> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ectobuilder.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Substack Alternatives in 2026: An Honest Comparison - URL: https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/substack-alternatives/ - Published: 2026-10-09T11:42:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T15:23:06.000Z - Description: Ghost, beehiiv, Kit, Buttondown, Patreon, WordPress.com and Medium compared on what matters when you leave Substack: fees, free plans, owning your list, and moving paid subscribers. - Author: Michal Wlosik - Tags: Guides, Substack Substack is free to start and good at what it does. The trade-off shows up later: it keeps 10% of every paid subscription, your readers increasingly meet you inside Substack's own app, and your publication lives on Substack's terms. If any of that has started to bother you, there are seven serious alternatives in 2026, and each one solves a different part of the problem. This comparison is about fees, ownership and how easy each platform makes it to leave Substack with your readers. Prices were checked on each platform's own pricing page on 9 October 2026 and are shown for about 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly unless noted. *Disclosure: we make Ectobuilder, a theme builder for Ghost. We've tried to keep this fair; where Ghost is the wrong choice, we say so.* ## The short answer - **Ghost**: you want your own website and brand, no revenue cut, and full control. Paid plans from $29/month, or free if you host it yourself. - **beehiiv**: you want growth tools, an ad network and a big free plan. Free up to 2,500 subscribers, and no cut of paid subscriptions on paid plans. - **Kit**: you sell courses or products alongside the newsletter and need automations. Free up to 10,000 subscribers. More in our [comparison of newsletter platforms](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/best-newsletter-platforms/). - **Buttondown**: you want the simplest, cheapest tool for a writing-first newsletter. About $9/month at 1,000 subscribers. - **Patreon**: you're a creator with a community, audio or video, not only a newsletter. - **WordPress.com**: you want a full website first and a newsletter as part of it. - **Medium**: you want readers more than a business. You don't own your subscriber list there. ## Substack alternatives compared | Platform | Free plan | Paid plans from | Cut of paid subscriptions | Imports from Substack | | ----------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | | **Substack** | Yes, any size | Free | 10% + Stripe fees | n/a | | **Ghost(Pro)** | No (self-hosting is free) | $15/mo; paid subscriptions from $29/mo | 0% + Stripe fees | Posts, free and paid subscribers | | **beehiiv** | Up to 2,500 subscribers | $49/mo | 0% + Stripe fees | Posts, free and paid subscribers | | **Kit** | Up to 10,000 subscribers | $33/mo | 3.5% + 30¢, including card fees | Subscribers only (by CSV) | | **Buttondown** | First 100 subscribers | About $9/mo, +$9/mo for paid subscriptions | 0% + Stripe fees | Archive, free and paid subscribers | | **Patreon** | Free to start | Free | 10% + payment fees (new creators) | No dedicated importer | | **WordPress.com** | Yes (10% fee on paid newsletters) | $4/mo | 0–8% by plan + Stripe fees | Posts, comments, free and paid subscribers | | **Medium** | Free to write | n/a | No paid subscriptions you set; Partner Program payouts | No | "Stripe fees" means card processing, which every platform passes on: in the US that's 2.9% + 30¢ per payment, and Stripe Billing adds 0.7% on Substack. ## What Substack actually costs Substack is free until you charge for subscriptions. Then it keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges its own processing fees on top. A custom domain is a one-time $50. ![Substack's help page explaining that Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/substack-fees-2026.webp) (1) Substack's own help page: 10% of subscription revenue, plus Stripe's fees. On 1,000 paid subscribers at $8/month, that's $800 a month to Substack before card fees, or $9,600 a year. A flat-fee platform costs a fraction of that at the same size, which is the main reason paid writers move. With no paid subscribers, Substack really is free, and that's hard to beat. ## Why writers leave Substack in 2026 - **The 10% cut.** Writers who moved to flat-fee platforms report [keeping more of what they earn](https://digiday.com/media/former-substack-creators-say-theyre-earning-more-on-new-platforms-that-offer-larger-shares-of-subscription-revenue/?ref=ectobuilder.com). - **The app and Notes.** Substack is becoming a social network. Some writers like the discovery; others, like the writers who [left for Patreon in October 2025](https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/top-substack-writers-depart-for-patreon/?ref=ectobuilder.com), don't want their work tied to a feed. - **iOS in-app purchases.