Why I quit Substack after 7 months with hundreds of paid subscribers

Substack is not playing for you. They’re playing for their private investors. And whilst you’re patting yourself on the back for building an audience, they’re taking 10% of everything you earn and quietly locking you inside their gilded cage.

Independence? Freedom? Forget it.

I learned this the hard way. Let me tell you about my seven-month nightmare and why I jumped ship just in time.

Late 2023, I’m in the interior of India. Smartphones everywhere. Everyone’s running their business from WhatsApp and Facebook. 285 million self-employed people pimping off megacorp platforms.

So I thought, why not? Let’s see how hard it is to run a publishing project from my phone.

I came back to Europe in early 2024 and decided to give Substack a go.

I exported my disengaged subscribers from Kit, imported them into Substack, and started posting. And honestly? I loved it. Tapping away on my phone in IA Writer, using markdown, clicking ‘post’ to publish.

What’s not to like?

90% of my site traffic is mobile anyway. Design aesthetics don’t matter as much as clarity. As a publisher, I want my readers to read my words easily, without distraction.

In the beginning, Substack was perfect for this.

Within seven months, I’d grown from 9,000 to over 15,000 free subscribers. Not bad for a lazy arse publisher who made his first post on 13th May 2024.

I had over 250 paid subscribers. Bestseller status. Preferential treatment. The whole shebang.

And then I’d had enough.

My last post? 22nd December 2024. Seven months and nine days after my first.

Here’s what Substack won’t advertise on their landing pages.

When I looked at where my paid subscribers actually came from, 90% were from my own efforts. Barely any came from their vaunted network effect.

You know what Substack’s network found me? Lots of free subscribers. Tyre kickers. Time wasters. Not all subscribers are equal. Remember that.

But things had started getting out of control.

I couldn’t organise content the way I wanted. Not even with sections. Not even with custom-built Maps of Content pages. Nothing worked.

Plus, Substack has become more and more like a social network. Distraction everywhere. Busyness everywhere. Noise everywhere.

It was not a place of calm.

And calm? That’s essential in my niche. Essential to my subscribers.

The feedback started rolling in. Paid subscribers found it confusing. Too noisy. Too distracting. They were getting pushed other people’s content when all they wanted was mine.

I’d been bigging up Substack before this. Writing about how great it was. Recommending it to others.

Time for some humble pie.

Because I now see it as exactly what it is: a digital cage. Something to avoid at all costs.

So how did I move 250+ paid subscribers off Substack and onto WordPress?

Let me be blunt. It was a f*&$@!g nightmare.

Over seven months, I’d offered my subscription at different prices. Anyone below a certain threshold got a pro-rated refund. Monthly subs got cancelled. And then I slowly, manually went through the remaining 200 paid subscribers and cancelled their recurring billing one by one.

You know what my subscribers said when I told them what was happening?

“Thank God for that.”

Pretty much unanimous. They were fed up being pushed other people’s content. They didn’t like the coercion of recurring billing (neither do I). They didn’t like how confusing and busy Substack had become.

Was It Worth It?
Yes. Absolutely.

I ran this Substack test for two reasons:

First, to see how easy it would be to emulate what’s happening in India, running a publishing business from my phone.

Second, to clarify how I wanted to structure my newsletter. Many ideas worked. Many didn’t.

As a minimum viable product test? Brilliant. I’m now crystal clear on how I want to teach the citizens in my world.

Should I have left three months in? Probably. Would’ve been less hassle migrating people out. Fewer posts to migrate over. But still, it’s been a great learning experience.

And fortunately, my delightful citizens are very patient and forgiving.

Not all subscribers are equal.

Read that again. Not all subscribers are equal.

Free subscribers from a network effect are not the same as engaged subscribers who found you and chose to pay you directly.

If you want to run a newsletter without handing over 10% and your independence, here’s what works:

The Low-Cost, Hyper-Minimal Tech Stack

To continue building your digital toolkit, you can integrate your communication and storage systems using a simple, two-step process.

Audience Engagement and Monetisation

Kit serves as a dual-purpose platform for growing and managing your audience:

• Landing Pages: Use their built-in landing page builder to create a dedicated space for capturing new subscribers.
• Email Newsletters: Once you have a list, you can send regular updates or premium newsletters.
• Payments: If you choose to offer a paid subscription, the platform allows you to accept payments directly for premium content.

Content Hosting and Distribution

For the materials you share within your newsletters, use Google Drive as your central repository:

• File Storage: Use it to host diverse media, including PDFs, videos, and audio files.
• Educational Resources: It is an ideal place for any teaching materials or worksheets.
• Seamless Linking: You can easily generate shareable links for these files to include in your Kit emails, allowing subscribers to download your content securely.

The Techie’s Low-Tech Stack

To build and manage a digital presence efficiently, you can combine several specialised tools. Below is a logical sequence for setting up your blog, email, and ecommerce platforms.

Website Hosting

Choosing a host is your first step. Depending on your needs, there are two primary routes:

• micro.blog: For a simple, streamlined start, you can host a blog for as little as $1 per month. They provide numerous free themes to customise your look immediately.
• Mythic-Beasts.com: If you prefer a UK-based independent hosting company, Mythic Beasts is an excellent alternative. They offer superb service and are the provider used for this website.

Educational Integration

If your project involves teaching or sharing structured information, use Tevello Courses and Community app. This is a Shopify app that allows you to manage coursework and interact with students easily. It’s what I use.

Communication and Marketing

To stay in touch with your audience, use Kit (formerly ConvertKit). This platform manages your email marketing and help you build a subscriber list to share updates and newsletters.

E-commerce and Products

If you intend to sell physical products or online courses, Shopify is the industry standard. It integrates with your brand to provide a secure checkout experience for your customers.

The Bottom Line

Substack is playing to their private investors, not you. That 10% commission? That’s just the start. The real cost is your independence.

You’re building your business on rented land. And one day, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, the landlord changes the rules.

Don’t let that be you.

Get out whilst you still can.