Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Scribd VS Medium

Compare Scribd VS Medium and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Scribd logo Scribd

Unlimited books, audiobooks & comics. Unparalleled discovery. Any device. $8.99/month

Medium logo Medium

Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.
  • Scribd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-16
  • Medium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08

Scribd features and specs

  • Extensive Library
    Scribd offers a wide variety of content including books, audiobooks, magazines, and even documents from multiple genres.
  • Unlimited Access
    Subscribers get unlimited access to a rotating library of titles at a fixed monthly fee, allowing ample reading without purchasing each book individually.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform provides an easy-to-navigate interface with personalized recommendations and a customizable reading experience.
  • Cross-Device Syncing
    Scribd syncs your progress across devices, so you can start reading on your phone and continue on your tablet or computer seamlessly.
  • Offline Reading
    Users can download titles for offline reading, making it convenient for areas with limited internet access.

Possible disadvantages of Scribd

  • Rotating Library
    While Scribd offers unlimited access, some books may become unavailable over time due to the rotating nature of the library.
  • Limited Audiobook Selection
    Compared to dedicated audiobook services, Scribd's audiobook selection is not as extensive.
  • Regional Restrictions
    Certain books and content may not be available in all regions due to licensing agreements.
  • Monthly Fee
    Although comprehensive, Scribd does come with a monthly subscription fee, which might not be justifiable for infrequent readers.
  • Data Consumption
    Streaming or downloading large files such as audiobooks and high-resolution magazines can consume significant data, affecting users with limited internet plans.

Medium features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Medium offers an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for anyone to start writing and publishing content without any technical knowledge.
  • Built-in Audience
    The platform has a large and active user base, so new content has the potential to reach a wide audience quickly.
  • Publishing Tools
    Medium provides versatile publishing tools that support text, images, and various media formats, which helps in creating rich and engaging content.
  • SEO Benefits
    Articles posted on Medium tend to rank well in search engine results, thanks to the platform's high domain authority.
  • Community and Interaction
    Medium encourages reader engagement through comments, claps, and highlights, fostering a sense of community among writers and readers.

Possible disadvantages of Medium

  • Monetization
    While Medium has a Partner Program, it may not be as lucrative as other methods of monetization available on independent blogging platforms.
  • Control and Customization
    Medium offers limited customization options compared to dedicated blog platforms like WordPress, restricting how you can brand and personalize your blog.
  • Content Ownership
    By publishing on Medium, you agree to their terms and conditions, which may include giving up some control over how your content is used and distributed.
  • Paywall Issues
    Some articles are placed behind a paywall, which might limit the reach of your content if you want it to be freely accessible to everyone.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying solely on Medium means that any changes to the platform's policies or algorithms can directly impact your reach and engagement.

Scribd videos

Is Scribd Worth It?

More videos:

  • Review - Scribd Review
  • Review - Audible vs Kindle Unlimited vs Scribd Review (and why I switched)

Medium videos

Medium Review - with Tom Vasel

More videos:

  • Review - Starting a blog on Medium.com? Watch this FIRST.
  • Review - The Medium Review
  • Review - The Medium - Before You Buy
  • Review - I recommend: The Medium (Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Scribd and Medium)
Digital Publishing
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
eBook Reader
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging Platform
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 Scribd and Medium

Scribd Reviews

10 of the Best Ebook Readers for Windows, macOS, and Mobile
The reader itself is gorgeous to use and is available on iOS and Android. It’s a bright and modern app that includes a host of options to help you read content from the community. It’s not as in depth with regards to features as other solutions, but like Scribd, the experience trumps all.
Top 25 SlideShare Alternatives To Create & Share Online Presentations
With over 80million monthly active readers Scribd is the world’s most popular open platform for publishing and sharing documents of all types. You can upload your academic or business presentations to Scribd for free and share with anyone. Yes, you can embed your Scribd documents on your own website too.
Source: slidehelper.com
17 Powerful Issuu Alternatives Nobody Told You About (1 BIG winner)
When looking at the costs, Scribd is cheaper, so for anyone publishing a paid for magazine, it could be a consideration. However, the possibility to share isn’t there, and you can’t embed your publications on your website, although it is quite straightforward to load to services like Behance. But, if you are looking for something with an Issuu like PDF viewer, Scribd is not...

