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Should I use Brutally Honest by Matej Lancaric?

No BS newsletter with useful stuff about UA & creatives in the post-IDFA world. - lancaric.substack.com

Worth it. Subscribe if you do UA, creatives, or growth for mobile games — 229+ issues, real-data reports, and a 12-year-veteran author at little to no cost. Skip it if you are outside mobile gaming or expected a product rather than reading material.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 40+ public sources, mostly author-published posts; no independent user reviews found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualitySolo author; email-only contact
  • Security postureN/A for a newsletter; no findings

Pricing

Not disclosed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Mobile game UA managers
  • Ad creative strategists in gaming
  • Studio founders scaling user acquisition

Not for

  • Anyone outside mobile gaming
  • Teams wanting a software tool, not a newsletter
  • Buyers needing audited, vendor-neutral data
  • Enterprise buyers wanting support contracts

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

No published pricing in sources; verify free vs paid archive access before relying on it.

medium

Data claims like 'Real Data inside' are self-reported, not independently audited.

low

Recurring sponsor segments blur editorial and ads in issues.

low

Solopreneur operation — email-only support, no staff, best-effort replies.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • 229+ weekly issues on mobile UA and ad creatives
  • Quarterly UA reports with real benchmark data
  • Author has 12+ years growing mobile games
  • Detailed global launch case studies, e.g. Last Asylum: Plague
  • Endorsed by peer gaming newsletters like Push to Talk

Cons

  • One-person operation; depth rests on a single author
  • Mobile-game specific; little value outside gaming
  • Tips posts also free on Medium and
  • Issues include sponsor plugs alongside analysis

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/29/2026 - 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x7review x2security x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Large free archive; paid tier unverified
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Standard Substack email plus web archive
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Weekly issues, data reports, launch case studies
  • Support quality. Solo author; email-only contact
  • Security posture. N/A for a newsletter; no findings
  • Tens of thousands Subscribers Self-reported on Substack
  • 229+ Issues published Weekly cadence
  • 12+ years Author experience Mobile gaming growth
  • Yes Free archive Full archive publicly readable

Pricing

Free tier: Yes

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

No independent user reviews found; endorsements from fellow newsletter authors.

Full analysis

Based on 40+ public sources, mostly author-published posts; no independent user reviews found.

Credible weekly UA newsletter for mobile gaming; skip if you're outside games or want a tool, not reading.

Methodology

Based on 40+ public sources, mostly author-published posts; no independent user reviews found.

Sources

  1. Brutally Honest homepagelancaric.substack.com
    official
  2. H1 2026 Brutally Honest UA reportlancaric.substack.com
    official
  3. Matej Lancaric Substack profilesubstack.com
    official
  4. Matej Lancaric: The Story of a Solopreneurlancaric.substack.com
    official
  5. Brutally Honest #229lancaric.substack.com
    official
  6. Last Asylum: Plague global launch case studylancaric.substack.com
    official
  7. Push to Talk newsletter recommendationspushtotalk.gg
    review
  8. New Economies newsletter recommendationsneweconomies.co
    review
  9. Security pagelancaric.substack.com
    security
  10. 12 tips for killer mobile UA (Medium cross-post)medium.com
    official

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