I built a Substack alternative

I write a newsletter, and I've watched a lot of friends start one on Substack. The writing part is great. The 10% part never sat right with me. Neither did the feed, the app, or the feeling that my readers were Substack's users first and mine second.

So I built the thing I wanted. It's called Pub, it lives at usepub.com, and this post is the first one sent through it.

What it is

• A page at usepub.com/@you, or at your own domain.
• An editor that stays out of the way. Markdown underneath if you want it.
• A subscribe box, double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe, no tracking pixels.
• Paid subscriptions through your own Stripe account. Readers pay you directly.

What it costs

Nothing, until a paid newsletter brings in $1,000 a month. After that Pub keeps 2% of what readers pay. Substack keeps 10% from the first dollar. There's no plan to pick and no monthly fee.

Moving from Substack

This is the part I'm proudest of. Substack runs on your own Stripe account. Connect that same account to Pub and your paid readers come with you, still paying as before, and Pub never charges its fee on them. Upload Substack's export and your posts come too. Your free readers get one email asking them to confirm, because that's the honest way to move a list.

What it isn't

There's no feed, no app, no algorithm. Readers get an email and a page. That's the product.

Why 2%

Because my costs are close to zero and the number should say so. I'd rather have a thousand small newsletters that trust the deal than squeeze a few big ones.

If you write a newsletter and the 10% bothers you too, try it: usepub.com. Reply to this email if anything breaks or anything's missing. I'm one person, and I read everything.

Chris