Substack is social media

Dude, just use wordpress.

WordPress can also be fast

I thought about using a static site builder for a while, but I just still went with wordpress.

Why? Static site builders offer speed and simplicity. But you can get really decent speed on WordPress if you just cut out a lot of bullshit. So you can overcome that disadvantage.

The pros for wordpress are that it is established and improving and being used by the biggest names in the game.

While you could theoretically get 'cut-off' from WordPress, you have a lot of established writers using that platform.

What is Substack good for?

Monetizing without much work.
It is a smooth and intuitive system.
More importantly, there is a scene there right now, so probably discovery and interaction too.

What are the cons of Substack?

The downside is you cannot export the content of the newsletters. And you cannot export anything except the emails.

Those are huge.

If that changes, then maybe.

You are building on another platform when a self-built platform is available. WordPress is cheaper, and honestly, not that much more difficult.

There are plugins for WordPress that offer similar functionality as an alternative to Substack.

You could use Memberful for the pay wall and ConvertKit for the email functionality.

Downside is you probably have to pay for them as well. Or you could use the limited free versions.
.

Avoid tracking.

Substack allows you to track open rates and all kinds of stuff. That is really cool. You could implement that as well.

You could also choose not to.

You can use both Substack and WordPress.

You can use Stubstack for discovery and interaction, but treat it like social media.

We have all seen what happens to people when the algorithms get tweaked.

Build your castle on solid ground, in a great location.

WordPress is cheap.

You can get a year of hosting and domain registration for like <$50 a year.

I mean that is like not that much money. Especially if you eat out. Like that is a few meals of eating out.

Cook and eat in a few times (you will like it) and you can easily pay for it.

As a hobby it is fairly low cost and it opens you up to serendipity as well.