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Medium alternatives

The 7 Best Medium Alternatives in 2026

Medium gives you readers, but your posts live on medium.com, a custom domain needs a membership, and you no longer get your subscribers’ email addresses. These alternatives let you own your domain and your audience.

Disclosure: we make Outrank Blogs, one of the platforms on this page. Every platform is judged on the same criteria, from its own pricing and help pages, last checked October 2026. Where another platform is the better choice, we say so.

Why people leave Medium

  • Posts build medium.com’s authority, not your own site’s
  • A custom domain needs a Medium membership
  • Writers no longer receive subscriber email addresses
  • Little control over design, calls to action or SEO

When Medium is still the right choice

  • Medium’s audience is how readers find you
  • You earn from the Partner Program
  • You do not need your own website

At a glance

Medium alternatives side by side

What the free or entry plan of each alternative includes. Last checked October 2026.

Medium alternatives compared
PlatformFree planYour own domainAds and brandingBlog at yourbrand.com/blog
Outrank BlogsBusinesses that want search traffic on their own domain
Free up to 10,000 visits/month
Free
No ads, small footer badge
Yes, free
SubstackWriters building a paid newsletter
Free, 10% of paid subs
One-time $50
No ads
No
GhostIndependent publishers running paid memberships
No (14-day trial)
From $15/month
None
Business + add-on
HashnodeDevelopers writing inside a tech community
Free
Pro, $5/month
Hashnode branding
Pro headless only
BloggerPersonal and hobby blogs that must stay free at any size
Free, no limits
Free
No forced ads
No
WordPress.comBeginners who want WordPress without managing hosting
Free, 1 GB
Paid plans only
WordPress.com ads
No
Bear BlogMinimalists who want a fast, text-first blog
Free
Paid upgrade
No ads
No

The list

The 7 best Medium alternatives

1.

Outrank Blogs

Our product

Best for: Businesses that want search traffic on their own domain

The easiest move from Medium if you want the posts to work for your own site: a free blog on your own domain or at yourbrand.com/blog, with an email list you own and can export. You can keep cross-posting to Medium with a canonical link back to your blog.

Free plan
Free up to 10,000 visits a month per blog, with unlimited posts and pages and no credit card
Your own domain
Free: a subdomain like blog.yourbrand.com or a domain used only for the blog. You only pay your registrar
Ads and branding
No ads, ever. Free blogs show a small “Published with Outrank” badge in the footer
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
Free, with step-by-step guides for Next.js, Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare and nginx

Why pick it

  • Your own domain or subfolder on the free plan, so every post builds your site’s authority
  • Sitemap, structured data, redirects, IndexNow and llms.txt set up automatically
  • Free blogs on outrankblog.com are indexed too, and Outrank never adds ads
  • Five templates with dark mode, email sign-up forms and cookieless analytics
  • 3 free AI-written posts, and an optional autopilot plan ($99/month) that writes 30 SEO articles a month

Watch out for

  • The free plan covers 10,000 visits a month; two months over it pauses new posts until you upgrade (the blog stays online)
  • Collects email subscribers but does not send newsletters; you send from your own email tool
  • New: launched in October 2026, with five templates and no plugin ecosystem
Create my free blog
2.

Substack

Best for: Writers building a paid newsletter

If you want readers in their inbox, Substack sends every post by email and gives you the list. It keeps 10% of paid subscriptions.

Free plan
Free with unlimited subscribers; Substack keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue
Your own domain
A one-time $50 fee per publication
Ads and branding
No ads; the site is Substack-branded
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
No: the custom domain must be a subdomain such as www.

Why pick it

  • Email delivery and paid subscriptions built in
  • Discovery through the Substack app and recommendations
  • Free to start, with no subscriber limit

Watch out for

  • The 10% revenue share grows with your income
  • Limited design and SEO control, and no subfolder
  • Posts build substack.com’s authority unless you pay for a domain
Visit SubstackOutrank Blogs vs Substack
3.

Ghost

Best for: Independent publishers running paid memberships

For writers turning a Medium following into a paid publication they own, with 0% fees on subscriptions.

