Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Listmonk VS Substack

Compare Listmonk VS Substack and see what are their differences

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Listmonk logo Listmonk

Send e-mail campaigns from a powerful dashboard. High performance and features packed into one app.

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.
  • Listmonk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-08-30
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26

Listmonk features and specs

  • Open Source
    Listmonk is free to use, modify, and distribute. This can offer significant cost savings compared to proprietary email marketing solutions.
  • Self-Hosted
    Allows you to have full control over the software and your data, providing enhanced security and customization possibilities.
  • Scalability
    Designed to handle millions of subscribers and messages effectively, making it suitable for both small and large-scale email marketing campaigns.
  • Multilingual Support
    Supports multiple languages, making it accessible for users from different linguistic backgrounds.
  • API Access
    Provides a comprehensive API, allowing for excellent integration with other software and platforms.
  • Flexible Database
    Supports both PostgreSQL and SQLite, catering to different user needs and technical requirements.

Possible disadvantages of Listmonk

  • Technical Expertise Required
    Being a self-hosted solution, it requires a certain level of technical knowledge for setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
  • Hosting Costs
    Although the software itself is free, you will need to incur costs for hosting and maintaining the server where Listmonk is installed.
  • Limited Built-In Templates
    May not come with a wide variety of pre-designed email templates, requiring users to create their own or import from other sources.
  • Community Support
    Unlike commercial solutions, support is primarily community-driven, which may lead to slower issue resolution compared to dedicated support teams.
  • Learning Curve
    The initial setup and configuration can be complex and may require a time investment to understand all its features and functionalities.

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 Listmonk

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Listmonk is a good option for those who prefer a self-hosted, open-source mailing list manager. It provides powerful features without recurring subscription costs and allows for full control over your data.

Why this product is good

  • Listmonk is a self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager that is appreciated for its open-source nature, flexibility, and robust features. It offers advanced segmentation, analytics, and a user-friendly interface, making it suitable for businesses looking for a customizable and privacy-focused solution.

Recommended for

  • Businesses or individuals looking for a cost-effective solution without recurring fees
  • Those who require a high degree of customization and flexibility
  • Organizations that prioritize data privacy and security
  • Developers or tech-savvy users comfortable with self-hosting applications

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

Listmonk videos

Listmonk

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 Listmonk and Substack)
Email Marketing
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
Newsletter Marketing
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 Listmonk and Substack

Listmonk Reviews

We have no reviews of Listmonk yet.
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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

Based on our record, Substack should be more popular than Listmonk. It has been mentiond 100 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.

Listmonk mentions (32)

  • Email Marketing Automation in 2026: 5 Tools (and 1 Self-Hosted) Through Their APIs
    Listmonk is open-source, Go-based, single-binary or Docker. No task counter, no contact limit, no premium feature gates. Drop this on a $6 VPS:. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • 5 Open Source Alternatives Worth Considering Before Renewing Expensive SaaS Tools
    Email marketing platforms are another category where the commercial pricing has drifted well above the value delivered for most use cases. Listmonk is a self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go that handles transactional email, campaigns, and subscriber management. The source is on GitHub and it runs as a single binary on any modern Linux host. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Newsletters
    Listmonk is a high-performance, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go. It ships as a single binary backed by PostgreSQL and handles millions of subscribers without flinching. The web UI is fast and uncluttered โ€” managing lists, writing campaigns, and reviewing analytics all feel responsive even on modest hardware. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • How We Built a Welcome Email That Actually Gets Sent
    We use Listmonk for transactional email โ€” it's open source, self-hosted, and speaks a simple HTTP API. Our Go backend already had an email client with methods for password resets, comment notifications, view notifications, and confirmation emails. Adding a welcome email followed the same pattern. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Show HN: Built an email marketing platform after paying $200/month to self-host
    I run a few instances of listmonk [0], what makes fertit different/better? One thing I donโ€™t particularly like about listmonk is that it doesnโ€™t really support multitenancy. Itโ€™s lightweight enough that I can spin up multiple instances for different domains, but itโ€™d be nice not to. https://listmonk.app/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
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Substack mentions (100)

  • Kids (With Phones) Are Alright
    Sure there was basically a cartel in social media. You saw coordinated censorship campaigns to ban the former president of the United States for example. But I wouldn't discount the amount of political interference there as well. The last administration admitted to flagging individual posts for the social media companies. But it's also true there is a lot of coordinated censorship even without state interference.... - Source: Hacker News / 8 days ago
  • Financing the AI boom: from cash flows to debt [pdf]
    Manhattan Project: $36B, 5 years โ–ซ Apollo Program: $257B, 14 years โ–ซ Interstate Highway System: $620B, 37 years โ–ซ AI data centers: $930B, 6 years and still accelerating From: https://substack.com/@rubendominguez/note/c-244929068. - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • 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 / about 1 month 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 / about 1 month 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 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Listmonk and Substack, you can also consider the following products

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

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.

Sendy - Sendy is a self hosted newsletter app that sends emails 100x cheaper viaย Amazon SES

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

Brevo - Innovative online Email Marketing solution to manage your contacts, create & send your newsletters and track your results. More than 80 000 clients. Best prices and attractive features.

TinyLetter - Start writing your own newsletter instantly.