Substack alternatives
Providers that compete with Substack on at least one of: Newsletter
Hosted newsletter platform with social network features.
Switching as early-stage startups
At an early stage the deciding factors are what the free tier actually covers, what the first paid invoice looks like, and how much of a founding engineer's week the setup costs. Feature depth that only matters at a million sends a month is noise until it is not.
Substack does not cover operating track record, SDK breadth, and webhook coverage. Loops, Buttondown, and Ghost close that gap. The order below weighs this audience's priorities first, so it differs from a general popularity ranking.
ranked for early-stage startups
- 01
Loops
Marketing TransactionalModern lifecycle and broadcast email for SaaS.
Adds SDK breadth and webhook coverage over Substack, with nothing given up on these priorities.
1,000 contacts and 4,000 sends/mo on the Free plan · $49/mo for 5,000 contacts - 02
Buttondown
NewsletterMinimalist, indie-built newsletter platform.
Adds SDK breadth and webhook coverage over Substack, with nothing given up on these priorities.
100 subscribers free · $9/mo for 1,000 subscribers - 03
Ghost
Newsletter Self-hostedOpen-source publishing with built-in memberships and email.
Adds SDK breadth and webhook coverage over Substack, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Self-hosted is free (your infra cost) · Ghost Pro from $9/mo - 04
Kit
Newsletter MarketingCreator-focused newsletter platform (formerly ConvertKit).
Adds SDK breadth and webhook coverage over Substack, with nothing given up on these priorities.
10,000 subscribers, broadcasts only · $15/mo for 1,000 subscribers (Creator) - 05
Listmonk
Newsletter Self-hostedSelf-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager.
Adds webhook coverage over Substack, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free, self-hosted · Self-hosted only
Substack and its alternatives, side by side
Columns are the priorities early-stage startups weigh, in order. Substack is the first row so the trade in each direction is readable at a glance.
| Provider | Best published rate per 1,000 | DX score | Operating since | Scheduling | SDKs | Webhooks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Substack | Tiers not published in comparable form | 2/10 | 2017 | Yes | None | No |
| Loops | Tiers not published in comparable form | 9/10 | 2022 | Yes | node, python, go, ruby, php | Yes |
| Buttondown | Tiers not published in comparable form | 9/10 | 2017 | Yes | node, python | Yes |
| Ghost | Tiers not published in comparable form | 7/10 | 2013 | Yes | node | Yes |
| Kit | Tiers not published in comparable form | 6/10 | 2013 | Yes | node | Yes |
| Listmonk | Tiers not published in comparable form | 7/10 | Not published | Yes | None | Yes |
Loops, Buttondown, and Ghost add capability without giving anything up on these priorities. The rest trade one thing for another.