Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

about.me VS Substack

Compare about.me VS Substack and see what are their differences

about.me logo about.me

About.me lets you quickly build simple and visually elegant splash pages that points visitors to your content from around the web. Get started today.

Substack logo Substack

With Substack, anyone can start a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. It's quick and simple.
  • about.me Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-05
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26

Substack

Pricing URL
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
United States

about.me features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    About.me offers a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to set up their profile quickly without any technical skills.
  • Personal Branding
    The platform allows users to create a centralized online presence that showcases their personal brand, making it easier for others to find and contact them.
  • Customization Options
    Users can customize their profiles with background images, color schemes, and personal information, allowing for a tailored presentation.
  • SEO Benefits
    About.me profiles are indexed by search engines, which can improve the userโ€™s visibility online.
  • Integration with Social Media
    The platform allows for integration with various social media accounts, making it simpler to connect all your online profiles in one place.
  • Free Basic Plan
    The basic plan is free, providing a cost-effective way for users to establish an online presence.

Possible disadvantages of about.me

  • Limited Features on Free Plan
    Users on the free plan have access to limited features and customization options, which may not fully meet their needs.
  • Ads
    Free accounts may feature ads, which can be distracting and may detract from the user's professional image.
  • Premium Costs
    Advanced features and additional customization options require a premium subscription, which may not be affordable for all users.
  • Limited Portfolio Options
    The platform is not ideal for users who want to showcase extensive portfolios or multimedia projects, as the features are somewhat basic.
  • Not Ideal for Businesses
    While great for individuals, About.me is not particularly suited for businesses or organizations looking to create more complex or multi-page websites.

Substack features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Substack offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for writers to publish and monetize their newsletters.
  • Built-in Monetization
    Writers can easily charge readers for subscriptions, allowing for straightforward monetization.
  • Direct Audience Connection
    Substack allows writers to build a direct relationship with their audience via email, which can lead to a more engaged readership.
  • Discovery and Community
    Features like staff picks and recommendations help writers get discovered by new readers.
  • No Upfront Costs
    Substack does not charge upfront fees; instead, it takes a percentage of subscription revenues, making it easier to start.
  • Content Ownership
    Writers retain full ownership of their content, giving them more control over their work.

Possible disadvantages of Substack

  • Revenue Share
    Substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenues, which can add up for writers with a large subscriber base.
  • Limited Customization
    The platform has limited customization options compared to building a custom website or using more flexible CMS options.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying on Substack means depending on its policies and infrastructure, which could pose risks if the platform changes its terms or features.
  • Competition
    As more writers join Substack, it can become challenging to stand out amidst the growing competition.
  • Email Deliverability
    Writers may face issues with email deliverability, as some newsletters may end up in spam folders.
  • Payment Processing Fees
    Besides Substack's fee, payment processors like Stripe also take a percentage, further reducing net earnings for writers.

Analysis of about.me

Overall verdict

  • Overall, about.me is a good option for those seeking a simple and effective way to create an online personal landing page. It offers essential features for personal branding and can be an excellent supplement to other professional networks like LinkedIn. However, for those seeking more advanced customization or integration capabilities, alternatives like building a personal website using platforms like WordPress or Wix may be more suitable.

Why this product is good

  • About.me is a platform that allows individuals to create a personal landing page to showcase their professional profile, interests, and social media links. It provides a centralized location for users to present a cohesive online presence. The platform is user-friendly, with customizable templates and straightforward navigation, making it easy for individuals to create an aesthetically pleasing and informative page quickly. About.me can enhance personal branding and online visibility, which is particularly useful for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to establish a professional online presence.

Recommended for

  • Freelancers looking to showcase their work and attract new clients.
  • Entrepreneurs who want a centralized hub for all their online profiles.
  • Job seekers aiming to enhance their personal brand beyond traditional resumes.
  • Individuals who wish to have a professional yet simple personal landing page.

Analysis of Substack

Overall verdict

  • Substack is a good choice for writers seeking autonomy and a straightforward way to monetize their content. However, it may not be the best fit for those who prefer working within the framework of a larger publication or those unfamiliar with the challenges of building and maintaining a subscriber base.

Why this product is good

  • Substack is a platform that allows writers, journalists, and content creators to publish and monetize their newsletters. It is praised for its ease of use, built-in subscription system, and direct-to-consumer model which enables writers to retain control over their audience and content. The platform has attracted both independent writers and established journalists seeking the freedom to monetize their work without traditional media constraints.

Recommended for

  • Independent writers and journalists
  • Content creators looking to monetize their work
  • Individuals seeking a direct relationship with their audience
  • Those who appreciate simplicity in publishing

about.me videos

No about.me videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Substack videos

Monetizing Podcasts and Newsletters - Chris Best of Substack and Jonathan Gill of Backtracks

More videos:

  • Review - E1016 Substack CEO Chris Best empowers writers via email newsletter platform, raised $15M from a16z
  • Review - Why EVERYONE should be on Substack | What it is, How it Works, $$$
  • Review - Beehiiv vs Substack (2024) - Which is Better?
  • Review - My Experience with SUBSTACK: An Honest Review of Substack

