do you dislike about Substack?** One thing I feel Substack can improve is discoverability for new creators. Sometimes it’s not easy for new designers or writers to reach a wider audience without already having followers. Also, the platform is more focused on writing and newsletters, so for visual designers like me, there are limited design-friendly customization options to present work more creatively. Overall it’s good, but a bit more flexibility for creatives could make it even better. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** One thing I feel Substack can improve is discoverability for new creators. Sometimes it’s not easy for new designers or writers to reach a wider audience without already having followers. Also, the platform is more focused on writing and newsletters, so for visual designers like me, there are limited design-friendly customization options to present work more creatively. Overall it’s good, but a bit more flexibility for creatives could make it even better. ### 2. Substack: Intuitive Editor and Great Community for Content Creators **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Deepak M. | Communications Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 12, 2026 **What do you like best about Substack?** Substack goes beyond mere blogging. It gives users a chance to link up with other content creators who are on the same wavelength. Some of its features - such as free subscriptions to users related to one's content - are automated. The editor is easy to use and quite intuitive. It also gives useful hints when the article is ready for posting or posted. There is also no pressure to post at specific times, and the user is free to set a frequency on their own or to not follow a regular schedule, but to post as and when the mood strikes. **What do you dislike about Substack?** It can take a long time to gain enough traction to be able to monetize one's content. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Substack is helping me build a substantial collection of articles that are useful to several types of audience. It is easy to showcase my core competencies and how they relate to many aspects of business and personal life. These articles may lead to monetization in future, and there's even a possibility of compiling them into a book, which would bring in more money to me as a content creator. ### 3. Easy Publishing and Audience Growth with Built-In Sharing and Subscriber Options **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Charlene B. | Owner | Consultant | Strategist and Chief of Research and Marketing , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2026 **What do you like best about Substack?** I like I can grow an audience/build a community at no cost through search and recommendations from other writers it's easy to use - write, include a title, publish it's easy to share - social links are made available immediately after publishing I can make some posts free and some for paid subscribers only Creating/participating in chat around an article or thought is easy and much better than trying to follow a conversation on social media **What do you dislike about Substack?** I don't like some new features that make it easy for marketer to use it solely for promotion - not for writing. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** I like to write and I want to attract readers who enjoy what I write. My choices were to blog and promote using social media and paid ads or write on a platform where readers know what to expect, and be recommended by other writers. ### 4. Easy to Start, but the Ongoing 10% Fee Is Frustrating **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Packaging and Containers | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 31, 2026 **What do you like best about Substack?** It's easy to use at the start. But it gets harder as you get going. **What do you dislike about Substack?** They keep taking 10% no matter what. It's not scalable. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** I tried using it for my newsletter, but it didn’t quite fit what I needed. ### 5. A fun place to share thoughts and ideas. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dr. Fizza Y. | Author, Writing and Editing, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2025 **What do you like best about Substack?** It's somewhere between a blog and a magazine; a good place to share your writings and thoughts, as well as monetize your work. **What do you dislike about Substack?** Right now, its features are limited, and there could be more options for monetizing content. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** I joined substack to establish an author newsletter, but that didn't work out. So, now I am using it as a reader and sharing book recommendations as well as creating content that other readers might find interesting. ### 6. feedback for Substack **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Viswajeet B. | Full Stack Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 01, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** Substack offers a handy tool to wirte effective and excellent writing skills along with this its easy to adapt. **What do you dislike about Substack?** offering features is good but not easy to ue for those who are no friendly with stacks **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** its help to fit good keywords for attract audience in content writing , headline,post and news letters ### 7. Great Content Writing **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Biswayan B. | upGrad, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 22, 2023 **What do you like best about Substack?** Substack is an easy-to-use interface that allows writers to set up and manage their newsletters without having technical knowledge. It enables artists to monetize their material in a variety of ways, including paid memberships, exclusive content for subscribers, and the ability for readers to directly support writers. **What do you dislike about Substack?** Because Substack allows anybody to establish a newsletter, there is a broad variety of content quality. This absence of editorial monitoring may result in the spread of misinformation or low-quality content. While Substack provides monetization alternatives, it may be difficult for certain writers to create a sizable paying subscriber base, particularly in highly competitive sectors. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Substack makes it easier to launch and manage a newsletter. It removes technological impediments, allowing authors to concentrate on content production rather than sophisticated publishing tools or website administration. Substack is a direct monetization strategy that allows writers to make money through paid memberships. This advantage is appealing to authors who wish to sell their material without relying on traditional media sources or advertising. Substack empowers writers by giving them control over their subscriber lists and allowing them to communicate directly with their audience. This direct link enables authors to develop a devoted community and communicate with readers directly, without the need for intermediaries. ### 8. New way for writers to earn money **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Arvind S. | Salesperson, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 19, 2023 **What do you like best about Substack?** On Substack, you can categorize your posts into publications. There's no limit to how many publications you can create, although you won't want to bite off more than you can chew, this publication functionality works whether you're trying to build a micro media empire or just a space to blog on the fly. **What do you dislike about Substack?