The Top 8 Differences Between Medium and Substack

My observations after one month on Substack.

I’m I you? Are you also Substack curious? Photo by Phyllis Poon on Unsplash

Remember those “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials that poked fun of the divide (and stereotypes) between users of the two different laptops?

That’s kinda how I’ve felt about the Medium and Substack divide. We writers tended to be either one or the other. And I knew I was firmly Team Medium.

For the past nearly two years, it was all I needed. I launched three publications on Medium. I became a Boost nominator, and happily saw my own stories Boosted — and in doing so, found an amazing community of writers and readers. Medium worked for me. I was happy where I was.

Until I wasn’t anymore.

Recent changes in the Medium algorithm and Boost program have seen writers fleeing the platform — mostly to Substack. So as I saw my earnings plummet and my community dry up, I decided it was time to check Substack out for myself.

Here are the top eight things I’ve learned (so far):

1. Medium is for writing. Substack is for lots more. Yes, Substack is teeming with writers. But most of the ones I’ve found, or who’ve found me, have come via “Live” videos, or podcasts, or “Notes,” which is Substack’s answer to Twitter. Substack isn’t just for writing. It’s a…