Substack Review: What Newsletter Creators Need to Know (2025)

Writing in Substack feels like typing in a Google Doc – clean, simple, no distractions. You write, you publish, boom – it’s in inboxes and on your profile page. The editor gives you headers, bold text, links, images. Basic stuff. Nothing fancy.

But here’s where it gets interesting (or frustrating, depending on your perspective). Want to A/B test subject lines? Can’t do it. Need to send different content to different subscriber segments? Nope. Schedule a complex drip campaign? Not happening.

For writers who just want to hit “send” and move on with their day, this simplicity is perfect. But if you’re trying to optimize open rates or run sophisticated campaigns? You’ll probably end up pulling your hair out.

Everyone on Substack gets the same basic look. Clean, text-heavy, mobile-friendly. You can tweak your header image, add a logo, maybe change some colors. That’s about it.

Your newsletter will look like… well, like a Substack newsletter. Same as thousands of others. Some writers love this – it puts the focus squarely on the words. But if you’re trying to build a unique brand identity? Good luck.

The uniformity has its perks though. Readers know what they’re getting, everything works on mobile, and you never waste time fiddling with design decisions. Whether that’s a feature or a bug depends entirely on what you’re trying to achieve.

Let me save you some time: Substack basically doesn’t do automation. You get welcome emails for new subscribers. That’s it.

No abandoned cart sequences (because why would a newsletter need that?). No behavioral triggers. No “if they click this, send them that” logic. Coming from proper email marketing platforms, this feels like going back to the stone age.

Is this a problem? Depends. If you’re a writer sharing thoughts once a week, probably not. If you’re trying to build a sales funnel or run an online business? Absolutely.

Substack keeps subscriber management refreshingly simple. You can see who’s subscribed, who’s paying, how much you’re making. Export your list anytime – it’s yours, which is nice. Stripe handles the payment stuff, so you don’t have to think about it.

But – and this is a big but – you can’t segment your audience. Everyone gets the same email. You can’t tag subscribers based on interests, can’t create custom groups, can’t send targeted campaigns.

For a personal newsletter, this might be fine. For a business trying to personalize customer journeys? It’s a dealbreaker.

You get one landing page – your newsletter’s homepage. It shows your recent posts and has a subscribe button. You can write an about section, add a welcome message. That’s pretty much it.

Want multiple landing pages for different campaigns? Can’t do it. Need custom forms with specific fields? Nope. Exit-intent popups? Forget about it. The embed forms for external websites are basic at best.

But here’s something to remember: You still own your list on Substack. You can export and leave whenever. Though like any platform, they could shut you down tomorrow. It’s still rented land, just with a better lease agreement.

Substack shows you the basics: subscribers, revenue, open rates, which posts did well. Clean graphs, easy to understand. For most writers, it’s enough.

But if you’re used to proper analytics? It’s frustratingly limited. No heat maps showing where people clicked. No detailed journey tracking. Can’t see which specific subscribers opened what.

Writers who just want to know if people are reading? Substack’s fine. Marketers who live and die by conversion optimization? You’ll need something else.

This might be Substack’s biggest weakness: it doesn’t play well with others. No API. No Zapier. No way to connect it to your CRM, your website builder, your anything really.

Stripe for payments, basic social sharing – that’s all you get. Can’t sync subscribers with other tools, can’t trigger actions based on behavior, can’t build those fancy interconnected marketing stacks everyone’s always talking about.

Solo writers might not care. But if you’re running a business with multiple tools that need to talk to each other? Substack becomes an island, and not the tropical paradise kind.

Oh boy. Here’s where things get ugly. Substack’s support is… how do I put this nicely? A disaster. 1.4 stars on Trustpilot. That’s not a typo.

You’ll mostly deal with chatbots that don’t understand your problem. Getting a human? Good luck – maybe 10% of people manage it. Users report double charges, cancelled subscriptions that keep billing, months-long unresolved issues. One person described trying to fix a payment problem for three months with nothing but bot responses.

G2 users (4.4/5 rating) generally like Substack for what it is – a simple publishing tool. Writers love the focus on content over configuration. The monetization gets consistent praise for “just working” without the usual payment processing nightmares.

The complaints are predictable: limited customization, no automation, that 10% fee. Several reviewers mention starting on Substack then moving elsewhere once they needed “real” email marketing features. The lack of integrations comes up a lot, especially from people trying to connect Substack to their existing tools.

Still, for pure newsletter publishing? Most G2 users seem satisfied, as long as they understand the limitations going in.

That 1.4/5 Trustpilot rating? Yeah, it’s as bad as it looks. Payment problems dominate – double charges, phantom subscriptions, inability to cancel. The support horror stories are consistent: endless chatbot loops, no human help, issues lasting months.

Some writers report random account suspensions without explanation. Others can’t access their accounts due to 2FA problems that support won’t fix. Even positive reviews about the writing experience get drowned out by the support disasters.

If you’re planning to handle money through Substack, this rating should make you think twice. When paying customers can’t get help, that’s your reputation on the line.

Sender is everything Substack isn’t – and that’s either good or bad depending on what you need. Where Substack charges 10% forever, Sender costs $15/month for 5,000 subscribers. Do that math real quick.

Sender gives you the full email marketing toolkit: automation workflows, behavioral triggers, fancy templates, A/B testing, the works. You can build complex funnels, segment audiences six ways from Sunday, integrate with everything. But here’s the thing – it’s built for marketing, not writing. No built-in subscriptions, no community features, definitely no Notes.

If you’re actually trying to run email marketing campaigns? Sender wins, no contest. Just want to write and get paid? Substack’s simpler path might be worth the premium.

Beehiiv saw what Substack was doing and said “we can do that better.” No 10% commission – just $49/month for paid subscriptions. They added growth tools like referral programs, better analytics, even ad networks.

You get more control over design, can segment subscribers, basic automation. It’s like Substack grew up and got a real job. But – and this matters – Beehiiv makes you pay upfront for monetization features. Substack lets anyone charge for subscriptions immediately. Beehiiv also lacks Substack’s massive network effect. Fewer readers browsing, less organic discovery.

For publishers who’ve outgrown Substack’s simplicity but still want a newsletter-focused platform? Beehiiv makes sense.

Ghost is for people who want to own their stuff. Open source, self-hostable if you’re technical, or $11/month for hosting. No commission on subscriptions – you keep everything minus payment processing.

It’s a full website plus newsletter platform. Better SEO, custom themes, actual design control. Multiple subscription tiers, proper membership features. But Ghost requires more work. More setup, more maintenance, more decisions. And zero network effect – you’re building from scratch.

Publishers who want control and customization without bleeding money to commission fees? Ghost’s your answer. Just want to write without thinking? Stick with Substack.