Medium is where all the cool writers hang out, and there are many of them. But it may surprise you that with an internet containing 1.98 billion websites there are Medium alternatives for writing available where you can showcase your content, build an audience and leverage your brand.
If you’ve come here today asking, “What can I use instead of Medium”? Read on as we bring you 15 of the best Medium alternatives to improve your digital footprint and increase your earnings from writing by 157%.
Vocal Media is at the top of this list of alternatives to Medium for writing. You could argue it’s a carbon copy, but that’s unfair. There are a lot of similarities between the two, but some noticeable differences as well.
With Vocal.Media, the principle is the same as with Medium. You create content and get paid based on the reading time of your articles.
A significant difference between Vocal Media and Medium is that you can view all content without becoming a premium member.
There is constant encouragement to sign up, but if you cancel the popup, you can still read to your heart’s content.
Vocal Media may be smaller than its bigger brother, but think of this as an opportunity. There’s less competition, and your content has a higher chance of getting noticed.
Ghost.org is the platform that mirrors Medium in both style and structure. The primary difference with Ghost is that you set the subscription amount readers need to pay to access your member’s content.
If you already have a large following (on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.), Ghost is one of the best Medium alternatives to make money while showcasing your premium content.
When someone subscribes to your content, Ghost doesn’t take a fee either, so what you charge is what you get (- the payment processing fee, usually around 2.9%).
Setup is straightforward if you use one of Ghost’s out-of-the-box themes. I set up a test site in less than 10 minutes.
If you’re familiar with the Medium editor, you’ll be able to use Ghost’s platform without problems.
You also have complete control over the design and features. You will need some coding expertise if you want to add any additional functionality (don’t like coding? Check out my list of no-code website builders). Alternatively, you can hire someone from their experts’ section.
Substack lets you set up an email newsletter in under 60 seconds. You don’t need any coding or technical experience, just add a few details and hit publish.
Whilst Medium is excellent for getting your content out to existing readers; Substack is better for getting your expertise out to people who already know you and want more of what you offer.
You can also charge people to subscribe to your newsletter, making it a great alternative to Medium for making money from your experience and following.
Substack fees are higher compared to Ghost. You’ll pay 10% of any subscriber fee straight to them, but you pay for ease of use, right?
I love Substack for its simplicity. I have a mantra at Canitpay, “You don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it moving”. Substack is the embodiment of that statement.
If you think you know it all, get on Quora and answer some questions to quickly realise that you don’t!
All jokes aside, Quora is a free alternative to Medium that lets you showcase your knowledge by answering other people’s questions.
When you answer a question well, people will listen (or read it) and vote for your answer.
Get good at being helpful, and you’ll build a following. Build a following, and you’ll increase your reach.
You won’t get paid for your content, as you do on Medium, but you can use it to build your authority within your area of expertise. Once you’re established on Quora, you can cite content you’ve written elsewhere as a resource, which will turn into eyeballs and new readers.
Quora is great for getting new content ideas too. If people ask the same questions or there is a lot of activity, it means it’s a popular topic. Research it, answer the question, write an article about it, and publish it it on your other platform
Many publishers prefer to be where their audience is rather than attracting them to where they are.
With that in mind, Reddit is the perfect place to find an audience and a home for your writing.
Reddit claims to have 52 million daily users, a bold statement. Even if these numbers are inflated or optimistic, millions of people still use Reddit regularly and are craving content based on your niche.
To find them, you’ll want to search for popular subreddits in your chosen field of interest.
The next step is to get stuck in. If you post useful content that other subredditors find interesting, you’ll get a lot of upvotes and karma.
A word of warning. Reddit can be a brutal place. Redditors hate spammers, and they won’t be afraid to ridicule you or even kick you off the site if you only use it to promote yourself.
If you’ve dabbled with Reddit, or even if you’re an experienced user, then Steemit will feel familiar.
It’s a social media platform based on the blockchain. The STEEM token is given to users who make interesting content that other Steemit members vote up.
There are plenty of communities (Steemit’s version of subreddits) that you can join and contribute to. Each has its own set of rules, so make sure that you read and follow them to avoid being kicked out or banned.
Spend time engaging and interacting with other users of Steemit, and you’ll start to gain traction and earn some STEEM in the process.
Have you ever wondered how to do something? That’s rhetorical because we all have.
wikiHow tells you how to do most things, but it doesn’t tell you how to do everything.
That’s where you come in. If you can find a gap on Wikihow that hasn’t already been written about, you can submit an article and, provided it passes editorial review, get it published.
You can also add to WikiHow articles that have already been written by adding more information and citations. Whilst this doesn’t directly compare to what you do on Medium, it does allow you to dip your toe in the water and start gaining a footprint on Wikihow
If you keep submitting well-thought-out how-to articles in the same niche on a regular basis, there’s every chance that you’ll become a featured author.
If you have credentials in your field, you can apply to become an expert, which will give you a profile page and a link to your website.
HubPages‘ best days may be behind them, but it’s still a place to upload your content and receive potential eyeballs.
It’s free to sign up and publish articles, and you can even apply to be part of their partner programme and earn a share of the advertising revenue.
There are still a number of people that upload their content to Hub Pages, with some able to insert do-follow links pointing to other content they’ve written elsewhere.
It’s a great place to build links and drive new users to content that you’ve written elsewhere.
