Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Substack VS Action Network

Compare Substack VS Action Network and see what are their differences

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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.

Action Network logo Action Network

Action Network offers a toolset for on-line movement building. It helps to organise people online and offline by offering tools like email campaigns, petitions, fundraisers and event organisation.
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26
  • Action Network Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-22

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.

Action Network features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Action Network offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of managing campaigns and organizing groups, making it accessible for users with varying levels of technical expertise.
  • Comprehensive Campaign Tools
    Provides a wide range of tools for managing emails, petitions, events, and fundraising, allowing for a holistic approach to campaign management and community organizing.
  • Integrations and API
    Offers integrations with popular platforms and a well-documented API, enabling users to connect with other tools and streamline their workflow efficiently.
  • Grassroots Focus
    Designed with grassroots organizations in mind, providing features and pricing structures that support non-profits and smaller groups in scaling their impact.

Possible disadvantages of Action Network

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly design, new users may face a learning curve in familiarizing themselves with all the features and functionalities offered by Action Network.
  • Customization Limitations
    Some users may find limitations in the customization of forms and templates, which might not meet specific organizational branding needs.
  • Performance Issues
    Occasional performance issues, such as slow loading times during high traffic periods, can affect user experience and campaign efficiency.
  • Cost for Advanced Features
    While basic features are accessible, some advanced functionalities and services may incur additional costs, which can be a constraint for smaller organizations with limited budgets.

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

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

Action Network videos

Why you should not subscribe to the action network #sportsbetting

More videos:

  • Tutorial - The Basics of Sports Betting, How To Bet 101 | The Action Network

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Substack and Action Network)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Crowdfunding
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Communication
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 Substack and Action Network

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?

Action Network Reviews

We have no reviews of Action Network yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Substack should be more popular than Action Network. 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.

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 / 19 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

Action Network mentions (14)

  • Community Engagement Software...help!
    Iโ€™d look into something like Wix or Squarespace for your actual website and Action Network for the remaining functionality. They have a free tier you can get started with and scale into paid features as needed. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Black Lives Matter
    In my fourth blog post I found out through the BLM Twitter that more than half of the districts 54 schools lack running water in Mississippi causing students to return to online schooling. I also spoken about the events that occurred January 6th 2021 with the storming of the Capitol building in the United States, with attaching a link of a petition of demands since the event happened actionnetwork.org with 1,710... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Black Lives Matter
    The BLM twitter account, again gave response and recognition to the events occurring 6th January 2021 with a link to a petition of demands since that event has happened actionnetwork.org with 1,710 people from their goal 3,200 signing it as I type this. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Using Salesforce to fundraise for our NGO
    I'd look into Action Network (https://actionnetwork.org/) to do your actual mailing list stuff. It's much much cheaper than Marketing Cloud and can sync data to and from your Salesforce instance. It also has prebuilt tools to do event signups, fundraising pages, email ladders, etc. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Waited several months for the priority batch access
    ...2019...good to know. The article was not dated and I should have known better. However, the cogent points from the article on actionnetwork.org were complaints I read on this site every day; 1."Transparency"...getting straight answers from I/C support; and, 2.Difficult to reach support for [all sorts of] resolution issues; 3."Lowest bidder" ...Watching batches disappear and then reappear with higher payouts,... Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

Change.org - We live in an amazing time, when the opportunity to make a difference is greater than ever before.

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.

AVAAZ.ORG - Check out this amazing movement to create a better world -- www.avaaz.org ...

Buttondown - Buttondown is the best way to start and run your newsletter

iPetitions - Free online petitions