Medium
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you want zero-setup publishing with an existing readership for $0.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Engineering teams sharing thought leadership | Independent writers and journalists |
| Who it's not for | Teams needing content ownership or SEO control | Businesses needing brand control or custom design |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.12 | Two confirmed incidents: an October 2025 breach exposed user emails and phone numbers; another security incident was disclosed February 2026. |
| Support quality | No support evidence in reviewed sources | Automated replies; hard to reach humans |
| Public sentiment | Readers on r/datascience still use Medium daily, while writers and developers debate paywalls, earnings, and the platform's decline.² | Reviewers praise the ease of use and monetization, but many complain about automated support, platform fees, and Substack turning into another social network.16 |
| Biggest gotcha | Migration later costs SEO and followers . content lives on Medium's domain⁹ | Support is auto-replies; no clear human escalation channel per user reports. |
Pick Medium when
- Engineering teams sharing thought leadership
- Writers wanting built-in distribution
- Zero-budget content marketing
When Medium is not a fit
- Teams needing content ownership or SEO control
- Anyone wanting custom domains and design freedom
- Companies treating it as their only blog infrastructure
- Buyers whose audience won't pay $5/mo to read
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
- Trustpilot reviews of medium.comtrustpilot.comreview
review
- Is Medium Still Worth It? (r/Medium)reddit.comreview
- Downfall of Medium.com (r/webdev)reddit.comreview
- Medium review 2025 (TechRadar)techradar.comreview
- Medium Membershipmedium.comofficial
- Become a Medium Member (Help Center)help.medium.comofficial
- Medium Partner Program Termshelp.medium.comofficial
official
- Medium retention offer . cancel and save $50-60/yrlowermysubs.comreview
news
- Finage publication security pagefinage.medium.comsecurity
- Substack review 2025 | TechRadartechradar.comreview
review
- Substack Reviews | G2g2.comreview
- Substack Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview