Substack VS Formo.so

Compare Substack VS Formo.so and see what are their differences

Rating: 0 reviews
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Rating: 5.0 · 1 review
Pricing: Paid Free trial $199 / Monthly (5000 MAUs)
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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.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Substack should be more popular than Formo.so. It has been mentioned 112 times since March 2021.

social mentions: 112 vs 57
Blogging popularity: 100% vs 0%
alternatives listed: 240+ vs 36

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

	Substack	Formo.so
Website	substack.com	formo.so
Pricing	—	Paid Free trial $199 / Monthly (5000 MAUs) Official pricing
Platforms	—	Web Mobile
Company	Startup from the United States	Startup from Singapore · 1 - 9 employees · 2024
Listed in	Creators Blogging Paid Newsletters CMS +1	Analytics Web3 Web Analytics Mobile Analytics Product Analytics Data Dashboard Business Intelligence Marketing Attribution Crypto CRM Blockchain Infrastructure Onchain +9

About Substack and Formo.so

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Substack

Formo.so

No description of Substack yet.

Formo makes analytics and attribution simple for onchain apps so you can focus on growth. Track page views, wallet connections, transactions, smart contract events, and custom events in one platform. Measure marketing attribution, conversion funnels, retention cohorts, product adoption, audience...

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Substack 6 features

Formo.so 10 features

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

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.

Product Analytics
Understand user behavior across your app with event tracking, funnels, retention, and flow analysis tailored for crypto and DeFi apps.
Attribution
Track where users and wallets come from across campaigns, links, and channels to measure growth and marketing performance.
Wallet Intelligence
Enriched wallet profiles with labels, reputation signals, and behavioral data to help you segment and understand users beyond raw addresses.
Ask AI
Ask natural-language questions about user behavior, funnels, and onchain growth insights, with chat history for revisiting prior analysis.
Security
The data platform emphasizes security, offering features like data encryption to protect user information and ensure privacy compliance.
Cross-Chain Analytics
Analyze user activity across ecosystems (e.g. Ethereum, Solana) in a unified view without fragmented data.
Real-Time Event Tracking
Capture wallet actions, transactions, and product events instantly, with support for alerts and downstream workflows.
Developer APIs & SDKs
Access data programmatically via Query API, Profiles API, SDKs, and webhooks for custom workflows and integrations.
Dashboards & Templates
Use pre-built chart templates and customizable dashboards to monitor growth, funnels, and campaign performance.
Segmentation & User Flows
Create cohorts based on wallet behavior and track how users move through multi-step journeys.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Substack

Formo.so

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

Overall verdict

Formo.so is a solid choice for teams looking to build forms, surveys, and data collection tools quickly with a clean, modern interface and useful integrations, though the best fit depends on your specific needs.

Why this product is good

Offers an intuitive, user-friendly form builder with a modern interface
Provides customization options to match your brand and design preferences
Supports integrations with other tools to streamline workflows
Enables fast setup so you can launch forms and surveys quickly
Includes data collection and response management features

Recommended for

Small businesses and startups needing quick form and survey creation
Marketers collecting leads and customer feedback
Teams looking for a simple, no-code data collection tool
Individuals or creators who want customizable, shareable forms

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Substack 5 videos + Add

Formo.so 0 videos + Add

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

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100

Substack

Formo.so

100% 100%

Blogging

0% 0%

Analytics

100% 100%

CMS

0% 0%

Web Analytics

100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Substack and Formo.so.

What makes your product unique?

Formo.so's answer:

Formo is the only analytics and attribution platform built specifically for DeFi and onchain apps. Unlike general-purpose tools like Google Analytics or Mixpanel, Formo natively understands crypto: it automatically tracks wallet connections, chain switches, transactions, and signatures alongside traditional web metrics like pageviews and sessions, with no custom code required.

What sets Formo apart: it connects the full user journey from offchain (UTM campaigns, referrers, social channels) to onchain (transactions, volume, revenue), so DeFi teams can measure real ROI: not just vanity metrics. Its Wallet Intelligence layer turns anonymous wallet addresses into rich user profiles, revealing net worth, DeFi positions, token holdings, and cross-platform activity. It also includes token-gated forms for community engagement with onchain verification (Ethereum, Solana, World ID, Passport).

Formo is GDPR-compliant by default: no third-party cookies, no IP storage, no device fingerprinting so teams don't need cookie consent banners. The SDK is 100% open source (MIT License).

