👋 Hi Reader,

I will come clean: I come from privilege.

Privilege of being able to move seamlessly from an analog era to a digital-native era, without skipping a beat.

Privilege to make dollars online, without having to meet people (most of the time)

Privilege to have witnessed traditional media and new-age media long enough (2 decades each) to tell the difference.

Most importantly, the privilege to see two factions of new media battle it out online - and have the critical thinking to see each point of view objectively.

Case in point: Hamish McKenzie's new book

Hamish announced his upcoming book '‘How to Save the Media’ on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago. He backed up his thesis behind chronicling the status quo of traditional media and journalism in 2026 with his essay (which also led to a TED Talk) in Apr 2025 ‘From the temple to the garden’. In this essay, he had beautifully illustrated the way the media landscape has evolved, and how we are only beginning to realize the potential behind democratizing online media platforms.

Substack indeed led the revolution in the last decade in realizing the potential to showcase diverse voices. Hamish’s background is in journalism and reporting, and it had definitely been vital in bringing over his peer crowd and the much needed VC-backing to build out the platform as the go-to for independent writers.

And now, for the other side...

Is Substack the definitive choice for independent writers or newsletter creators though? Hardly.

On the contrary, although Substack lowers the barrier to entry for new writers to start on the platform, the reality is that Substack’s dark UX patterns and opaque pricing approach has left several early Substack adopters to rethink their newsletter platform choices in recent times.

That’s where contrarian voices like Lex Roman come in. Lex Roman runs Revenue Rulebreaker. They have been tirelessly helping tons of newsletter creators build, grow, and make money with newsletters.

Lex makes (several) constructive arguments for new writers and newsletter creators to stay off Substack.

From dark UX growth patterns for new reader onboarding, to forced app behaviors, all the way to charging the highest fees among any competing publishing platforms (with the exception of Patreon, which is even higher).

Lex also outlines what churned Substack creators have moved onto, once they realized how many opportunities they missed out during their time writing on Substack.

When you get to read more contrarian diverse voices like Lex, you begin to wonder:

If that’s indeed the case, it would only be a matter of time, that newsletter creators would need to be rescued from Substack too.

Because for all the good work that people like Lex are putting together, there are not enough amplifying voices out there, which can help you discern the difference between Substack and other newsletter platforms like Beehiiv and Ghost, which offer a fairer deal to independent writers in comparison.

What we do need saving from

I believe for every traditional media outlet, you would get 10 new creator platforms like Substack.

And for every opaque and predatory pricing pattern you find, you would be able to find 10 new lucrative options like Ghost, which would help you build transparency around your published content.

The real autonomy comes from not just owning the audience, but also the underlying infrastructure that powers it.

Open publishing platforms like WordPress allow you to migrate your content without locking you into an infrastructure provider of choice. At the time of writing this, I don’t know of any straightforward alternatives that exist, should you choose to move away from Substack to a different email platform.

Choose to migrate, and you would have to setup your pricing, sponsorships, and content all over again.

Until the WordPress-equivalent of open newsletter platforms is built, choosing (or migrating) to any new newsletter platform is presently a cumbersome exercise.

Thinking of migrating from Substack and need a sounding board for your approach? I would love to talk to you.

Let me know by hitting ‘Reply’ on this email, or send a note to marketing@letterstack.co.

This newsletter is sponsored by The Alien Design

Looking for a partner to bring your digital product ideas to life? Alien specializes in product design, web design, and Webflow development. Alien helps businesses build visually appealing digital experiences that drive results. From concept to launch, Alien focus on delivering solutions that fit your brand and meet your business goals.

Want to get featured as the next sponsor on LetterStack? Reach out to us on marketing@letterstack.co!

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Cheers,

Renga from LetterStack

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