10 Best Platforms Like Medium: Writer’s Field Guide

Publishing has evolved far beyond traditional blogging, and Medium is no longer the only destination for writers seeking reach and community. Whether you want complete control of your content, faster ways to monetize, or simply a vibrant community of readers, there are now multiple alternatives that offer similar simplicity with different strengths. This guide highlights the best platforms like Medium—covering their audiences, monetization options, and practical use cases—so you can choose the one that aligns with your writing goals.

A Deep Dive To Look For The Alternatives Of Medium

1) Substack — email-first publishing with optional blog

Why it’s like Medium: frictionless writing UI, community discovery, and an audience already on-platform.
What’s different: Substack is newsletter-centric; monetization is direct subscriptions with a 10% platform fee plus Stripe processing. Supports custom domains and social-style discovery (Notes, recommendations).
Best for: journalists, analysts, and niche experts building paid readership fast.

2) Ghost (Pro) — own your stack (site + newsletter + memberships)

Why it’s like Medium: beautiful editor, minimal friction to publish.
What’s different: You own the site, design, SEO, and native memberships/newsletters (Stripe), with no platform revenue cut. Ghost(Pro) hosted plans currently start around $18/mo billed annually (promos may vary).
Best for: creators turning a publication into a product (tiered access, paid community).

3) WordPress.com — the “do-anything” blogging platform

Why it’s like Medium: easy publishing, a Reader feed, and newsletter capability.
What’s different: Full CMS flexibility (themes, plugins on higher tiers), WordAds and other monetization routes on paid plans; plan features vary.
Best for: teams needing SEO control, extensibility, and long-term portability.

4) Hashnode — for developers (blogs + docs + AI)

Why it’s like Medium: instant publishing with community distribution.
What’s different: Dev-first features (syntax, APIs/docs hubs, free custom domain mapping), AI writing/search features. Great organic reach within the dev audience.
Best for: engineers, DevRel teams, and product docs that double as content marketing.

5) DEV Community (dev.to) — publish to an active dev hub

Why it’s like Medium: simple Markdown editor, tags, drafts/scheduling, RSS imports; huge dev readership.
What’s different: Community runs on Forem; no native monetization—this is for reach, reputation, and discussion.
Best for: individual engineers/learners seeking feedback and community visibility.

6) beehiiv — newsletter platform that also SEO-indexes your posts

Why it’s like Medium: low-friction writing and a growing ecosystem.
What’s different: Growth levers (referrals/Boosts, ad marketplace), 0% take on paid subs on eligible plans, and transparent plan pricing (Launch free; Scale $43/mo; Max $96/mo at the time of writing).
Best for: creators who want newsletter revenue without a platform cut and with built-in monetization networks.

7) Vocal Media — “write and earn” without paywalls

Why it’s like Medium: publish quickly to a multi-topic network with algorithmic discovery.
What’s different: A rate-per-1,000-reads model ($3.80 standard / $6.00 Vocal+) plus tips/bonuses; payout thresholds apply. Good for repurposing articles you already promote.
Best for: side income from broad-appeal pieces you can drive traffic to.

8) HackerNoon — curated tech & startup stories

Why it’s like Medium: magazine-style hub with strong tech readership.
What’s different: Human editorial review (median 3–5 business days) before publishing; high signal-to-noise and homepage curation.
Best for: thought leadership, case studies, and long-form tech narratives.

9) Write.as — minimalist, privacy-first, Fediverse-friendly

Why it’s like Medium: clean, distraction-free writing.
What’s different: ActivityPub/Fediverse support (optional), zero-bloat pages, and simple paid hosting (from $6/mo). Excellent for personal essays and lean publishing.
Best for: writers who value speed, privacy, and owning a quiet corner of the web.

10) LinkedIn Articles & Newsletters — distribution to a professional graph

Why it’s like Medium: native long-form publishing with built-in discovery.
What’s different: Access to 1B+ members, increasingly newsroom-style support, and expansion into editorial/news formats; newsletters are heavily promoted in-app. Great for lead gen and partnerships.
Best for: B2B creators, consultants, founders, and job-market content.

