Buttondown takes a minimalist approach to newsletter creation. It's great for personal newsletters where you don't need a bunch of fancy features. It also supports paid subscriptions and third-party integrations to make your life easier.

Substack helps anyone set up a blog and email newsletter and publish directly to their audience and get paid through subscriptions. No tech knowledge is required. It’s free to get started on Substack. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack will keep a 10% cut of revenues.

Feature Comparison

Buttondown and Substack both have great feature sets so the right tool for you really depends on your needs.

FeaturesButtondownSubstack
πŸ’Έ Paid Subscriptions

Accept paid subscriptions

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βž— Segmentation

Create segments of subscribers

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πŸ€– Automation

Automate actions based on behaviors

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πŸ“© Embeddable Forms

Embeddable subscription forms

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πŸ“„ Landing Pages

Create landing pages for your newsletter

βŒβœ…
πŸ”Œ 3rd Party Integrations

Connect to other services

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πŸ–ŠοΈ Visual Editor

Drag and drop email editor

βœ…βœ…
πŸ“ Markdown Editor

Write emails in markdown

βœ…βŒ
πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» HTML

Design emails with HTML text

βœ…βŒ
βš’οΈ API

Integrate with the platform's API

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πŸ“ˆ Analytics

Get data on your emails' performance

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🌍 Custom Domain

Use a custom domain for your page

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πŸ—£οΈ Referrals

Setup a referral program

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πŸ’½ Self Hosting

Host on your own server

❌❌
πŸ“’ Recommendations

Recommend and be recommended by other newsletters

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Price Comparison

Buttondown is free up to 100 subscribers. Pricing can go up to $79 for up to 10K subscribers.

Substack is free to use but takes a 10% cut of paid subscriptions.

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The Easiest Way to Monetize Your Newsletter

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