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Substack VS OnlineOrNot

Compare Substack VS OnlineOrNot and see what are their differences

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A multilingual content platform supporting 200+ languages. Authors, readers, and translation investors create value together. featured
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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

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.

OnlineOrNot logo OnlineOrNot

Reliable alerts when your website goes down.
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26
  • OnlineOrNot Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-09-03

Monitor your websites, APIs, cron jobs & scheduled tasks, Get immediate alerts via Email, SMS, Slack, PagerDuty (+ more).

Substack

Website
substack.com
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
United States
Edit details

OnlineOrNot

Website
onlineornot.com
Pricing URL
Official OnlineOrNot Pricing
$ Details
freemium $12.0 / Monthly (5 checks (uptime, keyword, cron), 1 status page, unlimited users)
Release Date
2021 February
Startup details
Country
France
City
Toulouse
Founder(s)
Max Rozen
Employees
1 - 9
Edit details

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.

OnlineOrNot features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    OnlineOrNot boasts a user-friendly interface that makes it simple for users to set up and monitor websites for uptime.
  • Customization Options
    The service offers a range of configuration options, allowing users to tailor monitoring alerts and reports to their needs.
  • Real-time Monitoring
    OnlineOrNot provides real-time monitoring capabilities, helping users to quickly identify and respond to downtime issues.
  • Multiple Check Types
    The platform supports a variety of check types including HTTP, HTTPS, and keyword checks, ensuring comprehensive monitoring.
  • Notification Integrations
    OnlineOrNot integrates with various notification systems like email, Slack, and other channels, ensuring that users are promptly informed of any issues.
  • Affordable Pricing
    The service offers competitive and transparent pricing plans, making it accessible for both small businesses and larger enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of OnlineOrNot

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While adequate for most needs, OnlineOrNot may lack some advanced features that specialized monitoring services provide.
  • Support Availability
    Customer support options may be limited, particularly for lower-tier plans, which could be a drawback for users requiring immediate assistance.
  • Scalability Issues
    The platform might not be as scalable as some competitors, which could pose challenges for very large enterprises needing to monitor a vast number of sites.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, some users may still face a learning curve when first getting started with the platform.
  • Dependency on Internet
    As an online service, OnlineOrNot itself depends on having a reliable internet connection, which could be a drawback if users have unstable internet access.

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

Analysis of OnlineOrNot

Overall verdict

  • Yes, OnlineOrNot is a good tool for individuals and businesses looking to monitor their website's availability and performance. It offers reliable monitoring features, timely alerts, and comprehensive reporting to help users maintain high website uptime and performance.

Why this product is good

  • OnlineOrNot is a website monitoring service that provides uptime and performance monitoring for websites and web applications. It helps users ensure that their websites are accessible and performing optimally, by providing real-time alerts and detailed reports on downtime and response times.

Recommended for

  • Web developers who need to monitor website uptime and performance.
  • Businesses that rely on their website for customer engagement and sales.
  • IT professionals who manage multiple websites and need automated monitoring tools.
  • E-commerce platforms looking to ensure a seamless user experience with minimal downtime.

Substack videos

+ Add

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

OnlineOrNot videos

+ Add

Monitor a Website with OnlineOrNot

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Monitor Website Keywords with OnlineOrNot
  • Tutorial - Create a public Status Page with OnlineOrNot

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Substack and OnlineOrNot)

Substack

OnlineOrNot

Blogging
100 100%
Blogging
0% 0
Uptime Monitoring
0 0%
Uptime Monitoring
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
CMS
0% 0
Website Monitoring
0 0%
Website Monitoring
100% 100

User comments

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

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

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.
Source: www.geeksforgeeks.org
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...
Source: www.authorityhacker.com
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?
Source: www.indiehackers.com

OnlineOrNot Reviews

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

Social recommendations and mentions

Substack might be a bit more popular than OnlineOrNot. We know about 98 links to it since March 2021 and only 72 links to OnlineOrNot. 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 / 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 / 26 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

OnlineOrNot mentions (72)

  • Ask HN: What are you working on? (April 2026) (Non AI)
    Still OnlineOrNot (https://onlineornot.com/) - I've been working on adding more and more configurability to the browser checks feature. More recently, I've made it so you can drop your existing playwright test suites into the code editor, and it'll Just Work. A whole bunch more work to do around that, but I think letting folks drop code in makes more sense than continuously updating the UI. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (March 2026)
    I've been celebrating five years of working on OnlineOrNot (https://onlineornot.com/) by adding more features for teams that build software: - 2FA, PassKey, and password-based login for folks that hate magic links - Moved my entire API from GraphQL to REST so I can fully dogfood the API I offer - Added an audit log as standard on all plans - Built a terraform provider... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)
    OnlineOrNot (https://onlineornot.com) Planning on wrapping up the year with a year in review post (thankfully I've been writing monthly updates as I go, should save some time). Apart from that, clearing up tech debt that helped me ship fast, but was ultimately a bad fit for the business (Next.js and GraphQL). - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (October 2025)
    Still a one-person project (since 2021): https://onlineornot.com I'm still rebuilding OnlineOrNot's frontend to be powered by the public REST API. Uptime checks are now fully powered by a public API (still have heartbeat checks, maintenance windows, and status pages to go). Doing this both as a means of dogfooding, and adding features to the REST API that I easily dumped into the private GraphQL API without... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (September 2025)
    I'm rebuilding OnlineOrNot's frontend to be powered by the public REST API. Doing this both as a means of dogfooding, and adding features to the REST API, that I easily dumped into the private GraphQL API without thinking too hard. Basically I've realised GraphQL has taken me as far as it can, and I should've gone with REST to start with. That, and after I finish the first milestone (uptime checks + cron job... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Substack and OnlineOrNot, 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.

UptimeRobot - Free Website Uptime Monitoring

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.

Uptime Kuma - A fancy self-hosted monitoring tool.

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

Pingdom - With website monitoring from Pingdom you will be the first to know when your website is down. No installation required. 30-day free trial.

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