** Substack certainly lets you get started quickly, but do you really want to spend hours each week on a newsletter, only to send it once and have it never see the light of day again. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Substack is very simple to set up, and it offers a way for writers, journalists, and creators to establish a digital footprint without needing a website. You can be a user, a creator, or both. ### 9. Best place to run your free newsletter **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Anirudh S. | Director Sales, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** It is a very good tool to run a free newsletter and has all the features like writing, editing and formating text. If you are new in the industry and want to write blogs or newsletter this is the best tool for that. Customer support is also very easy and available on support mail. **What do you dislike about Substack?** signup process can be more simple and this tool lacks many features and does not have many integrations. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Writing and formation of newsletters. ### 10. The Best Social Network, Period. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew N. | Leisure Coordinator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 21, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** You get the most direct connection with writers and researchers on Substack. The range of voices is outstanding, with viewpoint diversity and intelligent discussions. Beats all other platforms hands down. **What do you dislike about Substack?** Not much. I honestly love writing there, using the social network, and so forth. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** 2 things: 1. It enables more intelligent discussion with civil discourse. Civil discourse is necessary for democracy. 2. It enables me to reach readers directly without the Trudeau government's laws interfering with what I can say or who I can reach. ### 11. Benefits of using Substack **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Gulam M. | Software Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 16, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** The best feature of the substack is that it provides an easy way for writers and bloggers to make their updated blogs and content available to the audience directly without requiring technical skills. **What do you dislike about Substack?** I noticed that Substack has limited customization options and therefore the writers may find less control over the look and feel of their content. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Substack helps us to build a good community around our blogs by establishing a connection between the write and his/her audience. ### 12. Amazing experience **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shubhanghi B. | Marketing associate, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 04, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** Helps in starting newsletter for free and gives ysers the option to payeall some or all of their newsletter content through subscription **What do you dislike about Substack?** It does not distribute your work and not good for sophisticated email market compaigns **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Solving and handling my content effectively best software i preferred ### 13. Substack - A good place to share your thoughts **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Aditya N. | Freelancer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 22, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** User friendly & clean UI. Easy implementation and better access to writing tools. **What do you dislike about Substack?** Sharing on SM platforms is not as good as like medium or some other competitors. Eg: Substack doesn't show image cards on X. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** Penning down my thoughts & easier connect with my audience. ### 14. Crafting the Future of Newsletters: A Journey Through Substack's Review Wizard **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shubham K. | Team leader, Marketing and Advertising, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 05, 2024 **What do you like best about Substack?** A Love Letter to Seamless Content Creation and Distribution. **What do you dislike about Substack?** A Candid Exploration of Substack's Shortcomings. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** How Substack Resolves Publishing Woes and Elevates Digital Communication ### 15. Newsletter publishing tool substack **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ritik A. | Junior Software Developer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 14, 2023 **What do you like best about Substack?** It is great tool for creating and publishing newsletters. Very simple to use and an independent software to use **What do you dislike about Substack?** As it is based on the emails so some issues with deliverability, spam filters etc **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps in providing the easy way to publish the content based on the emails. ### 16. Must have newsletter platform **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** BALAJI P. | DevOps Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 23, 2023 **What do you like best about Substack?** It's a great platform to write and distribute news to large user's , it's free also **What do you dislike about Substack?** Customisation expecting more features in this **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is anti-censorship, ### 17. A nice platform for side hustle **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Soham S. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2023 **What do you like best about Substack?** The integration of various features into a platform **What do you dislike about Substack?** The onboarding can always be made more visually driven. **What problems is Substack solving and how is that benefiting you?** A nice way to deploy content for my promotions. - [View Substack pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/substack/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-16+08%3A33%3A00+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=5d0c140d-c840-4b95-a40c-8db32d6d1e35&secure%5Btoken%5D=dc69163a213d221d4c7dd8590288d98c2dabb9e50ae9ba7d7b0828c7d3731c6b&format=llm_user) ## Substack Features **Content Creation** - Content Creation Tools - Content Curation - Buyer Personas - Content Management **Planning** - Scheduling Integration **Platform - Owned Media** - Subscription Management - Analytics - Monetization - Integrations - Distribution **Optimization** - SEO - A/B Testing - Dashboards & Reporting - Audience Targeting - ROI Reporting **Publishing** - Execute Content Publication **Agentic AI - Owned Media** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Proactive Assistance - Decision Making **Logistics** - Customizable Templated Workflows - Internal Communication - Version Control - Editing and Approval Tools - Distribution Features - Integrations & APIs - User, Role, and Access Management **Social Media** - Social Media Integration **Planning** - Collaborative Editorial Calendars / Scheduling Content **Generative AI** - AI Text Generation - AI Text Generation - AI Text Summarization - AI Text-to-Image - AI Text-to-Video **Agentic AI - Content Creation** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance - Decision Making ## Top Substack Alternatives - [Riverside](https://www.g2.com/products/riverside/reviews) - 4.8/5.0 (1,704 reviews) - [#paid](https://www.g2.com/products/paid-paid/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (412 reviews) - [Semrush](https://www.g2.com/products/semrush/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (3,273 reviews)