Drate vs Substack
A newsletter on their domain. A membership on yours.
Where Substack falls short.
10%, however big you get.
Substack keeps 10% of every paid subscription at every size. Drate Pro is $12 a month and takes 0%.
Your name, their address.
A custom domain costs $50, and your emails still come from substack.com. On Drate your domain and your look come with every plan.
Nothing else to sell.
No courses, no merch, no coaching bookings, no passes. Drate sells all of it beside your posts.
Where they differ.
Drate’s free plan includes everything in its column unless it says otherwise.
| Feature | drate. | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Your own website, domain and look | Included | $50 custom domain |
| Your branded iOS & Android app | On Pro | Not offered |
| Courses & content library | Included | Sections & archive |
| Paid coaching & bookings | Included | Not offered |
| Print on demand, no inventory | Included | Not offered |
| Fee on membership sales | 5%, or 0% on Pro | 10% |
| Who pays you | Your Stripe, directly | Your Stripe (web sales) |
From Substack’s public pricing and feature pages, checked October 2026. Prices don’t include card processing.