Hashnode vs Substack
Side-by-side comparison to help you pick the right tool.
| Hashnode | Substack | |
|---|---|---|
| Tagline | Developer blogging platform with your own domain. | Newsletter platform where writers monetise directly with paid subscriptions. |
| Category | Writing Content | Writing Content |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Skill Level | Beginner | Beginner |
| Platforms | Web, Browser | Web, Browser, Ios, Android |
| Use Cases | Solo Indie, Content Creation, Portfolio Showcase | Content Creation, Solo Indie, Portfolio Showcase |
| Traits | Has Free Tier, Fast To Set Up | Has Free Tier, Fast To Set Up |
| Best For | Best for developers who want a low-maintenance technical blog with a built-in audience and zero infrastructure to manage. | Best for independent writers and journalists who want to build an audience and earn recurring revenue without running their own publishing stack. |
Hashnode
Hashnode is a developer-focused blogging platform that lets you publish a technical blog on your own custom domain, backed by Hashnode's infrastructure and CDN — no server setup required. Posts are written in Markdown and appear both on your personal blog and in the Hashnode community feed, giving new writers built-in discovery without managing SEO from scratch. It supports an AI writing assistant, GitHub backup of your posts, a newsletter for subscribers, and a headless CMS mode via GraphQL API. The free plan covers all core features including custom domains. Hashnode is particularly popular among software developers who want a low-maintenance technical blog with an existing developer audience.
View detailsSubstack
Substack is a newsletter publishing platform available on web, iOS, and Android that allows writers to send free and paid email newsletters directly to subscribers. Substack handles payments and subscription management, letting writers keep 90% of paid subscription revenue while the platform takes a 10% cut. Each publication gets a web archive, a podcast feed, a recommendation network, and a Notes feature for short-form posts. Growing an audience benefits from Substack's discovery features, which surface new publications to readers interested in similar topics. Substack is used by independent journalists, essayists, researchers, and niche experts who want to build a direct audience relationship and earn recurring revenue without managing their own publishing infrastructure or newsletter platform.
View details