9 Substack Alternatives for Creators in 2026 (Beyond Newsletters)

If newsletters are your entire business and you are happy with the fee structure, Substack is fine. If you want more control, lower fees, or additional revenue streams, the alternatives below offer different strengths.

The 9 Best Substack Alternatives for Creators

1. Talkspresso (Best for Live Session Monetization)

Talkspresso is a fundamentally different kind of creator platform. Instead of monetizing through written content, it lets you monetize through live video sessions, coaching calls, workshops, and digital products.

This is not a newsletter replacement. It is a complement (or alternative) for creators who want to earn through direct interaction rather than subscriptions.

What sets it apart:

• Built-in HD video for 1:1 calls, group coaching, and workshops (up to 500 people)
• Scheduling with availability management and time zone conversion
• Payments handled directly on the platform
• Automatic session recording with AI-generated summaries and action items
• Digital product sales (PDFs, templates, recordings)
• Professional booking page as your single link
• Client management with session history

What it does not do: Talkspresso is not an email or newsletter platform. It does not do written content distribution. If you want to send newsletters, you need a separate tool.

The combo play: Many successful creators use a free newsletter (on Substack, Beehiiv, or ConvertKit) to build an audience, then monetize the most engaged readers through paid live sessions on Talkspresso. Free newsletter for reach, paid sessions for revenue.

Pricing: Free to start. 10% platform fee on paid transactions. No monthly subscription.

Best for: Creators who want to monetize through live interaction (coaching, consulting, workshops) rather than or in addition to written content.

2. Ghost (Best for Independent Publishers)

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform that gives you full ownership of your content, audience, and brand. It is the most popular Substack alternative for serious publishers.

What makes it different:

• Full ownership of your content and subscriber list
• Custom themes and complete design control
• Built-in membership and subscription billing
• No platform fee on revenue (you keep everything minus payment processing)
• SEO-optimized with custom domains
• Open source (self-host for free or use Ghost Pro)

Drawbacks:

• More technical setup than Substack
• Ghost Pro hosting starts at $9/month (billed annually)
• No built-in discovery or recommendation engine
• No live video, scheduling, or session tools
• Requires managing your own growth

Pricing: Self-hosted (free). Ghost Pro from $9/month (Starter), $25/month (Creator), $50/month (Team), $199/month (Business).

Best for: Independent publishers who want full ownership, custom branding, and zero platform fees on revenue.

3. Beehiiv (Best for Newsletter Growth)

Beehiiv is the fastest-growing newsletter platform, built by former Morning Brew employees. It focuses on growth tools, analytics, and ad monetization.

What makes it different:

• Powerful growth tools (referral programs, recommendation network, SEO-optimized web pages)
• Ad network for newsletter advertising revenue
• Advanced analytics and subscriber segmentation
• Custom website with landing pages
• Free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers
• No platform fee on subscription revenue

Drawbacks:

• Paid plans start at $39/month for premium features
• Less established than Substack for paid subscriptions
• No live video, scheduling, or products
• Can feel complex for simple newsletters
• Ad revenue requires significant subscriber count

Pricing: Free (up to 2,500 subscribers). Scale at $39/month. Max at $99/month.

Best for: Newsletter creators focused on growth, analytics, and advertising revenue.

4. ConvertKit / Kit (Best for Email Marketing + Products)

ConvertKit (rebranding to Kit) is an email marketing platform built for creators. It goes beyond newsletters into automations, product sales, and audience management.

What makes it different:

• Visual automation builder for email sequences
• Digital product and course sales
• Landing pages and signup forms
• Subscriber tagging and segmentation
• Creator network for cross-promotion
• Paid newsletter support

Drawbacks:

• Free plan limited to 10,000 subscribers (but no automations)
• Paid plans start at $25/month
• 3.5% transaction fee on Creator Pro for paid products
• Steeper learning curve than Substack
• No live video or scheduling

Pricing: Free (up to 10,000 subscribers, limited features). Creator at $25/month. Creator Pro at $50/month.

