Medium or Substack? My decision for now

As a writer, finding the right platform to share my thoughts with a supportive audience has been important to me. For a while, Medium has been my go-to space. But with Substack on the rise, I’ve been rethinking my choice.

I started writing on Medium after truggling to complete an article in a Google document. Even though Medium’s platform looked plain and simple, it gave me an opportunity to focus on writing for readers who would appreciate what I had to say. Medium’s minimal design reminded me of how I appreciate writing in Notepad program, where the relative simplicity creates space to focus on the communicating key message.

I liked Medium so much that two years ago, I invited some friends to join me in starting a Medium publication called Regenerative Spiral. I didn’t understand why publications needed to be hosted by Medium paid subscribers. I didn’t mind it at first - it was fun to try something new with supportive friends. However, I did ask start to myself: is it worth paying a subscription fee each year to keep the publication going? Could the money, time, and energy be better spent elsewhere?

This year, I noticed a number of people and organisations switched to writing to SubStack.

Curious, I logged in to check it out. SubStack offers many more features. While Medium’s distraction-free layout appeals to me, Substack platforms appears to be more flexible, particularly when it comes to growing a community of readers and monetising content. These are features I’d love to see on Medium.

On Medium, even if people liked the article, it was hard to tell who read the article, when they did so, how many claps they gave, and if they came back to the article again. I found it hard to share meaningful statistics with my friends on how well our articles were doing, or how we might reach our intended audience better. Substack, on the other hand, seems to be a platform designed for creators and community builders.

For now, my main focus is to write more. I would like to document learnings and meaningful moments, and sharing thoughts while they are fresh. I may like to monetise my content at some point but it’s not a priority.

Another factor is I don’t wish to give away my email address just to read an article. I noticed that Substack requires readers to enter their email before accessing the creator’s content. I appreciate that Medium allows free access without such a barrier.

My decision for now is to stay with Medium. Its simplicity allows me to focus on what matters most — writing. I hope Medium continues to give more reasons to stay!