← ALL COMPARISONS
[ COMPARE ]
Medium Partner Program vs Substack
Side-by-side comparison of Medium Partner Program and Substack referral programs. Which one earns you more? Here are the facts.
[ HIGHER PAYOUT ]
Substack offers up to 90% revenue share (lifetime).
Medium Partner Program
Substack
CATEGORY
CREATOR
CREATOR
COMMISSION
$0.01-100+ per article (read time)
Keep 90% of paid newsletter revenue
MODEL
revenue-share
revenue-share
MAX REV SHARE
—
90%
PAYOUT
fiat
fiat
MIN PAYOUT
$5
$10
FREQUENCY
MONTHLY
WEEKLY
FIRST PAYOUT
~30d
~7d
COOKIE
LIFETIME
LIFETIME
KYC
YES
YES
GEO BLOCKED
NONE
NONE
RISK
MEDIUM
LOW
RATING
3.4/5 (920)
4.4/5 (850)
PROGRAM AGE
9y
8y
Medium Partner Program
PROS
- +Built-in audience discovery
- +Get paid for writing
- +No need for own platform
CONS
- −Algorithm changes = volatile income
- −Most articles earn $5-50
- −Need consistent publishing
Substack
PROS
- +Keep 87% of revenue (after Stripe)
- +Own your email list
- +No upfront cost
CONS
- −Need to grow your own audience
- −Discoverability is weak
- −Slow growth without existing platform