What it is
Substack is the most popular newsletter publishing platform, enabling creators to write, publish, and monetize email newsletters with built-in paid subscription support. The platform handles writing, email delivery, payments, and audience discovery. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue and charges nothing for free newsletters. The Substack network effect (recommendations, Notes, app discovery) helps new writers find audiences.
Why we picked this
Substack's advantage is simplicity and discovery. Start writing in minutes, build a free audience, convert to paid when ready. The network effect is real: Substack's recommendation engine and Notes feature expose your writing to readers of similar publications. For green economy writers, the platform hosts a growing cluster of climate, sustainability, and environmental newsletters, creating a discovery ecosystem where readers interested in these topics find new voices.
Key takeaways
- Zero cost for free newsletters, with Substack taking 10% only on paid subscriptions, making it risk-free to start.
- The Substack network (recommendations, Notes, app) provides built-in audience discovery that standalone newsletters lack.
- Major green economy newsletters (Heatmap, Cipher, Canary Media) operate on Substack, creating a thematic reader ecosystem.