Overleaf vs Substack
Overleaf
overleaf.com
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | Overleaf | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8.20/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 4 |
| Spec score · Writing Apps | 9.5 (#2) | 9.4 (#4) |
| Company size | LinkedIn places Overleaf in the 51–200 employee category and shows 71 employees on its profile. | LinkedIn lists 51–200 employees, while Crunchbase lists headcount in the 101–250 range. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Overleaf documentation lists Git and GitHub synchronization, Dropbox, ReadCube, Zotero, Mendeley, R code (knitr), Grammarly, and Google Drive import among its integrations and add-ons. | Official integrations include RSS, podcast distribution to Apple and Spotify, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, X and Facebook pixels, Google site verification, YouTube and LinkedIn account connections. |
| Purpose | Overleaf is an online platform for collaborating in LaTeX, compiling documents, and refining them. | Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.6 out of 5 from 35 reviews. | 0 out of 5 from 0 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.6 out of 5 from 76 reviews. | 4.3 out of 5 from 17 reviews |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.6 out of 5 from 35 reviews. | 0 out of 5 from 0 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 2.5 out of 5 from 35 reviews. | 1.5 out of 5 from 182 reviews |
| Support | The Organizations plan includes personalized support, personalized onboarding, and a dedicated account manager. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
| What it does | Overleaf is a browser-based collaborative LaTeX editor that compiles documents to formatted output while people write together. | Substack is a publishing and subscription platform for writers, podcasters, video creators and media companies, combining content creation, email distribution, payments, community and analytics. |
Plans
Overleaf
- FreeFree
- Student$8.25 a month
- Standard$16.75 a month
- Pro$33.25 a month
- FreeFree
- Student$8.20 a month
- Standard$16.60 a month
- Pro$33.25 a month
- OrganizationsPriced on request
Substack
- Free publishingFree
- Free to startFree
- Custom domain$50, paid once
- Paid subscriptionsPrice not published
In their own words
Overleaf
Overleaf is an online platform for writing, compiling, and revising LaTeX documents with collaborators. Writers can choose a Visual Editor or a Code Editor, while shared documents support simultaneous editing and comments, plus in-document chat. Free templates and example projects cover journal articles, theses, and CVs. Listed connections and add-ons include Git and GitHub synchronization, Dropbox, ReadCube, Zotero, Mendeley, knitr for R code, and Grammarly. Google Drive content can be imported into projects, but Overleaf does not sync directly with Drive. The free plan costs nothing and allows unlimited projects with one collaborator per project. Student and Standard permit 10 collaborators per project, and Pro permits unlimited collaborators; no prices are listed for those tiers. An Organizations plan is described for 20+ users. A seven-day trial gives access to the selected plan, with the card charged afterward unless canceled. Overleaf was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Listed platforms are extension, self-hosted, and web.
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers, bringing posts, newsletters, podcasts, video, live streams, and pages into one publishing flow. Its editor supports scheduling, autosaved drafts, version history, templates, SEO metadata, and headline A/B testing. Creators can offer free or paid posts, subscriptions, trials, gifts, and group plans. Discovery tools include recommendations, Notes, leaderboards, referrals, and search; audience segmentation and email automation are also available. Podcast episodes can be distributed automatically to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while video can go automatically to YouTube and LinkedIn. Publishing is free. When creators enable paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges payment processing fees. Creators own their intellectual property and mailing list and can export their data. Substack serves writers, journalists, podcasters, video creators, experts, educators, and media companies. It is available on the web, Android, and iOS. Substack directs users to its Help Center and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers.