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Buttondown vs Substack
Buttondown: Indie writers wanting a minimal, API-first newsletter. Substack: Writers making money doing the work they believe in. Same fact set for both, straight from each vendor's docs.
Buttondown
- Free tier
- Free for first 100 subscribers
- Paid from
- $9/mo (subscriber-based) · pricing page
- Public API
- Yes docs
- MCP server
- No · No official server (vendor favors its OpenAPI spec); community server on GitHub
- Best for
- Indie writers wanting a minimal, API-first newsletter
- Website
- https://buttondown.com
Substack
- Free tier
- Free to publish, no subscriber cap
- Paid from
- No monthly fee; 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees · pricing page
- Public API
- Yes docs
- MCP server
- Community · Community servers on GitHub only
- Best for
- Writers making money doing the work they believe in
- Website
- https://substack.com
Which one?
Buttondown suits indie writers wanting a minimal, api-first newsletter. Substack suits writers making money doing the work they believe in. Pricing changes; the fact tables above link both vendors' live pricing pages. For the rest of the field, see Buttondown alternatives, Substack alternatives, or the full table.