What is Substack? A complete guide to features, pricing, and use cases

Substack is the publishing platform that turned the newsletter into a business model. It gives writers, journalists, podcasters, and independent creators everything they need to publish, grow an audience, and get paid, all without relying on algorithms, advertisers, or a media company to distribute their work.

This guide covers what Substack is, what it's used for, how it works, and what it costs. If you're already a Substack reader or writer, we'll also show you how IFTTT can help. IFTTT is an automation platform that connects over 1000 apps and services so they work together without manual input. New posts get cross-posted automatically, content gets archived the moment it's published, and you never miss a new piece from a writer you follow, regardless of whether you open the Substack app that day.

What is Substack?

Substack is a publishing platform that lets writers send newsletters, publish posts, host podcasts, and share short-form notes directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, it's become one of the primary homes for independent media, used by journalists who've left traditional publications, niche experts who want to write without editorial interference, and creators building direct relationships with paying audiences.

What makes Substack different from a traditional blog or email newsletter tool is the combination of free and paid subscription tiers built into the platform. Writers can offer free content to grow their audience and charge a monthly or annual fee for premium posts, full archives, or community access. Substack handles the payments, the email delivery, and the hosting, and writers own their subscriber list outright.

What is Substack used for?

Independent journalists and reporters use Substack to break away from legacy media and publish directly to readers who pay for their work, with no editorial filter between them and their audience.

Niche experts and analysts use it to write deeply about a specific topic: finance, technology, culture, policy, sports, and build a subscriber base that values their perspective.

Podcasters use Substack to publish audio alongside written posts, treating it as a hub for both formats with a single subscriber base.

Creators and essayists use it for long-form writing that doesn't fit the algorithmic demands of social media, where quality and consistency build an audience over time rather than virality. Readers use Substack to follow specific writers whose work they trust, getting posts delivered directly to their inbox or reading them in the Substack app instead of scrolling feeds they don't control.

How does Substack work?

Writers create a Substack publication with its own URL, branding, and subscriber list. They write posts in Substack's editor, which supports text, images, embeds, and audio, and choose whether each post is free for everyone or paywalled for paying subscribers only. When a post is published, Substack sends it to subscribers via email and makes it available on the publication's web page.

Substack supports two tiers for every publication: free subscribers who receive some or all content, and paid subscribers who pay a monthly or annual fee for full access. Writers set their own prices and retain full ownership of their content and subscriber list, which they can export and take elsewhere at any time.

Beyond long-form posts, Substack also supports Notes, a short-form, social-style feed where writers share quick thoughts, links, and reactions. Notes are visible to followers rather than just subscribers, giving writers a way to grow their audience beyond their existing list.

Substack pricing: is Substack free?

For writers, Substack is free to use. There are no monthly fees, no setup costs, and no charge to publish. Substack earns money only when writers do: it takes a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue. Writers who only offer free content and never charge subscribers pay nothing.

For readers, Substack is free to use as well. Reading free content, following writers on Notes, and using the Substack app cost nothing. Readers pay only when they choose to subscribe to a writer's paid tier, at whatever price that writer has set.

Paid subscriptions on Substack typically run between $5–$10 per month or $50–$100 per year, though writers set their own pricing. Some offer founding member tiers at higher price points for readers who want to offer extra support.

Substack vs. Medium: what's the difference?

Substack and Medium are both platforms for independent writers, but they serve meaningfully different purposes and work on different business models. Here's how they compare:

Bottom line: If you want to own your audience and build predictable subscription revenue, Substack is purpose-built for it. If you want platform distribution without managing subscriber growth yourself, Medium is the easier starting point. Both connect to IFTTT, so whichever you use, you can automate it across your workflow.

10 popular Medium automations

What are Substack's limitations?

Substack's simplicity is also its constraint. The editor is clean but limited: there's no advanced layout control, no complex formatting options, and no built-in tools for the kind of design flexibility that a dedicated website or CMS would offer. Writers who want a highly customized publication experience will find Substack's options restrictive.

Discovery is another real limitation. Unlike Medium, which surfaces content to readers browsing the platform, Substack offers very little organic discovery. Writers have to bring their own audience or grow through word of mouth, Notes engagement, and cross-promotion with other Substack writers. Building a paying subscriber base from zero takes time and consistent effort.

The 10% revenue cut is fair at small scale but adds up for high-earning publications. A writer earning $10,000 per month in subscriptions pays $1,000 to Substack before payment processing fees. Alternatives like Ghost offer self-hosted options where writers pay a flat fee instead of a percentage.

Substack also doesn't integrate natively with most external tools, there's no built-in way to sync subscribers with a CRM, post automatically to social media, or archive content elsewhere. That's exactly where IFTTT fills the gap.

How IFTTT works with Substack

Substack handles your publishing and your subscriber list. IFTTT connects it to everything else. Whether you want to cross-post automatically when you publish, archive every post to a second location, or get notified the instant a writer you follow puts something new out, IFTTT bridges the gap without any custom code.

