Leaving Substack

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Platform Choice: Ghost vs Substack

  • Many favor Ghost for being open-source, self-hostable, customizable, and supporting both blogs and newsletters.
  • Others point out Ghost’s hosted pricing (no permanent free tier, limited features at low tiers) vs Substack’s “free until you earn” model as a major reason Substack is more popular.
  • Self-hosting Ghost is highlighted as “free” in license but not in practice due to server costs and ops work.
  • Some praise Ghost’s predictable, usage-based pricing and nonprofit structure; others note U.S. nonprofits can still be profit-driven.
  • Concerns are raised about Ghost’s tech stack and long-term security/upgrade pressure even when self-hosted.

Substack’s Evolution & “Enshittification”

  • Several see Substack as following the typical VC-backed pattern: start clean, then add growth hacks, dark patterns, and social features.
  • Complaints include popups, intrusive subscription prompts, and a cluttered, social-media-like UX, especially as the platform pushes paid conversion.
  • Others defend Substack’s optimization for helping writers grow and say calling everything “dark patterns” is overblown.

Distribution, SEO, and Alternatives

  • Substack is credited with solving distribution and discovery better than personal sites; this is a key reason people tolerate its downsides.
  • Some argue that if content is good, people will find it, especially via RSS and Hacker News, and they prefer static sites (Hugo, Jekyll, GitHub Pages).
  • Counterpoint: expecting most people to manage static-site deployment or sysadmin tasks is seen as unrealistic.
  • Recent search-engine behavior allegedly disadvantages small, low-authority domains, further pushing writers toward big platforms.

Moderation, Ethics, and Governance

  • Substack is criticized for hosting extremist content and for leadership’s reluctance to clearly denounce it; some see the current backlash as a social “immune response.”
  • Others note Ghost’s hosted service has had its own moderation controversies, preferring Substack’s stance.
  • Broader debates emerge over limiting corporate size/energy use, VC funding as a driver of harmful growth pressure, and whether “speed/size caps” on the internet are feasible or desirable.

Comments, Spam, and UX Tradeoffs

  • Big platforms are praised for handling comments, spam, analytics, and podcast distribution.
  • DIY setups can replicate basics with simple code, but spam and moderation load are non-trivial, pushing many toward third-party solutions.