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Formo.so's answer:

DeFi teams that try to use Google Analytics, PostHog, or Mixpanel for onchain apps run into the same wall: these tools were built for web2 and have no native concept of wallets, transactions, or onchain identity. Stitching together a custom data stack takes weeks and still produces incomplete data. Formo is purpose-built for crypto. It gives you web analytics, product analytics, onchain attribution, wallet intelligence, and community forms in a single platform with same-day setup.

Customers skipped weeks of analytics infrastructure by switching to Formo. Competitors like Spindl, Cookie3, and Safary focus narrowly on attribution or on-chain data; Formo covers the full onchain growth stack. Formo also connects with AI tools like Claude and Codex via MCP and provides a CLI and API for teams that want to query or export their data programmatically.

What's the story behind your product?

Formo.so's answer:

Formo was built by onchain builders who experienced firsthand how painful it was to measure growth in DeFi. Existing analytics tools were designed for web2 and couldn't handle the fundamental primitives of crypto: wallets, transactions, onchain data. Teams were left building their own fragmented data stacks or flying blind.

Formo was created to solve this: a data platform designed from the ground up for DeFi, combining web analytics, onchain attribution, wallet intelligence, and community tools in one place. The team is committed to our long-term mission: making analytics simple enough that teams can focus on shipping and growth, not on data infrastructure.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Formo.so's answer:

Formo's primary audience is growth-minded teams building DeFi and onchain apps, specifically founders, product managers, and growth leads at crypto startups who need to understand user behavior across the full offchain-to-onchain journey. This includes teams building DEXes, lending protocols, vaults, wallets, and other DeFi primitives on EVM chains and Solana.

Secondary audiences include crypto marketing teams running paid campaigns and community programs who need attribution data, and technical teams that want API or MCP access to raw analytics data for custom tooling.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Formo.so's answer:

Formo's SDK is written in JavaScript and is open source under the MIT License on GitHub (github.com/getformo). It supports all major JavaScript frameworks including React, Next.js, Vue, Svelte, Remix, and Astro, with optimized integrations for wagmi and RainbowKit.

Formo connects with leading wallet providers including MetaMask, Privy, Dynamic, Rainbow, Reown (WalletConnect), Phantom, Thirdweb, Abstract, Para, and Porto. It supports multi-chain data across EVM-compatible networks and Solana. The platform provides a REST API, CLI tool, server SDK for backend tracking, and an MCP server for connecting Formo data to AI tools like Claude and Codex. Data is ingested and displayed in real time.

User comments

Share your experience with using Substack and Formo.so. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Substack no reviews yet

Formo.so 5.0 · 1 review

25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
forgefusion.io · Dec 2023

Substack offers writers of all experience levels the ability to write an email newsletter that’s profitable through subscriptions. Substack provides purpose-built web and newsletter publishing tools to enable writers...
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
www.geeksforgeeks.org · Nov 2023

What sеts Substack apart is its sеamlеss intеgration of contеnt crеation and subscription-basеd monеtization. Substack’s usеr-friеndly intеrfacе, distribution tools, and support for various contеnt formats make it a...
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
www.authorityhacker.com · Sep 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....

Surprisingly powerful for a small team!
SaaSHub review

· Aug 2024

Formo was super easy to set up, and I love the customizable features. It's fast, responsive, and makes collecting wallet and Twitter accounts easy.

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Substack 112 mentions

Formo.so 57 mentions

Ask HN: What are you working on? (November 2026)
A free comedy newsletter that has nothing to do with technology yet mentions it from time to time. https://substack.com/@yelluwcomedy. - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
UK Defence Startups Are Being Denied Banking Services Under ESG Rules
Books have already been written on this, some as early as 1945 (That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis). Otherwise I can recommend basically everything by Curtis Yarvin and Kevin Dolan (https://substack.com/@exitgroup,... - Source: Hacker News / 21 days ago
Show HN: Sphinx – a hook that quizzes you on your AI agent's code before push
We built something quite similar 6 months ago called PEAK (Proof of Effort And Knowledge). Blog post and YT video here: https://substack.com/@jeffksmithjr/p-195763168 Our version has its own TUI and was intended for semi-adversarial... - Source: Hacker News / 23 days ago

Ask HN: What are you working on? (November 2026)
It's been a learning journey into data engineering and business intelligence best practices. Thinking of taking my learnings into a new product for a different segment! https://formo.so. - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
Abstract is now LIVE on Formo!
Original article: https://formo.so/blog/abstract-is-now-live-on-formo. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
Dynamic Embedded Wallet Analytics for Crypto and DeFi Apps
Security is Formo's biggest priorities. Learn how Formo keep your data secure with our security practices such as CSP, SRI, industry-standard encryption and more on our dedicated security page: https://formo.so/security. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago

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