CompareSubstack alternativeUpdated October 2026
Your own website and app. Not another Substack.
Substack is a newsletter on someone else’s platform. Drate is a home of your own, not a newsletter: a website and app made around you, on your domain and in your look, with memberships, members-only posts and video, courses and a community, ready in minutes.
Why creators leave Substack.
10% of every subscription, forever.
Substack keeps 10% of every paid subscription, however big you get. Stripe’s card fee and a 0.7% billing fee come on top, so a $10 subscriber leaves you $8.34.
Apple takes its cut.
Substack turns on Apple’s checkout for paid Substacks in its iOS app, and you can’t switch it off. In Substack’s own example, a $10 plan costs readers $14 there, or leaves you $6 if you keep the price.
Your readers, Substack’s accounts.
Every reader who subscribes gets a Substack account, and Substack sends them occasional emails of its own, some recommending other publications. Even your own domain costs $50 to connect.
What you get on Drate.
Your website and your app.
A site on your own domain, in your look, and your own iOS and Android app on Pro. Readers join you, not Substack.
Everything you sell, together.
Memberships, passes, members-only posts and video, courses and a community feed on one site, with one sign-in for your fans.
Members join on your site.
Fans who join on your website pay through your own Stripe account, so Apple isn’t part of that sale. Drate takes 5% of it, not 10%.
5% and $12, not 10%.
What you’d pay on $1,000 a month in memberships.
- Drate
- $62Drate Pro: $12 a month plus 5%
- Substack
- $100Substack, 10% of subscriptions
How switching works.
Drate is a website and app, not an email newsletter: members read your posts on your site or in your app. Drate doesn’t move Substack subscriptions, so switching is something you invite your readers to, with your Substack running beside Drate while they move.
Start your site.
Pick a starting point, add your name and choose your look. Your site is ready in minutes, and nothing is public until you publish.
Set up your memberships.
Recreate your plans as monthly or yearly memberships, and add passes or courses if they suit your work.
Bring your work over.
Add your best posts, video and downloads to your library, and group lessons into courses.
Invite your readers.
Share your new site in your Substack posts. Readers join on your site, then cancel on Substack, or in the App Store if they paid through Apple.
Side by side.
Everything below is included in Drate’s Regular plan unless it says otherwise.
| Feature | Drate | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Your home | ||
| Your own website, domain and look | Included | $50 custom domain |
| Your own iPhone and Android app | On Pro | Not offered |
| Memberships & content | ||
| Monthly & yearly memberships | Included | Included |
| Fixed-length passes | Included | Gifts only |
| Members-only posts, video & downloads | Included | Included |
| Courses & content library | Included | Sections & archive |
| Members community feed | Included | Included |
| Paid coaching & bookings | Included | Not offered |
| Discord roles by membership | Included | Invite link perk |
| Keep Patreon connected | Included | Not offered |
| Merch | ||
| Merch store | Included | Not offered |
| Print on demand, no inventory | Included | Not offered |
| Money | ||
| Monthly price | $9 or $12 | $0 |
| Fee on membership sales | 5% on every plan | 10% |
| Who pays you | Your Stripe, directly | Your Stripe (web sales) |
Substack details are from its public pricing and help pages, checked October 2026. Prices exclude payment processing, which applies on every platform. Plans change, so check the latest before you decide.