How Substack earned 10%
Justin Gage, founder of Technically, on how Substack earns its 10% take rate
This was the window when Substack won distribution by being the only simple way for a solo writer to publish a post, email it to subscribers, and charge readers without stitching tools together. In early 2020, writers like Justin Gage saw Mailchimp as email software, Medium as a blogging site without list ownership, Ghost as a self serve publishing stack that had not yet added native paid newsletters, and Beehiiv had not launched at all, leaving Substack as the clear default for paid newsletter publishing.
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Justin Gage started in January 2020 and described Substack as the only product he knew that combined email delivery with a public post URL. He contrasted it with Mailchimp, and later with Medium, which did not give writers the same email list and payment workflow.
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The competitive set arrived in pieces. Substack was founded in 2017 and built its core model around taking 10% of reader payments. Beehiiv was founded in 2021, so it literally was not an option when many early COVID era writers picked a platform in 2020.
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That early product gap mattered because newsletter software is sticky. Once a writer builds an archive, subscriber list, and Stripe setup in one system, switching gets painful. That gave Substack time to build cultural momentum before Ghost, Beehiiv, and ConvertKit closed feature gaps around paid newsletters, growth tools, and ads.
The market has since shifted from one obvious default into a three way split. Substack still leads with brand and reader network effects. Beehiiv pushes hard on growth and ad monetization. Ghost and ConvertKit appeal to creators who want more control or fixed SaaS pricing. The next phase is less about basic paid newsletters, and more about which platform helps creators compound audience and revenue after the first subscription sale.