IFTTT's Substack integration works through two triggers:

1. New post by user: fires when a Substack writer you follow publishes a new post across any of their publications
2. New note by user: fires when a Substack writer you follow publishes a new Note

From those two triggers, you can connect Substack to hundreds of apps. Here's how people are using IFTTT with Substack today.

Cross-post new publications automatically

Publishing to Substack is one step, but getting that content in front of your audience on every platform is another job entirely. Writers who publish consistently know the overhead of manual cross-posting adds up fast.

With IFTTT, you set it up once and every new post goes out automatically across X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Buffer without you touching a thing. The moment you hit publish on Substack, your social presence updates itself.

Get notified the instant a writer publishes

Email delivery is reliable, but it's not always where you're paying attention. IFTTT lets you route Substack publish alerts to wherever you actually are: your inbox, Gmail, Telegram, Slack, or Discord.

For individual readers, that means never missing a post from a writer you care about regardless of how your email filters are set up. For teams, it means a shared channel that surfaces new publications from the writers you're all tracking, without anyone having to remember to share the link.

Archive and organize content automatically

Substack's built-in archive works well on the platform, but it doesn't connect to your personal knowledge system. IFTTT can send every new post directly into Evernote, Notion, Airtable, Google Sheets, or Dropbox the moment it goes live.

For researchers and curators tracking multiple publications, this means a structured, searchable database that builds itself.

Explore Substack integrations

Some of the most useful Substack automations connect it to the platforms where your audience already lives or where you store content for later.

X (Twitter) to Substack

Automatically tweet new posts the moment they publish. For writers who've built an audience on X, this keeps your followers in the loop without adding a manual step to your publishing routine.

• - Tweet new Substack posts to X automatically
• - Include the post title and link in the tweet
• - Trigger on new posts or new Notes from any writer you follow

Set up X (Twitter) → Substack

Google Sheets to Substack

Log every new Substack post to a spreadsheet. Useful for content researchers, newsletter curators, and anyone tracking output from multiple writers.

• - Add a new row to Google Sheets for each new Substack post
• - Track writer name, publication title, date, and URL in one place
• - Build a structured database of content across all the publications you follow

Set up Google Sheets → Substack

Gmail to Substack

Route Substack publish alerts directly into Gmail so new posts land exactly where you're already working. Useful for anyone who lives in Gmail and wants publication notifications alongside the rest of their email workflow.

• - Send a Gmail message whenever a Substack writer publishes a new post
• - Trigger Gmail alerts for new Notes as well as full posts
• - Keep Substack notifications organized within your existing Gmail labels and filters

Set up Gmail → Substack

8 more ways to automate your publishing workflow

If you're already automating Substack with IFTTT, these integrations work well alongside it, whether you're managing content across multiple platforms, staying on top of RSS feeds, or keeping your email workflow connected.

Based on how Substack users typically work, we recommend exploring RSS Feed, Medium, WordPress, and Gmail as natural next steps.

Substack and IFTTT: better together

Substack gives writers the tools to publish independently and build a business from their writing. IFTTT makes sure that work reaches the right places automatically: cross-posted to social, archived to your knowledge tools, and surfaced to your team or community the moment it goes live.

Ready to connect Substack to your workflow? Get started on IFTTT today, no code required.

Frequently asked questions about Substack

Does Substack have an app?

Yes. Substack has a free app available on iOS and Android. The app gives readers access to all the publications they follow, including full post archives, podcasts, and the Notes feed. Writers can also publish posts, respond to comments, and monitor subscriber activity from the app. It's a useful alternative to email delivery for readers who prefer browsing their subscriptions in one place rather than managing them through their inbox.

Can you make money on Substack?

Yes, but the path to meaningful income varies widely. The mechanics are straightforward: enable paid subscriptions, set your price, and Substack handles billing. In practice, most writers convert between 5–10% of free subscribers to paid, so building a sizeable free list first is generally the prerequisite. Writers who earn consistently on Substack typically do so because they built an audience elsewhere first: through journalism, social media, a podcast, or another platform, and brought that audience with them. Starting from zero and growing to a full-time income purely through Substack takes significant time and consistent publishing.

What is the difference between Substack and Ghost?

Ghost is a self-hosted or managed publishing platform for creators who want more control over site design, custom integrations, and membership structure. Substack is simpler to launch: no setup, no hosting, no upfront fee, but Ghost offers more flexibility for writers who want custom themes, advanced membership tiers, and full ownership of the tech stack. Ghost charges a flat monthly fee (starting around $9/month for Ghost Pro) rather than a percentage of revenue, which makes it more cost-effective for high-earning publications. Substack is the faster starting point; Ghost makes more sense once you're ready to invest in a more customized setup.

How do I start a Substack newsletter?

Go to substack.com, create an account, and choose a name and URL for your publication. From there you can customize your homepage, write your first post, and decide whether to keep it free or enable paid subscriptions. Substack's setup takes minutes, there's no hosting to configure or payment system to integrate. The harder part is deciding on a clear focus for your publication and building a consistent publishing cadence before you start promoting it to potential subscribers.