** Since August 2025 readers can subscribe through Apple, which takes its own cut. Those subscriptions [don't move cleanly](https://www.journalism.co.uk/substack-changes-frustrate-publishers-one-option-is-terrible-for-us-the-other-is-terrible-for-our-readers/?ref=ectobuilder.com) if you leave. - **Moderation.** Substack's approach to extremist newsletters has pushed some writers out, especially after a [push alert promoting a Nazi newsletter in July 2025](https://www.platformer.news/substack-nazi-push-notification/?ref=ectobuilder.com) that Substack called an error. ## 1\. Ghost: best for owning your publication [Ghost](https://ghost.org/?via=michal-207c22&ref=ectobuilder.com) is open-source publishing software with memberships, paid subscriptions and email newsletters built in. You get a real website on your own domain, with your own design, and Ghost takes no cut of subscription revenue on its paid plans. ![Ghost(Pro) pricing page with the Publisher plan price and paid subscriptions highlighted](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/ghost-pro-pricing-2026.webp) Ghost(Pro) pricing at 1,000 members, billed yearly. (1) Publisher, the cheapest plan with (2) paid subscriptions. - **Price:** Ghost(Pro) Starter is $15/month billed yearly ($18 monthly), but it has no paid subscriptions and no custom themes. Publisher, from $29/month yearly ($35 monthly), adds both. Business is $199/month yearly for up to 10,000 members. Self-hosting the software is free; you pay for the server. - **Fees:** 0% of subscription revenue on paid plans. Stripe's fees still apply. - **Good:** your own domain and design, members-only comments, recommendations, multiple newsletters, a solid SEO setup, and Ghost 6's social web distribution, which lets people follow your publication from other apps. - **Less good:** no free hosted plan, no native reader app, and no built-in discovery network on the scale of Substack's. Podcasts work through integrations, not natively. - **Moving from Substack:** Ghost has a built-in importer that moves posts, free subscribers and paid subscribers (on the same Stripe account). Our step-by-step guide: [How to migrate from Substack to Ghost](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/migrate-substack-to-ghost/). If you’d rather not run a server, [Ghost(Pro)](https://ghost.org/pricing/?via=michal-207c22&ref=ectobuilder.com) is the easy option: the Ghost Foundation runs it for you, with updates, backups, a CDN, built-in analytics and newsletter sending included, and 0% taken from your paid subscriptions. Your subscription also funds Ghost’s development. Pick Publisher if you want a custom theme; Starter only runs Ghost’s official ones. There’s a 14-day free trial. ![Ghost Settings, Migration tools with the Substack importer](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/substack-migration-tools.webp) Ghost's Substack importer lives under Settings → Import/Export. Ghost's themes control how your site looks, and that's where most people get stuck. [Ectobuilder](https://www.ectobuilder.com/) lets you build a Ghost theme quickly from ready-made sections, including a Substack-style layout (see [How to make Ghost look like Substack](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/make-ghost-look-like-substack/)). It also has an MCP connector, so you can ask an AI assistant like Claude to build a theme or edit your posts and pages for you: [here's how to connect it](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/connect-claude-to-ectobuilder/). ![Claude using the Ectobuilder connector to work on a Ghost theme](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-6.png) Asking Claude to work on a Ghost site through Ectobuilder's MCP connector. **Choose Ghost if** you earn from paid subscriptions, care about your brand and SEO, and want to own everything. **Skip it if** you're just starting and don't want to pay anything yet. [![CTA Image](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2026/06/Ecto_builder_logo_sq_small.png)](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ****Moving your newsletter to Ghost?** Ectobuilder lets you design your Ghost site visually, from a Substack-style layout to a full homepage, without touching theme code. [Try it free ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ## 2\. beehiiv: best for growth and ad revenue [beehiiv](https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=Michal-Wlosik&ref=ectobuilder.com) was built by early Morning Brew staff, and it shows: referral programs, a recommendation network, an ad network, polls and A/B tests are the core of the product. It also gives you a website, podcast hosting and digital products. ![beehiiv pricing page with the Free plan and the 0% take rate on paid subscriptions highlighted](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/beehiiv-pricing-2026.webp) beehiiv at 1,000 subscribers. (1) Free plan. (2) Paid subscriptions