Teachable vs Substack
Side-by-side comparison of Teachable and Substack.
Sell courses and coaching without technical headaches
Newsletter publishing and monetization in one place
What they are
Teachable
Teachable is a hosted course platform where creators build, publish, and sell online courses, coaching packages, and digital downloads. It handles payments, student enrollment, and content delivery in one place, making it popular with independent educators and subject-matter experts. The trade-off is that transaction fees apply on lower-tier plans, and the course editor feels dated compared to newer competitors.
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform where writers host email newsletters and charge subscribers a recurring fee. Independent journalists, essayists, and niche experts use it to build direct audiences without relying on ad revenue. The platform handles payments, delivery, and a basic website automatically. Substack takes a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue on top of stripe fees, which becomes a real cost as an audience grows.
if you need hosting and monetization. Starts at 29/mo.
- +No coding required to launch a fully functional course site
- +Integrated payment processing with support for coupons and bundles
- +Built-in affiliate marketing tools on mid and higher tiers
if you need hosting and monetization. It has a usable free tier to start with.
- +Free to start with no upfront cost
- +Built-in payment processing removes the need for a separate tool
- +Readers can comment and respond, creating light community features
Which to choose
Teachable and Substack both cover hosting, monetization, so this is a real either-or for some teams. The right pick depends on which one's wider feature set and pricing fit how you work.
Read the full reviews for Teachable and Substack.
Pricing checked 2 Jun 2026.