Best for: Creators who want sophisticated email marketing with automations, segmentation, and digital product sales.

5. Buttondown (Best Minimalist Newsletter Tool)

Buttondown is a clean, developer-friendly newsletter tool. It strips away complexity and focuses on writing and sending emails well.

What makes it different:

• Extremely simple interface
• Markdown support
• Paid newsletter subscriptions
• API access for developers
• RSS-to-email automation
• No branding on free plan

Drawbacks:

• Minimal features compared to Substack or Beehiiv
• No growth tools or discovery features
• No live video, scheduling, or products
• Limited analytics
• Small team (which can mean slower feature development)

Pricing: Free (up to 100 subscribers). Paid plans from $9/month.

Best for: Writers and developers who want the simplest possible newsletter tool with no bloat.

6. Medium (Best for Content Discovery)

Medium is a publishing platform focused on content discovery. Instead of building your own audience, you publish to Medium's built-in readership.

What makes it different:

• Large built-in audience (100M+ monthly readers)
• Partner Program pays based on member reading time
• No setup required (just write and publish)
• Strong SEO and social sharing
• Custom domain support for publications

Drawbacks:

• You do not own the audience relationship
• Earnings depend on Medium's algorithm
• No direct subscription billing (Medium pays you from their pool)
• Limited branding and customization
• No video, scheduling, or product sales
• Revenue is unpredictable

Pricing: Free to publish. Medium membership is $5/month (for readers). Writers earn through the Partner Program.

Best for: Writers who want built-in discovery and do not mind earning based on Medium's algorithm rather than direct subscriptions.

7. Patreon (Best for Community-Based Subscriptions)

Patreon is a membership platform where fans pay monthly for exclusive content, community access, and perks. It is more community-focused than newsletter-focused.

What makes it different:

• Tiered membership with different perks per level
• Community features (posts, polls, direct messages)
• Multiple content types (text, audio, video, downloads)
• Established brand with millions of patrons
• Discord integration for community

Drawbacks:

• 5-12% platform fee depending on plan
• No newsletter-style distribution
• No live video or scheduling
• Requires constant content creation to retain members
• Patreon owns the billing relationship

Pricing: Free to start. 5% (Lite), 8% (Pro), 12% (Premium) platform fee on earnings.

Best for: Creators with loyal fanbases who want tiered memberships with exclusive content.

8. Memberful (Best for Adding Memberships to Your Site)

Memberful lets you add paid memberships to your existing website. Instead of moving to a new platform, you embed Memberful's membership tools wherever you already publish.

What makes it different:

• Works with any website (WordPress, Ghost, Squarespace, custom sites)
• You keep your existing brand and design
• Gated content, downloads, and member-only areas
• Stripe integration for payments
• Single sign-on with Discord, WordPress, and other tools

Drawbacks:

• Not a publishing platform (you need your own website)
• Paid plans start at $25/month
• 4.9% transaction fee on Starter plan
• No live video, scheduling, or session tools
• Requires more technical setup

Pricing: Free (up to $0 in revenue). Starter at $25/month (4.9% fee). Pro at $100/month (0% fee).

Best for: Creators who already have a website and want to add membership gating without moving platforms. See our full Memberful alternatives comparison.

9. Kajabi (Best All-in-One Course + Membership Platform)

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for courses, memberships, email marketing, and digital products. It is the most comprehensive (and most expensive) option on this list.

What makes it different:

• Course builder with video hosting
• Membership sites with gated content
• Email marketing and automations
• Landing pages and sales funnels
• Podcast hosting
• Mobile app for your brand
• No transaction fees

Drawbacks:

• Starts at $149/month (most expensive option)
• No live video calls or session scheduling
• No workshop hosting
• Overkill for simple newsletters
• Learning curve for all features

Pricing: Basic at $149/month. Growth at $199/month. Pro at $399/month.

Best for: Established creators who want courses, memberships, and email marketing in one premium platform.

