Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

LBRY VS Substack

Compare LBRY VS Substack and see what are their differences

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LBRY logo LBRY

Meet LBRY, a content sharing and publishing platform that is decentralized and owned by its users.

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.
  • LBRY Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-25
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26

LBRY features and specs

  • Decentralization
    LBRY operates on a decentralized network, reducing the risk of censorship and giving content creators more control over their work.
  • Content Ownership
    Creators maintain full ownership of their content and can directly monetize it without intermediaries.
  • Reward System
    Users and creators can earn LBRY Credits (LBC) for participating in the platform, offering financial incentives for engagement.
  • Transparency
    The blockchain-based nature provides transparent transactions and operations, fostering trust among users.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    LBRY offers applications across different platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, making it accessible to a wide audience.

Possible disadvantages of LBRY

  • Complexity
    The blockchain and cryptocurrency aspects can be intimidating and confusing for users who are not tech-savvy.
  • Limited Audience
    As a newer platform, LBRY has a smaller user base compared to more established platforms like YouTube, which can limit reach and engagement.
  • Regulatory Issues
    The use of cryptocurrency can attract regulatory scrutiny, which might affect the platformโ€™s operation and user experience.
  • Content Quality
    The lack of centralized moderation can lead to a wider variance in content quality, with potentially less oversight on harmful or misleading information.
  • Monetization Challenges
    Monetizing content through LBRY Credits may be less intuitive and straightforward compared to traditional fiat currency models.

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 LBRY

Overall verdict

  • LBRY can be considered a good platform for those who value decentralization and are looking for alternatives to traditional content-sharing platforms. However, users should be mindful of potential legal and regulatory challenges that the platform might face.

Why this product is good

  • LBRY is a decentralized digital marketplace powered by blockchain technology, allowing content creators to share and monetize their content without relying on centralized platforms. It is praised for its censorship resistance and potential to provide more control to creators over their work.

Recommended for

    Content creators seeking decentralized distribution and monetization options, blockchain enthusiasts, and individuals concerned with censorship on traditional platforms.

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

LBRY videos

LBRY Review | $LBC | Content Freedom!

More videos:

  • Tutorial - LBRY Review 2020: What Is LBRY TV & How To Earn FREE LBRY Credits (LBC)
  • Review - After 48 Hours on LBRY (How Much I've Earned)

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 LBRY and Substack)
Video
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
Video Platform
100 100%
0% 0
CMS
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

LBRY Reviews

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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

Substack might be a bit more popular than LBRY. We know about 98 links to it since March 2021 and only 68 links to LBRY. 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.

LBRY mentions (68)

  • Yt-dlp: Upcoming new requirements for YouTube downloads
    Yeah there are alternatives for sure, but it takes time to discover them. But many search engine are offering searching of videos. So may just be a good idea to start building a public index of all the videos. And it is 2025, the HN crowd here can usually just deploy their video to CDN. Many business are also just hosting their own videos. BTW forgot to mention Odyssey underlying protocol is https://lbry.com And... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Top YouTube Alternatives to Watch in 2024 ๐Ÿ“น
    LBRY ๐Ÿ“š - Another blockchain-based platform, LBRY features uncensored video, audio, images, ebooks and more. The decentralized library is community-controlled. LBRY allows monetization via its LBC cryptocurrency and has a growing subscriber base. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • RARBG is down and out!?
    Https://lbry.com/ - decentralized marketplace and library for files. Source: about 3 years ago
  • I suddenly have a LBRY app running, what does it do?
    This is probably easiest way to find about what LBRY is: https://lbry.com/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Easily Accessing All Your Stuff with a Zero-Trust Mesh VPN
    Sounds like https://lbry.com/ ?? How did they solve or work around what you couldn't solve? Curious due to some deeply engrained dislike of anything centralized :p. - Source: Hacker News / about 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 / 20 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 / 25 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 1 month 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 LBRY and Substack, you can also consider the following products

Odysee - Launch your own channel | Watch and share videos

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

PeerTube - Federated (ActivityPub) video streaming platform using P2P (BitTorrent) directly in the web browser...

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.

YouTube - Our mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world.

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