Is Substack a Good Blogging Platform?
Let’s find out
Brought to you by WriteStack* — the ideal Substack companion for the professional writer (and anyone who wants to become one)
When you think about blogging, you think about WordPress, or Blogger, or maybe Ghost, Squarespace… You might not think about Substack.
But Substack is a great blogging platform. For almost any online writers.
Here’s why.
Its Roots
Let’s start with the obvious: Substack didn’t set out to be a “blogging platform” in the traditional sense. If that even exists…
It was built to help writers send newsletters and get paid. That’s still the main selling point for most people who join Substack these days.
But it’s not my main use case. And it doesn’t have to be yours.
Somewhere along the way, Substack quietly became one of the easiest, most beginner-friendly blogging platforms out there, if you know what it’s good at and what it lacks.
So, let’s dive deeper!
Why Substack is Actually Great for Blogging
1. It’s Free (and Stays Free Until You Make Money)
Most blogging platforms lure you in with free tiers, only to nickel-and-dime you later for storage, custom themes, plugins, and hosting. And they can get really expensive.
Substack has a different system.
No hosting fees, no domain charges (unless you want a custom domain, and it’s still a one-time fee only), no hidden upgrades.
They only take a cut if you start charging your readers via paid subscriptions.
So you can write for free forever, or until you decide your words are worth paying for.
2. Stupidly Easy to Use
No plugins to update, no fiddly themes to break, no backend dashboard that looks like it was designed in 2007.
Just open the editor, type, hit publish, done.
It’s about as complicated as writing an email. Because it is writing an email, plus a blog post, at the same time.
People usually love simplicity.
3. Built-in Audience
One thing that stops most bloggers? Getting people to actually read their stuff.
Substack solves this issue in multiple ways.
Every post goes straight to your subscribers’ inboxes if you already have some. That’s upside #1. There’s no hoping people remember your URL or praying SEO will work for you.
If someone signs up once, they get everything, automatically.
Second, you have recommendations, crossposts, discover, and other built-in Substack growth mechanisms that can help you gain readers faster.
Third, and maybe most importantly, you have Substack Notes. The built-in social media network has been going crazy lately, growing in size and attractive a host of big name writers and content creators.
That can help grow your blog a lot!
4. It’s a Newsletter and a Blog
Substack doesn’t force you to choose: “Should I write a blog, or a newsletter?”
You do both at once.
Each post lives on your Substack site like a classic blog entry and lands in your subscribers’ inboxes if you want to. Two birds, one stone, no extra effort.
Or, you can use a different strategy, and post daily but only send emails once a week. This is what I do. And it has a lot of upsides.
Here’s more about that if you want to know.
5. Paid Subscriptions Baked Right In
Want to test the waters of paid writing?
Substack makes it simple to charge for premium posts, paywall certain pieces, or run a fully paid publication.
The payment system (Stripe) is integrated. You don’t need to stitch together PayPal buttons or set up a separate membership site. If people want to pay you, they click a button and Substack handles the rest.
6. You Can Use a Custom Domain
This one’s underrated.
Many people think Substack locks you into a “yourname.substack.com” URL forever.
Nope. You can bring your own custom domain.
It’s a little fiddly to set up (for people who don’t do this often), but once it’s done, your Substack looks just as legit as any WordPress or Ghost site.
7. You’re Joining an Ecosystem
Substack is a network. There’s built-in discovery, as we discussed before: people can find your work through recommendations from other writers, or through Substack’s own search.
This isn’t a guarantee of fame, of course , but it’s more than you get starting a lonely WordPress blog with zero traffic.
And Substack is still growing. It’s also trendy.
The Flip Side
Substack has downsides too. Nothing’s perfect.
It has some real limits, especially if you’re the kind of blogger who wants to tweak, tinker, and optimize every pixel.
1. Limited Customization
If you want to make your blog look wildly unique, Substack will frustrate you.
You can change your logo, tweak your colors, and add a custom domain. That’s about it.
No drag-and-drop builders, no fancy page layouts, no endless theme marketplace. Your Substack will look like… well, a Substack.
Which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s not the place for design experiments.
2. No Plugins, No Add-Ons
WordPress folks love their plugins. SEO tools, spam filters, custom contact forms, fancy image galleries, you name it.
Substack doesn’t have that. What you see is what you get. No third-party add-ons, no marketplace of extensions (yet). Although there are a few cool ones out there.
If you need special features, you’ll have to accept you just can’t have them. For me, that’s totally fine.
3. No Code Snippets or AdSense
If you run a blog that needs embedded scripts, say, custom ads, widgets, or advanced code snippets, Substack is not for you.
You can’t paste random JavaScript into your posts or theme. Thankfully, I might add.
Want Google AdSense on your site? Nope.
Substack’s philosophy is simple: your main monetization option is paid subscriptions, not stuffing banner ads everywhere.
I like that.
4. Basic SEO Tools
While Substack posts are indexed by Google (here’s how to do it), you don’t get much control over metadata, canonical tags, sitemaps, or advanced SEO tweaks.
If you dream of carefully crafting every meta description, you’ll be disappointed.
Substack’s SEO works well enough for most people, but it’s not for optimization nerds.
So, Is Substack Good for Blogging?
No. If you want total control over every aspect of your site (how it looks, what it does, and how you monetize i) stick with WordPress, Ghost, or Squarespace.
If you want to run ads, play with plugins, sell courses, and build a full-fledged online business with shopping carts and fancy funnels, Substack might not be my first choice.
But… if your main goal is to write, hit publish, build an audience, and maybe make money from loyal readers, Substack is hard to beat.
It’s especially good for beginners because it removes almost every excuse to procrastinate. No design rabbit holes. No plugin maintenance. No monthly hosting bill.
Just write. Send it. Repeat.
You can always outgrow Substack later if you need more bells and whistles. And if you connected a custom domain in the first place, you can move platforms without losing your SEO mojo.
So, next time you think blogging, think Substack. It’s a great choice. And I would pair it with Medium. That’s the perfect combo.
*this is an affiliate or SparkLoop* partner link. I’ll get a commission if you decide to sign up.
I started using Substack three years ago to write my newsletter because it was the easiest platform to write and publish on. Being the easiest made it possible for me to stay consistent and publish every week for three years. And that was the most important part for me.