Here’s the thing about Substack.
They’re not playing for you. They’re playing for their private investors. And whilst you’re patting yourself on the back for building an audience, they’re taking 10% of everything you earn and quietly locking you inside their gilded cage.
Independence? Freedom? Forget it.
I learned this the hard way. Let me tell you about my seven-month nightmare and why I jumped ship just in time.
The Substack Experiment
Late 2023, I’m in the interior of India. Smartphones everywhere. Everyone’s running their business from WhatsApp and Facebook. 285 million self-employed people pimping off megacorp platforms.
So I thought, why not? Let’s see how hard it is to run a publishing project from my phone.
I came back to Europe in early 2024 and decided to give Substack a proper go.
I exported my disengaged subscribers from Kit, imported them into Substack, and started posting. And honestly? I loved it. Tapping away on my phone in IA Writer, using markdown, clicking ‘post’ to publish.
What’s not to like?
90% of my site traffic is mobile anyway. Design aesthetics don’t matter as much as clarity. As a publisher, I want my readers to read my words easily, without distraction.
In the beginning, Substack was perfect for this.
Within seven months, I’d grown from 9,000 to over 15,000 free subscribers. Not bad for a lazy arse publisher who made his first post on 13th May 2024.
I had over 250 paid subscribers. Bestseller status. Preferential treatment. The whole shebang.
And then I’d had enough.
My last post? 22nd December 2024. Seven months and nine days after my first.
What Nobody Tells You
Here’s what Substack won’t advertise on their landing pages.
When I looked at where my paid subscribers actually came from, 90% were from my own efforts. Barely any came from their vaunted network effect.
You know what Substack’s network found me? Lots of free subscribers. Tyre kickers. Time wasters. Not all subscribers are equal. Remember that.
But things had started getting out of control.
I couldn’t organise content the way I wanted. Not even with sections. Not even with custom-built Maps of Content pages. Nothing worked.
Plus, Substack has become more and more like a social network. Distraction everywhere. Busyness everywhere. Noise everywhere.
It was not a place of calm.
And calm? That’s essential in my niche. Essential to my subscribers.
The feedback started rolling in. Paid subscribers found it confusing. Too noisy. Too distracting. They were getting pushed other people’s content when all they wanted was mine.
I’d been bigging up Substack before this. Writing about how great it was. Recommending it to others.
Time for some humble pie.
Because I now see it as exactly what it is: a digital cage. Something to avoid at all costs.
The Migration Nightmare
So how did I move 250+ paid subscribers off Substack and onto WordPress?
Let me be blunt. It was a fucking nightmare.
Over seven months, I’d offered my subscription at different prices. Anyone below a certain threshold got a pro-rated refund. Monthly subs got cancelled. And then I slowly, manually went through the remaining 200 paid subscribers and cancelled their recurring billing one by one.
You know what my subscribers said when I told them what was happening?
“Thank God for that.”
Pretty much unanimous. They were fed up being pushed other people’s content. They didn’t like the coercion of recurring billing (neither do I). They didn’t like how confusing and busy Substack had become.
Was It Worth It?
Yes. Absolutely.
I ran this Substack test for two reasons:
First, to see how easy it would be to emulate what’s happening in India—running a publishing business from my phone.
Second, to clarify how I wanted to structure my newsletter. Many ideas worked. Many didn’t.
As a minimum viable product test? Brilliant. I’m now crystal clear on how I want to teach the citizens in my world.
Should I have left three months in? Probably. Would’ve been less hassle migrating people out. Fewer posts to migrate over. But still, it’s been a great learning experience.
And fortunately, my delightful citizens are very patient and forgiving.
The Takeaway
Not all subscribers are equal.
Read that again. Not all subscribers are equal.
Free subscribers from a network effect are not the same as engaged subscribers who found you and chose to pay you directly.
What I Use Instead
If you want to run a newsletter without handing over 10% and your independence, here’s what works:
The Low-Cost, Minimal Tech Stack:
- Kit for sending email newsletters (can also accept payments if you want a premium newsletter)
- Kit also has landing pages for getting subscribers
- Google Drive to host PDFs, videos, audio, and any teaching material you need to link from your newsletter
The Techie’s Tech Stack:
- WordPress
- GeneratePress WP theme
- Google Classroom (free online learning platform)
- Kit (for email)
- ThriveCart (shopping cart)
- WPX (brilliant WordPress hosting)
The Bottom Line
Substack is playing to their private investors, not you. That 10% commission? That’s just the start. The real cost is your independence.
You’re building your business on rented land. And one day—maybe tomorrow, maybe next year—the landlord changes the rules.
Don’t let that be you.
Get out whilst you still can.
Affiliate note: Some of the links in this post earn me an affiliate commission if you purchase. I only ever use affiliate links for products or services I actually use myself.