I’ve been ruminating a lot about this in the past few days and I think we’ve been classifying Substack wrong.

I’ve said this before, but I learned a lot more about Substack competitors in the past week and I’m even more sure about it now.

I think it’s not a social media platform or anything like that. I think it’s a no-code app builder like Webflow, Bubble, or Shopify.

It is highly specialized to build online magazines, but outside of the immediate community of other authors, nobody really cares about Substack.

There is a community of Shopify users, too, but nobody would say “Come to my Shopify”. They would say “Come to my web store”.

The same is true with Wordpress or Squarespace or anything of the ilk. You can clearly tell this is how they think because they now allow you to upload your own Terms and Conditions, which is something standard on any no-code platform.

Substack has given us a lot of growth levers, which is great for a no-code builder, but just like Convertkit they are only features, not a platform like Facebook.

We as authors are conflating the two, but at best Substack is a highly recognizable no-code web app builder with a communal app and a vibrant comments section with Notes.

Notes is not a social media platform. It’s a forum. You can tell b/c nobody except Substack authors uses it.

We are limiting the capacity of our publications by calling them “Substacks” or even saying “I have a Substack”.

Clearly, this is how the founders think about it or they would never, ever, ever spout half the stuff that comes out of their mouths.

No-code platforms don’t care what you make on them because they aren’t a platform, they are the pipes that make sites function.

If that’s what they want, then I’m more than willing to play that game. If they don’t want free marketing, I surely don’t want to give it to them.

I propose that we should, in general, never even say the word Substack except to other people who are either looking to grow a thing or are already on it.

Just like with Wordpress or any no-code builder site, it should be our goal to get a custom domain set up as soon as possible so that we can remove the branding.

You wouldn’t keep a Wix subdomain or Squarespace subdomain up for the long haul, so why a Substack one? After all, they are just pipes, and pipes are there to be covered up.

2023 was the year most of us evangelized Substack to everyone, but in 2024 I think those days should be over, outside of a select few that would benefit from a no-code web app builder specializing in online magazines.

Just like with other no-code platforms, some people specialize in helping other users thrive, and we’ll still have that here, but otherwise, we shouldn’t say one word about them if we can help it.

Up until now, Substack has tried to have it both ways, but they clearly picked a side of how they want to be perceived, and that’s fine by me.