Free plan
No free hosted plan; a 14-day trial, or self-host for free
Your own domain
Included from Starter: $15/month billed yearly
Ads and branding
No ads on any plan
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
A +$50/month add-on on the Business plan, or self-hosted behind your own proxy

Why pick it

  • Beautiful themes and a great editor
  • Newsletters and memberships built in
  • 0% fee on paid subscriptions

Watch out for

  • No free hosted plan
  • Paid subscriptions need the Publisher plan
Visit Ghost
4.

Hashnode

Best for: Developers writing inside a tech community

For technical writers, a free blog with a built-in developer audience, the closest thing to Medium for tech.

Free plan
Free, with unlimited articles on one publication
Your own domain
Needs Hashnode Pro since June 2026: $5/month or $50/year
Ads and branding
“Powered by Hashnode” branding until you upgrade
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
Only with Pro’s headless mode and your own front end

Why pick it

  • Built-in developer audience
  • Markdown editor made for technical writing
  • Free newsletter

Watch out for

  • Custom domains are no longer free
  • Off-topic posts can be removed by moderation
Visit Hashnode
5.

Blogger

Best for: Personal and hobby blogs that must stay free at any size

A free blog with a free custom domain and no traffic limit, if you can live with dated designs.

Free plan
Free, with no paid tiers and no visit limit
Your own domain
Free: connect a domain from any registrar; Blogger charges nothing
Ads and branding
No platform ads; AdSense only if you turn it on
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
No: a root domain or subdomain only

Why pick it

  • Free custom domain with no visit limit
  • Run by Google since 1999
  • Built-in AdSense if you want ads

Watch out for

  • No built-in email subscriptions
  • Few modern themes; design changes mean editing theme HTML
  • Cannot run at yourbrand.com/blog
Visit BloggerOutrank Blogs vs Blogger
6.

WordPress.com

Best for: Beginners who want WordPress without managing hosting

A full blog with email subscriptions on the free plan, and a custom domain from $4 a month billed yearly.

Free plan
Free forever, with 1 GB of storage and no plugins
Your own domain
Needs a paid plan: Personal, $4/month billed yearly or $9 billed monthly
Ads and branding
Free sites show WordPress.com ads to visitors
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
No: WordPress.com cannot create a subdirectory

Why pick it

  • Emails every post to unlimited subscribers on the free plan
  • The WordPress editor and ecosystem, with plugins on every paid plan
  • Easy upgrade path as the site grows

Watch out for

  • Ads on the free plan and no custom domain
  • Only 7 days of stats on the free plan
  • A 10% fee on paid subscriptions on the free plan
Visit WordPress.comOutrank Blogs vs WordPress.com
7.

Bear Blog

Best for: Minimalists who want a fast, text-first blog

If you liked Medium’s clean reading experience, Bear Blog is minimal, fast and free.

Free plan
Free on a bearblog.dev address
Your own domain
Needs the paid upgrade
Ads and branding
No ads or trackers; a small “Made with Bear” footer
Blog at yourbrand.com/blog
No: a root domain or subdomain only

Why pick it

  • Extremely fast pages
  • No trackers or ads
  • Nothing to configure

Watch out for

  • No image uploads or email capture on the free plan
  • Very few design options by design
Visit Bear Blog
Full comparison: Outrank Blogs vs Medium

Compare and set up

Moving from another platform?

See how Outrank Blogs compares with the platforms you know, and how to add it to the website you already have.

Comparisons

Roundups and alternatives

Setup guides

FAQ

Medium alternatives: questions

Short answers to what people ask most.

What is the best free alternative to Medium?
Outrank Blogs if you want your own domain for free, up to 10,000 visits a month. Blogger for a personal blog with no limits. Substack if you want every post sent by email.
Can I keep posting on Medium after I move?
Yes. Publish on your own blog first, then import the story on Medium and set its canonical link to the original. Search engines then credit your site, and you keep Medium’s reach.
Can I export my posts from Medium?
Yes. Medium lets you download your data, including your stories, from your settings. You can then bring the posts into your new blog.

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