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to about.me and Substack)
Personal Website
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
52 52%
48% 48
Website Builder
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare about.me and Substack

about.me Reviews

About.me ... and failing to pivot
Some context - about.me was one of the first single-page personal websites. All it offered was a simple online presence for people. It was big when it was released in 2010 - a lot of publicity and lots of famous people pushing their personal brands online for the first time. It was one of those sweet ideas where you didnโ€™t need much tech. The mere ownership of the brand...
Source: stanbright.com
Linktree Alternatives: The Best 10 and the FREE Tool I Use
About.me lets you create a page that houses all the links to your other sites. Just like Linktree, the link will look like โ€˜about.me/yourbrandnameโ€™.
Source: petermurage.com

Substack Reviews

25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Substack offers writers of all experience levels the ability to write an email newsletter thatโ€™s profitable through subscriptions. Substack provides purpose-built web and newsletter publishing tools to enable writers to monetize their newsletters. It is a service often favoured by readers because itโ€™s a convenient all-in-one solution for writing a successful podcast that...
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
What sะตts Substack apart is its sะตamlะตss intะตgration of contะตnt crะตation and subscription-basะตd monะตtization. Substackโ€™s usะตr-friะตndly intะตrfacะต, distribution tools, and support for various contะตnt formats make it a popular choice for indะตpะตndะตnt crะตators looking to connะตct dirะตctly with thะตir audiะตncะต and turn thะตir passion into a sustainablะต incomะต strะตam.
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
11 Patreon Alternatives for Audience Monetization in 2023
Like a few of the other platforms weโ€™ve looked at, Substack takes a cut of your earnings rather than charging a 10% platform fee.
Source: www.uscreen.tv
Any good Mailchimp alternatives?
My question for you is, what is keeping you from making $31 per month from your list? Are you using any feature that Substack (free until you get paid) can't handle?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Substack should be more popular than about.me. It has been mentiond 98 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

about.me mentions (14)

  • The Gioi Tho Xe - Hร  Nแป™i | about.me
    The Gioi Tho Xe - Hร  Nแป™i | about.me - I am a web developer, actor, and filmmaker in Hร  Nแป™i. Read my blog. - 3ijm5fumml - https://about.me/thegioithoxe. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Online resume website?
    I am looking to make a resume of mine online with some good URL. I came across some simple websites which allows you but none of them seem really good one. Twowayresume is one of them, about.me is also same. Do you guys know any website which allows to make a resume but a bit modern way. I am not looking for a portfolio type of thing like behance, I just need a good looking resume to apply online. Source: about 3 years ago
  • I am a fresher, 2022 graduate. I literally get ghosted by every company i apply, Please review what's wrong with my resume?
    Consider getting a personalized bio page (like on about.me) or get a personal domain. I'm building https://pretzelbox.cc for people who want to quickly get a vanity domain and have their own profile page. If you want this, I could set you up with a domain and hosting for a year which should be more than enough to land your first interview. Source: over 3 years ago
  • So, yo wan to build a personal aggregator with Jekyll?
    With the last upgrade of my computer (Hello jammy!) the tool I was using to maintain my personal aggregator started to fail. I was happily using an unmaintained tool that provided a way to have a personal home page collecting my activity on the net and joining it together. The concept of personal aggregator comes from the news aggregator or Feed reader. It is also related with the Planet concept, in the sense... - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Venting about my experience in GIT at Polytech. I'm graduating next month.
    I do believe social media presence is important, but some classes required me to make like 5 social media accounts. None of my colleagues or people I have met working rely on using Linkedin AND behance AND twitter AND instagram AND having an about.me to get jobs. Anyway, my point here being that classes teach "real-world" concepts as being standard practice that I do not believe to be true. It goes back to a lot... Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Substack mentions (98)

  • SpaceX to buy Cursor AI coding agent operator Anysphere for $60B
    The thing is, even the center of the road academics who refrain from such comparisons are noting the similarity. The MAGA movement meets the traditional defining characteristics of fascio. We can be rigid and say that only Mussoliniโ€˜s political movement can be properly be called fascist. But if we call Hitler and the Nazis fascists as well, then we open the door to any movement that meets the criteria. And Trump... - Source: Hacker News / 23 days ago
  • AMA: I'm Eric Ries (The Lean Startup) & Author of New Bestseller Incorruptible
    Yes, it's much different in other countries. See https://substack.com/@doks/p-198191751. - Source: Hacker News / 29 days ago
  • Show HN: Playing with genomics foundation model tutorial/explainer article
    Hi folks, I got curious about how genomics foundation models work and wrote an article explaining how they are trained + can be used. Feel free to use the following as learning resources if you wish to jump into ML for comp bio stuff, it may help: - Code: https://github.com/dillondesilva/nt-promoter-region-classification - Article/Tutorial:... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • CBP Directive 3340-049B: Border Search of Electronic Devices
    The vast majority of people from the developed world have no problems going through any border in the developed world. Your experience is probably representative, but that's not what we're talking about. My understanding is that de facto you have no rights at all in China. The Americans take this sort of thing very seriously, which is why it's in the news and talked about. Some guy gets imprisoned for 37... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • GitHub โ€“ DOS 1.0: Transcription of Tim Paterson's DOS Printouts
    There was never a serious claim DOS copied CP/M code. The controversy was mostly about legality of reimplementation of the API, plus some pretty vague claims about copying the design: https://substack.com/@nemanjatrifunovic/note/p-178321556. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing about.me and Substack, you can also consider the following products

Carrd - Simple, responsive one-page site creator.

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

Linktree - Connect your audience to all of your content with just one link.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

MailChimp - MailChimp is the best way to design, send, and share email newsletters.