Medium
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you read tech writing almost daily or want Medium's built-in audience as a writer.
New check
Comparison
Medium vs Substack
Medium and Substack both land on Depends.
Substack
Depends
Confidence: High
Buy it if you're an independent writer who wants free publishing with payments and built-in discovery.
| Compare | Medium | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Developers tracking engineering trends | Independent writers and journalists |
| Who it's not for | Teams needing docs on their own domain | Businesses needing brand control or custom design |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.14 | Two confirmed incidents: an October 2025 breach exposed user emails and phone numbers; another security incident was disclosed February 2026. |
| Support quality | Complaint pages; no strong support signals | Automated replies; hard to reach humans |
| Public sentiment | Users are split: many praise Medium as a daily learning resource, while others question the subscription's worth and the platform's direction.³ | Reviewers praise the ease of use and monetization, but many complain about automated support, platform fees, and Substack turning into another social network. |
| Biggest gotcha | Lock-in: leaving means rebuilding your audience from scratch elsewhere11 | Support is auto-replies; no clear human escalation channel per user reports. |
Pick Medium when
- Developers tracking engineering trends
- Frequent readers of tech essays
- Writers wanting a built-in audience
- Casual learners who read daily
When Medium is not a fit
- Teams needing docs on their own domain
- Anyone building an owned email list
- Writers needing design control or custom domains
- Occasional readers who won't recoup $50-60/year
Pick Substack when
- Independent writers and journalists
- Creators monetizing paid newsletters
- Zero-budget personal publications
- Writers wanting built-in discovery
When Substack is not a fit
- Businesses needing brand control or custom design
- Teams that require reliable human support
- Anyone collecting sensitive subscriber data
- Marketers needing funnels, automations, or CRM features
Sources
- An Honest Review of the Medium Publishing Platformwritersdigest.comreview
- Medium review 2025 (TechRadar)techradar.comreview
- Trustpilot reviews of medium.comtrustpilot.comreview
- Why Most Readers Should Cancel and Save $50-60/yrlowermysubs.comreview
- Blunt Talk About The New Friends Of Medium Tierlindac.substack.comreview
- 6 Years On Medium . Honest Reviewmedium.comreview
- Become a Medium Member (Help Center)help.medium.comofficial
- Medium Membership pagemedium.comofficial
- Medium raises $50M Series C (TechCrunch)techcrunch.comnews
- Medium valued at $400M (TNW)thenextweb.comnews
- Self-Hosted Medium Alternativesalternativeto.netreview
- Medium customer service complaints (PissedConsumer)medium.pissedconsumer.comreview
- Is Medium Still Worth It? (Reddit)reddit.comreview
- Product security page (faun.pub)faun.pubsecurity
- Substack review 2025 | TechRadartechradar.comreview
review