If fiction writing is your niche, then Wattpad is your platform.
Wattpad is a place where fiction writers share their stories, get feedback, and build a following.
They recently added paid stories, where readers can buy coins on the site to unlock content. A typical paid story costs around $7 to unlock with the first few chapters free to lure you in.
Wattpad also has premium and premium Plus membership options. Premium Plus gives access to 2 free paid stories per month for $7.49 as well as a host of other premium features.
To use Wattpad effectively, you’ll want to interact with other publishers, build relationships, and then share your stories with your connections.
Once you have built a following, you can start to release paid stories that your audience can devour.
Medium Blog Alternatives
The sites listed above are all platforms that have a community in place (with the exception of Ghost). You can tap into them to attract more readers and enable more people to discover your brand and what you do.
The next set of recommendations are pure blogging platforms. You’ll be responsible for driving viewers to your content and growing your readership.
They’re included here because they are simple to use, quick to setup, and cost-effective to maintain over the long term.
If you want simplicity, then you won’t get much simpler than Write.as. Their mission statement is:
“Clear the clutter and focus on your writing”
Write.as is best viewed as a blank notepad, a clear space where you can let your ideas flow unhindered by advertisements and a complex CMS.
You don’t have to worry about complicated designs or lose sleep over plugin updates. There’s just a blank space for your writing.
Sometimes simple is best, and that’s what you get with Write.as.
At Write.as, privacy is also a big deal. You can write your content anonymously if you want to, and there are no ad-pixels tracking activity. This is perfect for authors writing anything of a sensitive nature.
Write.as is a great free alternative to Medium as you can get started for free using a Write.as subdomain.
The paid option is only $6 per month if paid annually, and that opens up many more options, including the ability to accept micropayments for your work.
Continuing with the privacy and anonymity theme, Telegra.ph is a place where both of these values are front and centre in their offering.
Telegra.ph is probably the easiest platform in this article to use to get your content out there. It’s also a free Medium alternative. All you need to do is write your content and press publish.
There’s no navigation or site structure on Telegra.ph, so it’s best use is for one-off articles that you can send readers to from alternative sources.
As a long-term blogging alternative to Medium, Telegra.ph is most useful for one-off pieces of content or pointing your email subscribers to longer-form content that you reference.
Superblog provides a platform designed for performance. So if you’re looking for a Medium blog alternative that’s built around speed, look no further
It’s no secret that Google desires quick load times. Page scores are important for SEO, and if you run a blog (or any site), they should be important to you as well.
They make the bold claim that your page score will always be 95+ and that it is built with best practices in mind.
You will also receive SEO hints and tips as you create your posts, to ensure you get the most exposure possible.
In addition, as you upload images using Superblog, they will be compressed; this is an essential step in ensuring that web pages load quickly.
You can also use a custom domain and easily import your blog from WordPress, Ghost, or Medium by clicking a button.
Look no further than Superblog if you want a platform that takes care of your on-page SEO, technical SEO, and page speed so you can focus on creating content and building links.
Prezly is a content platform and customer CRM all in one. Much like Ghost.org, you can write your article and send it out to your subscribers.
At the moment there’s no way to charge people for your premium content as Prezly’s targeted niche is as a PR platform.
Where Prezly excels as an alternative blogging platform to Medium is in its customer segmentation.
If you have a list of bloggers or journalists that are interested in a specific niche, you can tag them and only send them articles that they’re interested in.
This helps with engagement and increases the likelihood that they will mention you or share your news.
Prezly isn’t the cheapest, at €40 per month for the basic package, but this includes unlimited email sending to up to 2000 contacts.
Systeme should be on your radar if you are considering offering paid courses or memberships to your audience and want to monetize them. The free plan that Systeme.io provides includes a website builder that does not require users to write any code as well as a blogging platform.
All of the following are free to do in Systeme:
Create a blog.
Create email lists
Distribute newsletters
Create sales funnels.
Sell products
Create an affiliate programme.
The free plan is also extremely generous. You don’t have to pay anything until you reach 2000 contacts, at which point it should pay for itself.
The monthly cost of Systeme’s most expensive plan is $97, and the company offers other plans with progressively lower prices that are very affordable.
WordPress.org
I couldn’t write this article and not include WordPress.org. It’s probably the most famous Medium blog alternative available. Over 30% of websites use WordPress, and not just for blogging.
Where WordPress wins big is in customisation. WordPress is open source and there are millions of plugins available to customise in any way you see fit.
There is a rather steep learning curve associated with WordPress.org. You’ll need to buy hosting and install the CMS, but companies like Dreamhost, Siteground & Bluehost make this really easy.
I setup my blog in 10 minutes, but it took me another couple of weeks to learn how to use WordPress properly and I’m still finding new powerful ways to utilise it.
With WordPress you can setup subscription paywalls, integrate with email marketing platforms, sell products, you name it. Just find the best plugin for the job and off you go.
Medium Alternatives – Conclusion
There are plenty of Medium alternatives out there, I’ve mentioned 15 of the best that I’ve discovered.
Some of these will help to drive traffic to your existing content, whilst others are purely Medium blog alternatives. Places to host your content if you will.
There is no reason why you can’t utilise a combination of these sites instead of or alongside Medium to grow your online reach and increase your revenue from writing great content.