My Brutally Honest Review of Medium Vs Substack

May Recap: Hits, misses, reflections, and stats. Plus why Medium feels like high school these days.

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

I primarily write on Medium about my life. I also occasionally shared my writing journey there. Many of my readers mentioned they were updated about the latest platform news in that way.

But once Medium decided not to paywall Meta stories, I figured there were already enough writers spewing out generic advice and “tips” (that they don’t seem to follow or benefit from), so I stepped away from that topic.

I can’t believe May is already over!

Writing-wise, I published 3 posts per week on Medium and one on Substack. Given my schedule and the fact that I do things other than writing, 12 posts is a lot!

I also believe in letting an article breathe rather than spamming - but then again, that’s my preference.

None snagged the elusive boost, but some performed strongly. Notably, the one for The Fourth Wave — a well-respected Medium publication geared towards women. Their editing team is top-notch — I highly recommend.

View-wise, April and May have more or less the same for me.

I don’t have advice to offer on what or how to write, but here are a few things I’ve been noticing:

Medium has started to feel like high school. Maybe it’s the influx of new writers, but there’s a lot of banding into groups - just check the comment sections to see what I’m talking about. Perhaps it’s because there’s safety in numbers, but honestly, you’re not learning anything new that way.

I see a lot of sucking up and trying to be the teacher’s pet. And there are plenty of self-proclaimed “teachers” putting themselves out there to be admired. Major ego boost, I’m guessing.

Then there are those who DM editors demanding boosts. It’s off-putting. Like, why should you have to beg to be read? You’re not entitled to an audience. You can’t force people to like you.

I’ve had new writers blatantly copy my articles and titles. Did they think no one would notice? They call themselves ‘writers’ and yet stoop to such lows that give other writers, especially from South Asia, a bad rep. Not to mention getting reported would lead to suspension, yet they still do it.

Now, about Substack. I’m fortunate to have the elusive paid subscribers, but I keep my posts unpaywalled. I just don’t find the payment system exciting or reliable.

However, I’ve discovered that readers on Substack love free content. They even subscribe for free if they like what you write, although the paid conversion part is where things get tricky.

May views

Can you blame them? You get unlimited reading on Medium for $5 per month. Paying $5 per writer on Substack? That’s a bit much.

On Substack and Medium, likes and claps are nice, but views—especially member views on Medium—are the real indicator you’re reaching beyond your circle. On Substack, engagement on an unpaywalled post usually just means readers are enjoying the free content and showing love with hearts, which is still great.

Apparently, boasting about the number of “subscribers” you’ve managed to snag is a thing on Substack.

Am I missing something when I ask what’s the point of having a mile-long ‘free’ subscriber list unless you’re planning to sell them something? I’m not so I have no clue what to do with my subscriber list. Any suggestions?

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