s2Member vs Substack
s2Member
s2member.com
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | s2Member | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $89/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 5 | 4 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 8.4 (#27) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The maker documents Amazon S3 and CloudFront storage or streaming integrations, JW Player, bbPress, BuddyPress, and caching plugins. | 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 | s2Member is a WordPress membership plugin for protecting content and selling subscriptions or one-time access. | Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers. |
| Support | Support is provided through volunteer community interaction, documentation, videos, FAQs, and forums; the maker says it offers no support beyond these resources. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
Plans
s2Member
- FrameworkFree
- Pro Single-Site License$89 a month
- Pro Unlimited-Site License$189 a month
- Pro Single-Site License$89, paid once
- Pro Unlimited-Site License$189, paid once
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.