Ownly vs Substack
Ownly
joinownly.com
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | Ownly | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £100/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 7.7 (#65) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The Pro plan lists priority setup support, and the site says early creators get founder-level setup support. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
| What it does | Ownly helps creators launch branded membership websites with subscriptions, locked content, payments and subscriber access. | 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
Substack
- Free publishingFree
- Free to startFree
- Custom domain$50, paid once
- Paid subscriptionsPrice not published
In their own words
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.