Mailpiece vs Substack
All letter, no Notes.
We think a newsletter should belong to the person who writes it. Substack is a good place to be found, but your newsletter lives inside their network, on their app, next to everyone else's, and the more you earn the more they keep.
With Substack
A page in their network
- Write in their editor, on their site
- Readers find you through their app
- Count who opened each post
- A cut of every paid subscription
With Mailpiece
A newsletter of your own
- Ask your agent to write it, or write it yourself
- Readers find you on your own domain
- No tracking. Readers say if they liked it
- Free, on your own server
A week with each
open their editor and start from a blank post
tell your agent what this week's issue is about
post Notes to be seen in their app
post the issue on your own domain, with a feed
check who opened and how many came from the network
hear from readers who say they liked it, and see who signed up
send readers to a page with Substack's name on it
send readers to a page with only yours
give a share of what readers pay you
keep the list on your own server, and pay nobody for it
Side by side
- Substack is built to grow its network, and keeps a cut when readers pay. In Mailpiece, your readers know your name, not a platform's.
- On Substack, you write in its editor. In Mailpiece, you ask your agent.
- On Substack, your list lives on Substack. In Mailpiece, it lives on your server.
- On Substack, your readers are tracked. In Mailpiece, they're left alone.
- As your list grows, Substack stays free, and takes a cut if readers pay. In Mailpiece, nothing changes.
- On Substack, your day goes to notes and stats. In Mailpiece, you write, test and send.
Moving from Substack
Install Mailpiece, export your subscribers from Substack and import them, then connect the mail provider you want to send with. Your next issue goes out from Mailpiece, on your own domain. Your old posts, comments, paid subscriptions and the readers Substack's network would have sent you stay with Substack: keep the publication up as an archive for as long as you like.
Who should stay on Substack?
A writer who wants a network to find readers for them, a reader app to live in, and paid subscriptions handled out of the box. Mailpiece has no network and takes no payments, on purpose.
Will I lose the readers Substack sends me?
New ones, yes: its recommendations and app stop working for you. Mailpiece gives you a sign-up form for your own site, a feed, a QR code for any post, and shows how many new readers each issue brought in, so you see what grows the list.
Can I charge for my newsletter?
Not with Mailpiece. It mails everyone who asked to hear from you, for free. If paid subscriptions are the point, stay where they're built in.
Move your newsletter this afternoon
Install Mailpiece on a server, import your list, connect your sender, and send your next issue from it.