Substack vs Patreon: Which One is Best for Monetization?

Whether you’re a writer, musician, or even a manga artist, Substack and Patreon both help you turn your passion into profit. 

But if we talk about revenue, business model, and overall features, both platforms are quite different. 

Let’s see what these differences are! 

1st - Check This if You Hate Reading.. 

2nd - Let’s read! 

Substack Overview 

Substack is an online platform that helps writers get noticed online since 2017. 

In fact, they call it a new economic engine for culture which helps you start a publication that combines blog, personal website, podcast, and newsletters.

If we take a closer look, I must say it's a great invention for writers who want to start a paid newsletter. 

Key Features

Customization 

• Design your substack website as per your needs 
• Personal bio and a separate about page for writers like you 
• Smart image cropping for your article's thumbnail 
• Add navigation pages, tags, and sections
• Upload cover photo, square logo, and a wordmark 
• Supports up to 7 different languages 
• Colored links, next post links, and notes tab

Monetization 

• Insert affiliate links in your articles 
• Integrate with stripe to get recurring revenue from your readers 

Analytics 

• Integrates with Tag Manager and Google Analytics Measurement ID
• Connect your site to Facebook, Parse.ly, and Twitter pixels 
• Get open rates and subscribers report 
• Check survey reports 
• Track where your traffic is coming from 
• Get monthly stats email from Substack 

Marketing 

• Add live chat feature to your site to have a real conversation with your readers 
• Embed social media links 

Management 

• Help center
• Live chat support so that you can fix your issues instantly 
• Frequent email reminders that motivate you to complete your draft 

Patreon Overview 

Patreon is a platform for creators who release stuff on a regular basis. In fact, that’s what Jack Conte said when he launched Patreon in 2013. 

It’s surprising to note that Jack started Patreon because he wanted to find another way to monetize his videos other than YouTube. 

Later on, this platform became useful for anyone who creates awesome content.  

Key Features 

Customization 

• Set cover image and upload a square selfie of yourself 
• Embed social media URLs in your profile 
• Add a personal ‘bio’ and ‘about’ to your Patreon profile 
• Upload text, audio, video, and image to your Patreon account 
• Add a poll 
• Choose any custom brand color 
• Add a legal name just in case you have an artist name like I do  
• Enable NSFW (if applicable) 

Monetization 

• Start a paid membership 
• Sell digital products 
• Get paid via direct bank transfer (US only) 
• Various payout methods for over 80 countries 

Analytics 

• Integrate with Google Analytics 
• Track free, paid, and canceled members right from insights 
• View total earnings 
• See how much total traffic you’re getting to your Patreon 

Marketing 

• Send a private message to your top fans 
• Integrate with Keeper, Convertkit, Zapier, and over 40 other apps

Management 

• Help center 
• Submit a request ticket to resolve your issues 

Substack vs Patreon: Comparison & Walkthrough! 

#1 - Popularity 

Substack has 20 million monthly active users. On the other hand, Patreon has around 8 million only. 

Probably, this is because Substack is more of a blog type platform where users are writers mostly, So no doubt, Google indexes it more. 

Winner: Substack 

#2 - Profile Section 

On substack, you can have a personal bio along with your social media links. What's interesting is you can invite over your friends here. 

As far as I’ve noticed, Substack’s profile section is quite compact and everything is available at your fingertips. 

On Patreon, things are similar apart from a few things such as collections, shop, and membership. 

But one thing that I find common here is the compact and easy design. 

Winner: Tie 

#3 - Analytics 

In Patreon’s insights, you’ll see how many free members have joined you, surveys, posts, traffic, and total earnings. 

Looking at Substack, I don't see anything different. Here too, you can track views, paid subscriptions, and free readers along with categories. 

Winner: Tie (both have great insights) 

#4 - Profitability 

Letters from an American earns over $5,000,000/year from Substack. If we talk about Patreon, Matt and Shane’s Secret podcast makes $84,000/month. 

Comparing average earnings of the top creators on both platforms, it’s quite tough to say where you can earn more. 

I’d say it all comes down to the type of content you’re creating and your own marketing strategy. 

Winner: Tie, it's subjective 

Final Verdict!

Substack is a great platform for those who enjoy writing content. Just in case you're someone who's into filming videos, singing songs, or something similar, you should go for Patreon. That would help you monetize your exclusive content in a great way.

At last, I'd say both platforms are great in their own ways. It all comes down to your needs.