with a 0% take rate start on Lite. - **Price:** Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Lite from $49/month and Pro from $95/month, billed yearly. beehiiv renamed its plans in October 2026, and [prices rose at larger list sizes](https://www.netinfluencer.com/beehiiv-raises-prices-faces-pushback-from-creators/?ref=ectobuilder.com). - **Fees:** 0% of paid subscriptions on paid plans, plus Stripe. - **Good:** the strongest growth and monetisation tools here, and the largest free plan with a website included. - **Less good:** paid subscriptions and a custom domain need a paid plan, prices climb quickly with list size, and the site builder is less flexible than a real CMS. - **Moving from Substack:** built-in importer for posts and free subscribers; paid subscribers move through a Stripe migration. Comments and some post types don't carry over. **Choose beehiiv if** growth and sponsorships are your business model. Here’s [how beehiiv and Substack compare](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/beehiiv-vs-substack/). New to beehiiv? [Sign up with our link](https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=Michal-Wlosik&ref=ectobuilder.com) and get 20% off for your first 3 months. It’s an affiliate link: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. AFFILIATE [![CTA Image](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/wpalt-beehiiv-hero.png)](https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=Michal-Wlosik&ref=ectobuilder.com) ****Going with beehiiv?** New users get 20% off for their first 3 months through our link. It's an affiliate link: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. [Get 20% off beehiiv ](https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=Michal-Wlosik&ref=ectobuilder.com) ## 3\. Kit (formerly ConvertKit): best for creators who sell [Kit](https://kit.com/?ref=ectobuilder.com) is an email marketing platform for creators: landing pages, forms, visual automations and a commerce layer for digital products and paid newsletters. ![Kit pricing page with the free plan limit and the Creator plan price highlighted](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/kit-pricing-2026.webp) Kit at 1,000 subscribers. (1) Free up to 10,000 subscribers. (2) Creator, billed yearly. - **Price:** Free up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator $33/month billed yearly ($390/year); Pro $66/month. - **Fees:** 3.5% + 30¢ per payment, card processing included. - **Good:** the best automations and segmentation on this list, and a generous free plan. - **Less good:** it's email-first; the website is a simple newsletter page, not a publication. There's no Substack post importer. - **Moving from Substack:** subscribers come over by CSV. Posts have to be recreated, and Kit's own guide says paid subscribers need to re-subscribe. **Choose Kit if** your newsletter feeds a course, product or coaching business. ## 4\. Buttondown: best simple, cheap newsletter [Buttondown](https://buttondown.com/?ref=ectobuilder.com) is a small, independent, profitable company with a writer's tool to match: Markdown or rich text, clean archives, and pricing that charges you for what you use. ![Buttondown pricing calculator showing 9 dollars a month for 980 subscribers](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/buttondown-pricing-2026.webp) (1) Buttondown's calculator at just under 1,000 subscribers. - **Price:** free for the first 100 subscribers, then about $9/month up to around 1,000\. Features are add-ons: paid subscriptions +$9/month, comments +$9/month, archives on your own domain extra. - **Fees:** 0% of paid subscriptions, plus Stripe. - **Good:** cheap, fast, privacy-friendly and honest about pricing. - **Less good:** a newsletter with an archive, not a website. No discovery network. - **Moving from Substack:** imports your archive and free subscribers; paid subscribers carry on when you connect the same Stripe account. **Choose Buttondown if** you just want to write and send, for as little as possible. ## 5\. Patreon: best for creators with a community [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/?ref=ectobuilder.com) is built around memberships rather than a publication: posts, email, podcasts with private RSS, chats and mobile apps. Several well-known writers moved there from Substack in late 2025. - **Price and fees:** free to start; Patreon takes 10% from creators who launched after 4 August 2025, plus payment processing (2.9% + 30¢ for cards). - **Good:** strong apps, audio and community features, and readers who already have Patreon accounts. - **Less good:** the same 10% as Substack, your page lives on patreon.com, and it's weaker as a public, search-friendly publication. **Substack vs Patreon:** similar cut, different centre of gravity. Substack is writing with a social layer; Patreon is a membership with writing in it. ## 6\. WordPress.com: best for a full website [WordPress.com](https://wordpress.com/?ref=ectobuilder.com) now has newsletters and paid subscriptions on every plan. The fee depends on your plan, which makes the cheaper plans expensive once you earn. - **Price and fees:** billed yearly, Free (10% fee on paid subscriptions), Personal $4/month (8%), Premium $8/month (4%), Business $25/month (2%) and Commerce $45/month (0%), plus Stripe. - **Good:** a complete website with pages, plugins on higher plans, and the most complete Substack importer here: posts, comments, free and paid subscribers. - **Less good:** more to manage, and newsletter features are less focused than Ghost's or beehiiv's. ## 7\. Medium: best for readers, not revenue [Medium](https://medium.com/?ref=ectobuilder.com) has a big built-in audience, but it works differently. You can't set your own subscription price. Partner Program writers are paid from Medium's $5/month memberships based on how members engage with their stories. - **Good:** discovery and zero setup. - **Less good:** Medium no longer shares subscribers' email addresses with writers, so you don't own your list, and your income depends on Medium's rules. **Substack vs Medium:** Substack gives you a list and your own prices; Medium gives you readers. If you're building a business, Substack or any of the platforms above are a better fit. ## How to choose 1. **Do you charge, or will you soon?** If yes, a 0% platform (Ghost, beehiiv, Buttondown, WordPress.com Commerce) will pay for itself quickly. 2. **Do you want a website or just a newsletter?** Website: Ghost or WordPress.com. Newsletter: Buttondown, Kit or beehiiv. 3. **Is growth your business model?** beehiiv's referral and ad tools are the strongest. 4. **Do you sell products?** Kit. 5. **Can you move your paid subscribers?** Ghost, beehiiv, Buttondown and WordPress.com can move them through the same Stripe account. iOS in-app subscribers on Substack can't be moved this way. [![CTA Image](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2026/06/Ecto_builder_logo_sq_small.png)](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ****Build your Ghost theme without code.** Pick a theme from the Ectobuilder gallery or start from scratch, change it by clicking, and publish it to your Ghost site. Start free and only pay if you’re happy with it. [Start free ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ## FAQ #### Is Substack free? Yes, to publish, at any list size. Once you charge, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue and Stripe adds its processing fees. #### What's the cheapest Substack alternative? For a free newsletter, Kit (free up to 10,000 subscribers) and beehiiv (free up to 2,500). For paid newsletters, Buttondown is cheapest at small sizes; self-hosted Ghost costs only the server. #### Can I keep my paid subscribers if I leave Substack? Usually, yes. Ghost, beehiiv, Buttondown and WordPress.com can take over existing subscriptions when you connect the Stripe account Substack used, so readers don't re-enter their card. Subscriptions bought through Apple in the Substack app can't move this way. #### Can I make Ghost look like Substack? Yes. Readers can keep the familiar masthead, reading column and even the `/p/` post addresses. See [How to make Ghost look and feel like Substack](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/make-ghost-look-like-substack/). ## Sources - [Substack: How much does Substack cost?](https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost) - [Ghost(Pro) pricing](https://ghost.org/pricing/?via=michal-207c22&ref=ectobuilder.com) and [Ghost's Substack migration guide](https://docs.ghost.org/migration/substack?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [beehiiv pricing](https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing?via=Michal-Wlosik&ref=ectobuilder.com) and [beehiiv's Substack migration guide](https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/14966988360215-How-to-migrate-from-Substack-to-beehiiv?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [Kit pricing](https://kit.com/pricing?ref=ectobuilder.com) and [Kit's Substack migration guide](https://help.kit.com/en/articles/6393834-how-to-migrate-from-substack-to-kit?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [Buttondown pricing](https://buttondown.com/pricing?ref=ectobuilder.com) and [Buttondown's Substack import](https://docs.buttondown.com/substack?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [Patreon fees](https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/36426991446797?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [WordPress.com paid newsletters](https://wordpress.com/support/paid-newsletters/?ref=ectobuilder.com) and [Substack import](https://wordpress.com/support/import/import-from-substack/?ref=ectobuilder.com) - [Medium email subscriptions](https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059837393-Email-subscriptions?ref=ectobuilder.com)