No, Substack Is Not Special
I say that with love
Brought to you by SparkLoop* — the #1 newsletter recommendation engine
Substack is not special. It’s booming, it’s trendy, and it’s cool. But it isn’t anything unordinarily special.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Substack.
I use it. I recommend it. I think it’s a brilliant tool for writers. I even ditched my entire WordPress blog with 500+ articles for Substack.
But that’s not because “Substack is the only platform for writers worth exploring”.
Substack has become the number 1 hit. Substack fans scream: No algorithm! You own your list! It’s for REAL writers!People actually READ here!
But let’s take a breath, and see what’s really going on.
“You Own Your Content Here!”
Yes. You do. And that’s a good thing.
But also… you own your content on Medium. And WordPress. And Ghost. And any other newsletter platform, or bloging tool, or writing system, for that matter.
You own your content, because you wrote it. Copyright. Unless you stole it. Then you’ve never owned it in the first place.
Substack isn’t the only place where you own your writing. Chances are, you own your words wherever you put them.
What Substack does well is reminding you that you own it. That’s a subtle, but powerful marketing move. It doesn’t just give you independence. It brings it up constantly.
But no, owning your content is not exclusive to Substack. It’s just… one of the more romantically framed features on the platform.
Still, I love Substack.
“You Own Your List!”
Again: yes. Excellent. Important.
But you can also own your email list on… any email platform that isn’t completely shady.
ConvertKit? Yep.
Mailchimp? Yes.
Beehiiv? Sure.
Medium subscribers. Yep.
WordPress with MailPoet or Mailerlite? Also, yes.
The point is: owning your email list is standard practice on platforms that respect you as a writer. Even many social media platforms realized the importance of subscribers, added the option, and threw in an export feature as well.
It’s nothing special.
Substack didn’t invent the concept.
Remember, I love Substack.
“There’s No Algorithm!”
This one… is simply wrong.
There’s no algorithm. Just the writing. Just the people. Just you and your audience, baby.
But Substack absolutely has an algorithm.
It’s just less aggressive and less engineered for doomscrolling. And it’s separated from the “newsletter/email” portion.
But the “Discover” tab? Algorithm. The “Recommended by writers you follow”? Algorithm. The “Top posts in Culture” emails you get? Algorithm. The Notes you see? Algorithm.
These are not handpicked (well, at least not all of them). They’re coded rules and relational signals.
What people may mean is: It’s not a bad algorithm.
It’s refreshingly chill compared to TikTok’s black hole of attention I would say. But it’s still there. Substack simply doesn’t lead with it. It doesn’t feel like an algorithm because it’s not constantly reshaping your timeline into an existential crisis.
“Substack Is for Real Writers”
Ah yes, it is.
Many platforms claim to be.
Medium does. Ghost appeals to serious creators with taste. WordPress is so OG writer-centric. it may have invented it.
The truth is: “Real” writing happens wherever someone shows up consistently to express something worth reading. Not where the marketing says it does.
Medium is pretty cool for writers, in my eyes. So is Substack. And Ghost. And WordPress. And Vocal…
“People Actually Read Here”
This one’s fair… kind of.
Email is powerful. It still gets attention in a way that many timelines don’t. Especially social media timelines. But let’s not pretend it’s some kind of sacred place for reading.
People open newsletters while in line at the grocery store, or half-asleep in bed. They skim. They archive. They unsubscribe because you used one too many em-dashes.
But yes, newsletters generally do get more engagement than a random LinkedIn post or a tweet. But Substack still ventured into social media with Notes, because this offers unique selling points that newsletters or blogs don't.
It is all more about the medium (email, blog, social media post) than the platform (Substack, Medium, X).
What makes Substack stand out is that it feels like people are reading. Because again, marketing and advertisement is great, and writers love it.
It creates an environment that invites depth, longform, and social media content alike.
What Does Make Substack Unique?
Substack is, first and foremost, a cleverly marketed writers’ platform. That’s its magic.
It’s also super easy and intuitive (which many others are not… ehem, WordPress). Oh, and it’s free. That always helps.
Substack has the right amount of features without the technical hassle, maintenance, breakdowns, and issues.
And then there’s Substack Notes, the most strategic move yet.
Notes takes the “no algorithm” aesthetic and applies it to a microblog-style social feed, with algorithm. It’s Substack’s way of saying: “Hey, you don’t need to go to Twitter to be clever. Do it here. Where the writers are.
And it worked. Writers are there. Big ones. Smart ones. People from everywhere. Now people check Substack Notes like they used to check Twitter.
That’s the real shift. Substack is no longer just a newsletter tool. It’s a social publishing ecosystem. A place where you can write long and short, grow your audience, and still feel like a writer, not an influencer.
The Bottom Line
I love Substack. I use it. I recommend it.
You don’t have to pretend it’s special to like it and use it.
You can just say: “I use Substack because it’s simple, effective, and doesn’t make me want to throw my laptop into the sea.” That’s a good enough reason.
And honestly, that makes it special enough for me.
*this is an affiliate or SparkLoop* partner link. I’ll get a commission if you decide to sign up.
A lot of people are operating under a myth that Substack has no algorithm.
This clarifies that.
Thanks for pointing all this out. As a newbie here I really appreciate it.