Substack Tax – Creators say Substack’s take rate, weak customization, and social-first push are driving them to platforms like Ghost, Beehiiv, and Patreon.
A growing chorus of writers is treating Substack less like a permanent publishing home and more like a toll road they’ve decided they can’t keep paying.
In recent months. a wave of prominent newsletters has moved to alternatives. with creators pointing to rising costs. tighter platform control. and an increased emphasis on social-style engagement features.. The shift comes as some publishers also say Substack’s approach to discovery and integrations leaves them with less freedom than they want.
The Ankler. a widely read entertainment newsletter. announced it plans to leave Substack for Passport. a platform built through a partnership between WordPress.com owner Automattic and Stratechery founder Ben Thompson.. In its announcement. the publication framed the move as a step toward a more fully integrated media setup with a single site experience.
The decision is part of a broader talent drain that had already been attributed earlier to Substack’s platforming decisions involving Nazi newsletters.. But creators say the current wave of departures isn’t only about content policy.. They also cite changes they see as steering the product toward social features and away from the creator-first publishing model they originally expected.
Sean Highkin. who runs the NBA-focused The Rose Garden Report. said switching from Substack to Ghost brought him “significantly more money.” Highkin described an early period on Substack that included prominent promotion and traffic growth. followed by a slowdown once he was no longer new “recruited talent.” He added that he now pays an annual Ghost setup combined with an Outpost add-on. contrasting it with the higher annual cost he was paying on Substack.
Highkin also connected the pricing shift to measurable momentum: he said The Rose Garden Report’s subscriber base has grown since the move.. To other creators. that kind of tradeoff is becoming the central question—whether a platform’s discovery and built-in distribution still outweigh its escalating subscription fees as audience size rises.
Other departures reflect a similar cost calculus.. Matt Brown, creator of Extra Points, said he left Substack in 2021 and ultimately moved to Beehiiv.. He argued that as his publication grew. Substack’s fees would have become difficult to justify. while Beehiiv’s pricing lined up better with his current scale.
Beehiiv positions itself differently in those conversations.. In an interview. the company’s founder compared Beehiiv to Shopify rather than a marketplace model. emphasizing tools and infrastructure that help creators run their own audience-facing business without turning every creator site into a branded storefront for the platform.
Substack’s pricing model is built around a revenue share: the platform takes a 10 percent cut of subscription revenue. Creators say that percentage can look manageable at small scale but becomes a major line item as newsletters grow and as subscription pricing climbs.
On its own site. Substack offers a calculator meant to show how total monthly costs can rise when adding the 10 percent commission and payment processing fees.. The figures illustrated in the calculator demonstrate that the cost can increase dramatically across subscriber tiers. culminating in what creators describe as a steep burden for large audiences.
In contrast, some competitors emphasize flat monthly fees or tiers based on subscriber count.. Ghost. an open-source option for newsletters and blogs. starts with a monthly price for site creation and newsletter features along with a custom domain option.. Beehiiv offers a free tier up to a subscriber threshold and then charges for additional access. including features tied to advertising tools. while other plans vary depending on subscriber size.. Kit is another alternative, also using tiered pricing that scales with readership.
The financial issue is only one part of what creators describe as a broader platform lock-in problem. Critics say Substack can restrict how much third-party technology a writer can plug in, limiting reliance to what’s inside the Substack environment.
Substack has added features over time—such as podcast and video tools and social-style interactions including direct-message functionality.. Still. creators say that several recent product moves have sparked controversy. including a TV app and an integration with the prediction market Polymarket. underscoring how quickly the platform’s direction can shift.
Another sticking point is customization.. Creators argue that it’s hard to stand out when newsletters share consistent presentation elements. including how Substack branding appears at the bottom of newsletters.. They also point to the way the platform’s domain can show up in a creator’s web address unless a custom domain is purchased.
Meanwhile, Beehiiv and Ghost highlight deeper customization as a selling point. The underlying claim is that creators should build their own audience properties with tools that don’t require them to display the platform prominently across every touchpoint.
Discovery is another battleground.. Substack invests in its own recommendations and ranking mechanisms, which can help some newsletters find readers.. But critics say this also increases pressure for creators to participate in platform-native “Notes. ” which resemble short. tweet-like posts designed to influence algorithmic feeds.
That algorithmic engagement, creators say, doesn’t necessarily translate into direct subscriber relationships. The “follow” option tied to Notes doesn’t equal a newsletter subscription, and when creators leave, Substack owners can export subscribers rather than followers.
Substack has pushed back against the idea that it operates like a “walled garden.” The cofounder response emphasizes that exporting should include more than content. including mailing lists. payment relationships. and other key elements.. At the same time. the platform acknowledges that portability does not cover the followers tied to Notes. framing them as part of a growth mechanism meant to generate subscribers rather than a relationship that can be carried over unchanged.
Payments also raise practical questions for creators using Apple devices.. Substack started enabling in-app payments through its iOS app, but creators can’t take that billing setup when leaving.. The explanation offered is that Apple handles the transactions and takes its own commission. tying that revenue flow to Apple rather than to the publication.
Substack’s leadership argues that the platform has long believed creators should own their relationship with their audience and retain the freedom to leave.. The company also notes that some publishers and writers return after experimenting elsewhere. citing examples of creators who have moved away and later come back.
The platform’s business presence extends beyond the general newsletter ecosystem as well.. Substack is said to be expanding in other markets. with paid subscription programs for UK public figures including Charli XCX. Jamie Oliver. and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. with those subscriber counts reported to surpass 500. 000.
Casey Newton, a Platformer creator who left Substack in 2024, described the change as both a financial and strategic decision.. While he said the move saved him money through a Ghost setup. he emphasized that the more important outcome was having a home on the open web that he controls. reducing the risk of future platform changes affecting his long-term direction.
Some departures may end up being temporary rather than terminal. but the cumulative pattern is harder to ignore: Substack’s competitors appear to be positioning themselves as destinations where creators can own more of their publishing identity. costs can be forecasted more predictably. and technology choices are less constrained.
Even if Substack remains a launching pad for new publications, these switches could shape how new writers evaluate the platform—especially for those who prefer not to see their work defined primarily as “a Substack” instead of their own independent brand.
Substack newsletter creator economy newsletter platform Ghost Beehiiv Ghost Outpost platform switching