11) WritingManager.com — open community for writers

Why it’s like Medium: anyone can create an account, write articles, and publish in multiple categories.
What’s different: Designed as an open publishing platform rather than a closed CMS. Focuses on visibility, networking, and collaboration rather than subscription revenue or per-read payouts.
Best for: writers who want Medium-style ease of use and exposure without setting up their own website.

Migration notes for Medium writers

• Bring your audience: platforms with email delivery (Substack, Ghost, beehiiv) mitigate search volatility by pushing content to inboxes.
• Keep your brand: custom domains are supported on Substack, Ghost, WordPress.com, Hashnode (free), and others—prioritize this for long-term SEO and portability.
• Monetization model fit: platform fees matter; Substack takes 10% of paid subs, whereas beehiiv advertises 0% take on eligible plans, and Ghost takes no cut but you pay hosting. Run your unit economics.

How to choose (in 60 seconds)

1. Want built-in distribution? Pick LinkedIn (professional reach), Substack (email + Notes/recs), or dev-niche hubs (Hashnode, DEV, HackerNoon).
2. Want full ownership and SEO control? Ghost or WordPress.com. Ghost adds native memberships; WordPress.com gives mature SEO tooling and upgrades.
3. Want newsletter + blog without a revenue cut? beehiiv (0% take on paid subs on eligible plans).
4. Want “write and earn” with minimal setup? Vocal Media (transparent RPM).
5. Prefer minimalist writing & federation (Mastodon, Fediverse)? Write.as.

What we checked (so you don’t have to)

To make this guide comprehensive and current, I cross-referenced vendor docs and multiple “Medium alternatives” roundups (and ignored outdated or thin sources). Representative examples used to validate feature sets and positioning include Zapier’s 2025 blog-site comparison, WPBeginner’s 2025 platform guide, and several recent Medium-alt lists (Feather, BuddyXTheme, Bullet/Super).

Then I verified each pick’s official feature/pricing pages and help centers:

• Substack: fees & custom domains.
• Ghost: current Ghost(Pro) pricing & native memberships. (Pricing pages can change.)
• WordPress.com: plans, Reader/newsletter mentions, monetization routes.
• Hashnode: platform scope & free custom domain mapping.
• DEV: editor and publishing docs.
• beehiiv: current plan tiers & growth features.
• Vocal Media: official earning rates/thresholds.
• HackerNoon: submission & review timelines.
• Write.as: pricing; Fediverse/ActivityPub docs.
• LinkedIn: scale and creator/newsroom pivots that impact distribution.

Practical recommendations (based on common scenarios)

• “I want Medium-like simplicity, but to own everything.” Start with Ghost (Pro), enable memberships later; pair with a custom domain from day one.
• “I have an audience on X (Twitter) or YouTube; I need fast monetization.” Substack (speed to paid), or beehiiv if you dislike revenue cuts and want referrals/ads.
• “I write technical content.” Publish on Hashnode/DEV for distribution, mirror key posts to your WordPress.com/Ghost site for SEO ownership.
• “I want earnings without paywalls.” Vocal Media—but treat it as a supplement to owned channels; RPM is predictable but depends on your ability to drive reads.
• “I need B2B reach and clients.” Write LinkedIn articles and a newsletter; repurpose to your blog for search.
• “I just want a Medium-style community platform.” Use WritingManager.com.

FAQs

1. Is there a true one-to-one Medium replacement?
   Not exactly. Medium optimizes for on-platform distribution with minimal setup. The closest “write-and-get-read” experiences today are Substack (email + social discovery), LinkedIn (professional graph), and niche hubs like Hashnode/DEV for devs.
2. Which platform is best for SEO?
   WordPress.com and Ghost give the most control (metadata, sitemaps, structure), while beehiiv now indexes post pages well and supports growth features. Substack’s SEO is improving but remains newsletter-centric.
3. Where can I earn the fastest?
   If you have an email-ready audience: Substack/beehiiv. If you’ve got viral-friendly pieces: Vocal’s RPM model is instant (but mileage varies).