Medium Reviews

19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Medium focuses on thoughtful content and community engagement. It offers a user-friendly interface, a large readership base, and various features for writers and readers.
Source: www.pixpa.com
25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Medium is an online platform that was created in 2012 by Evan Williams. It is a place for people to share their thoughts and ideas on various topics. Medium has about 100 million monthly visitors, which makes it one of the most popular platforms for publishing articles.
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
From thе simplicity of Ghost to thе vеrsatility of Substack, thеrе’s a homе for еvеryonе seeking great Medium alternatives. Thеsе altеrnativеs offеr a world of possibilitiеs for rеadеrs and authors alikе. Whеthеr you’rе in sеarch of a uniquе platform to sharе your thoughts or want to read frеsh contеnt, thеsе platforms havе somеthing spеcial to offеr. All in all, we...
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...
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2021 (Compared)
Medium works much like a social networking site where you can create an account and start publishing your articles. After you sign up, you’ll have a profile address like this: https://medium.com/@yourname. But you cannot use your own domain.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Medium seems to be a lot more popular than Scribd. While we know about 2575 links to Medium, we've tracked only 54 mentions of Scribd. 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.

Scribd mentions (54)

  • “Manitoba Affidavit” 1870
    If you go to https://scribd.com and enter search term Lawrence Barkwell + Métis and change results to documents/articles, all of his 2,000+ research papers are there. He was the historian for the Louis Riel Institute and Gabriel Dumont Institute for over 20 years. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Complete plans for a 2-storey residential Building
    Look on scribd.com. They have several plan sets for residential structural buildings. Source: over 1 year ago
  • whats your opinion on elvis as an actor?
    Jerry Schilling speaks to this in his book, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis." Highly recommend this audiobook available for free on a trial basis at scribd.com. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • whats your opinion on elvis as an actor?
    There are several Elvis ebooks and audiobooks you can access for free with a 30-day trial at scribd.com. Registration requires a credit card but you can cancel before the first payment. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • f*cking scribd amex offers
    Get a $6 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single purchase of $11.99 or more online at scribd.com by 10/31/2023. Limit of 5 statement credits (total of $30). See terms. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Medium mentions (2575)

  • Built a journalism ethics framework because no one else would
    I’m not in journalism, but I care deeply about its role in a functioning democracy. I built this because no one else seemed willing to move beyond talk. It’s a voluntary, nonpartisan structure for journalism ethics and accreditation—complete with a public manifesto and charter. I put it on Medium for everyone to see. NEAA Manifesto: https://medium.com/@t3llingn0t/the-neaa-manifesto-bcee088ee3bb. - Source: Hacker News / about 18 hours ago
  • Ask HN: Anyone with experience using scoped CSS?
    In my experience CSS is still a major time sink on large web projects. The main things being: 1) CSS links to HTML based on strings (ids and class names) so we cannot catch typos or automate rename-refactorings, and 2) CSS is not scoped (every rule works on every element). The lack of scoping aggravates the pain of the string based nature of CSS' coupling. With the new @scope directive [1], which is now available... - Source: Hacker News / about 22 hours ago
  • PDF to Text, a Challenging Problem
    Clarified above - referring to the visual side of coding PDFs by hand. https://medium.com/@jberkenbilt/the-structure-of-a-pdf-file-6f08114a58f6. - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Human
    I like this story. And I like fan fiction. So : My continuation for my own imagination. https://medium.com/@bobby.blackstone.gemini. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • Fingers wrinkle the same way every time you're in the water too long
    It reminded me of how brains form through wrinkling folds [^0], space filling curves[^1], and the emergence of form through origami[^2]. [^0]: https://www.livescience.com/47421-human-brain-wrinkles.html [^1]: https://medium.com/@nico727272/drawing-hilbert-curves-using-turtle-46f6d628732b [^2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miura_fold. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Scribd and Medium, you can also consider the following products

Issuu - Issuu is the leading digital publishing platform delivering exceptional reading experiences of magazines, catalogs, and newspapers.

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.

SlideShare - Discover, Share, and Present presentations and infographics with the world’s largest professional content sharing community.

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Google Play Books - Google Play Books lets you search, preview, and buy millions of books using Google Book Search.

Tumblr - A feature rich and free blog hosting platform offering professional and fully customizable templates, bookmarklets, photos, mobile apps, and social network integration.