Which is better, Medium or Substack?
If you’ve also been wondering that, I understand. But also, it’s the wrong question because it’s like comparing apples and oranges.
For me, it’s not an either-or, it is an and. I’m writing on Medium and Substack. Both can be in one ecosystem. The two platforms fit together very well. They complement each other.
As I always say:
They fit together like peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and cookies, whatever you prefer.
Who am I to tell you anything about Medium and Substack?
I’m a top writer on Medium with 12,000 followers and a Substack bestseller with 11,000 subscribers and 300+ paid subscribers.
In our 1:1 sessions, (part-time) writers often tell me:
Kristina, I don’t have the time, attention, the bandwidth to write on both sides.
But is this true?
I write on both sides. I’m a part-time creator, spending only about two to three hours daily on my online writing business.
I have to agree that if I put more focus on Substack, I often don’t manage to write on Medium as much as I’d love to but the reason isn’t Substack alone. I’m also creating videos on YouTube which I share via my newsletter, and often I need to prioritize this to publish one video per week, which is my goal.
In addition, I now amplified my interviews with inspiring voices that have gone before us via my new Substack podcast — a podcast that is native to Substack.
However, if you’re thinking about Medium and Substack, it doesn’t have to feel the way it feels for me in this content triangle.
Of course, you build and feed another platform, but the two go together perfectly like peanut butter and jelly.
Here’s what you can do to create, as I call it, a Substack-Medium hybrid
#1 The first thing you can do is to link to your email list on Substack via Medium.
#2 You can link to your best-performing or trending stories on Medium via Substack.
#3 You can also collect data points on Substack Notes (or Medium) and then write an original in-depth piece for your newsletter audience.
I shared this one here…
and it got 80 likes, 16 replies, and 12 restacks.
This is a data point for me that I could use and then say:
Hey, I should write a long-form piece about this!
#4 You can also take parts that people highlighted on Medium and create a story around it for your Substack audience. You can grab some pieces of a successful post and share them on Substack Notes as a short-form post or create a long-form post newsletter.
These are just a few of the many recommendations I have to help you start this hybrid.
So what you can do is you can use Medium at the top of the funnel where you gain followers, because, of course, Medium wants to help you gain more followers — at least if you’re writing about the topics that the platform prefers and gets paid members for.
From there, I have, for instance, my YouTube tutorials and interviews and the new Substack podcast where I amplify my interviews with top voices.
Medium would be at the top of the funnel and Substack at the bottom. However, it could also be the other way around, with Substack at the top and Medium at the bottom, depending on what you want.
As a marketing and brand manager, I believe that your email list is your most valuable asset in your business. And that’s why it’s so important and should take center stage.
I see Medium as my blog and Substack as my newsletter
Your Substack is a publication on the internet. It can also be your website and newsletter, whose posts I can republish on Medium if I wish.
Often people ask me:
Kristina, can I republish my writing on multiple platforms?
Of course, you can. You own your content on both Medium and Substack. It’s your original piece, so you can share it. You could tweak it and then put it on Medium or vice versa. Also, you can set a canonical link.
But keep in mind:
There’s no such thing as duplicate content on the web, so you don’t have to set a canonical link.
You’re ill-advised if you put all your eggs in one basket
In my opinion, it’s crucial to be on multiple platforms because you never know what might happen — the algorithm or rules could change, or the platform could shut down.
In 2022, when I started my Substack, I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. So, despite being a top writer on Medium with badges of honor in multiple categories and earning about $800 to $1,000+, I didn’t want to rely solely on Medium.
My marketing and branding background taught me that an email list is the most valuable asset in any business, so I wanted to focus on building that.
On Medium, you can also gain subscribers, but the focus is less on that. For me, with 12,300 followers, I have about 550+ subscribers.
On Substack, my goal is to gain more subscribers than followers on Medium because I know the follower metric is somewhat dead. With 11,000 subscribers, I am well on the way to achieving this goal in the first quarter of 2025.
Oh, and here’s my annual recurring revenue (ARR). This is $2666/month recurring revenue.
Also I’m a TOP20 #Education publication on Substack.
I want to invest in Substack’s subscriber model, where you get paid to be yourself. If people vote with their wallets, the money goes directly to you.
On Medium, it’s different — you never know exactly how much you’ll earn. There’s also the option for boosts, where people can nominate your stories for a big boost, and you might earn $100 instead of $10. That’s fine, but if you have a family to feed and work as a part-time writer, a regular income is always better and healthier for your mental well-being. However, you can earn money on both.
Turning on the paid button on Substack changed my life — forever
I was flailing around in 2023 because I gave birth to my baby. But then in January 2024, I decided to go paid and offer a premium newsletter with paid perks such as my membership experience, live workshops, and courses.
After 15 months of occasionally writing on Substack, I wanted to be strategic about it. So I knew exactly what I wanted to offer as paid perks. I knew my audience would be Medium writers, Substack noobs, and people who would want to start, grow, and monetize their online writing business.
Often these are also people who are part-time writers, as I am. The last thing they want is to feel overwhelmed, confused and stop writing. They have to manage a lot of things and keep all the balls in the air. So the idea was to help them “make it easy” and learn from the writers I interviewed in live workshops inside the membership experience.
Back then, I didn’t know turning on the paid button would change my part-time writing life — forever.
🚨1 Ticket Left - Substack Flywheel Bootcamp
Just a quick heads up…
Registration closes in 24 hours.
And... there’s 1 ticket left for our 'Substack Flywheel Bootcamp' 5-Day Intensive taking place Monday Jan 27th - 31th.
So that means today is your last chance to secure your access to this virtual and interactive 5-day event.
I promise this is something you won’t want to miss out on.
Especially since we’ll be having a community of MORE THAN 50 bootcampers, amazing SURPRISE GUESTS, RESOURCES and CHALLENGES
How cool is that?
So if you haven’t already… get the last ticket.
We love Medium. We love Substack. Let’s use them together and crush it!
Oh and if you’re only interested in Substack… this course is 90% about Substack! :)
Any Qs about Substack? AMA in the comments!
I love to support you.
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with ! We talk about the new Fund for new Substackers bringing in a paid audience, The Bootcamp and of course Medium and the flywheel. Join me for my next live video in the app.P.S. Not sure where to put all my LIVE videos here… so I thought I share both: my post and the video. Do you like this? Let me know. I don’t wan to bombard you with newsletters.
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