Feature Comparison

How to Choose the Right Alternative

You want to keep writing newsletters but with lower fees:

• Ghost (0% platform fee, full ownership)
• Beehiiv (0% platform fee, strong growth tools)
• Buttondown (simple, affordable, no bloat)

You want newsletters plus product sales:

• ConvertKit (email marketing + digital products)
• Kajabi (courses + memberships + email, but expensive)

You want to monetize through community:

• Patreon (tiered memberships with perks)
• Memberful (add memberships to your existing site)

You want to monetize through live interaction:

• Talkspresso (video calls, workshops, group sessions, digital products)

You want maximum content discovery:

• Medium (built-in audience, algorithmic distribution)
• Substack (recommendation engine, publication network)

The Newsletter-to-Session Pipeline

Here is something most Substack creators miss: newsletters are a great audience-building tool, but they are not the most profitable monetization method.

Consider the math:

• A paid newsletter at $10/month with 500 subscribers = $5,000/month (minus 13% in fees = $4,350)
• Building 500 paying subscribers takes most creators 1-3 years of consistent writing

Now consider the live session model:

• 10 coaching calls/month at $200 each = $2,000/month (minus 10% fee = $1,800)
• 2 group workshops/month at $50/seat with 30 attendees = $3,000/month (minus 10% = $2,700)
• Total: $4,500/month from live sessions alone
• Building a client base for 10 calls + 2 workshops takes most creators 3-6 months

The smartest approach combines both:

1. Free newsletter (Beehiiv, ConvertKit, or even free Substack) to build your audience
2. Paid live sessions (Talkspresso) to monetize your most engaged readers
3. Digital products (recordings of past sessions, templates, guides) for passive income

Your newsletter builds trust. Your live sessions capture premium revenue. Your recordings create passive income. Three revenue layers, each reinforcing the others.

If you are thinking about how to price your first live offerings, check our guides on pricing your first online workshop and the psychology of pricing coaching sessions.

Making the Switch

If you decide to move away from Substack, here is what to do:

1. Export your subscriber list. Substack lets you download your subscribers as a CSV. Do this before anything else.
2. Set up your new platform. Import your subscribers, set up your publication or services.
3. Redirect your custom domain (if you have one) to your new platform.
4. Announce the move. Send a final Substack post explaining where to find you now.
5. Give it time. Not all subscribers will migrate. Expect to retain 60-80% of engaged readers.

If you are adding Talkspresso alongside your newsletter (not replacing it), there is no migration needed. Just set up your booking page and share it with your newsletter audience.

The Bottom Line

Substack is excellent for paid newsletters. The platform is simple, the audience network is real, and the writing experience is clean.

But if Substack's 10% fee bothers you, Ghost and Beehiiv offer similar capabilities with lower or zero platform fees. If you want more than newsletters, ConvertKit adds products and automations. If you want community, Patreon is built for that.

And if you want to monetize through live interaction (video calls, coaching, workshops, group sessions), Substack cannot do that at all. Neither can any of the other newsletter platforms. For that, you need Talkspresso, which handles video, scheduling, payments, and recording in one platform with no monthly fee.

The best creators in 2026 are not choosing between newsletters and live sessions. They are using both.

Related Reading

If you are mapping out the live-monetization side of your creator business, these guides go deeper:

• 9 best platforms for paid video calls — full feature and fee breakdown across the live-session category.
• How creators sell paid video calls to their followers — the audience-to-booking conversion playbook.
• Pricing your first online workshop — pricing frameworks for your first paid live offer.
• Building a coaching practice with video calls — the long-form practice-building guide.
• Single-link creator platforms for products, bookings, and newsletters — for creators who want one link to rule the whole stack.

Ready to Add Live Revenue?

Keep your newsletter. Add live sessions. The two layers stack.

Talkspresso is free to start, has no monthly fee, and handles HD video, scheduling, payments, recording, and AI summaries in one place. The only cost is a 10% platform fee on what you actually earn — and only when you earn it.

Create your free Talkspresso page →

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