{"slug": "medium", "name": "Medium", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 1, "commenters": 3, "warners": 2, "score": -0.847, "rising": -0.33, "first": "2026-02-11", "latest": "2026-07-28", "why": "Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Medium"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785403696, "item_id": 49087731, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087731", "by": "nickthegreek", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers", "excerpt": "> What if I want people to read me without needing a subscription or email disclosure? Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers while giving you the ability to make your post freely available via the web. > What's the email for anyway? So that you can get sent notifications of new posts? On substack, you get the whole newsletter in the email. you dont need to go to a website. I use https://k", "context": "", "use_case": "publishing posts freely on the web", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785429169, "item_id": 49089323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089323", "by": "jmmv", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have scars from when I moved off of Medium and want to ensure I \"own\" the originals.", "excerpt": "I've been blogging for 22 years now. At the beginning I could tell I had a relatively steady audience based on frequent comments (when comments on blogs were a thing). These died off over the years. Then, in 2020, I implemented my own unobtrusive subscription mechanism and email distribution to try to regain such an audience. And... it's pretty disappointing. I've gotten less than 200 subscribers that way; conversion", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 751557475, "item_id": 46972342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972342", "by": "mekod", "date": "2026-02-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Medium is a billboard; they own the traffic.", "excerpt": "Hello HN, I built Ledger because I felt like a \"guest\" on every writing platform I used. Notion is a hotel; comfortable, but they own the keys. Medium is a billboard; they own the traffic. I wanted a house where I held the deed. So, yes, it is another blogging platform. But here is the difference: It stores absolutely nothing. I have no database. (Actually, it exists if you want.) Bring Your Own Database (BYOD): It c", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ledger \u2013 Yes, another blogging platform (but you own the database)"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["blogging", "publishing posts freely on the web", "blogging platform"], "compared": [{"slug": "substack", "name": "Substack", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49086788", "title": "Substack writers, you need a website", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972317", "title": "Show HN: Ledger \u2013 Yes, another blogging platform (but you own the database)", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 785429169, "item_id": 49089323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089323", "by": "jmmv", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have scars from when I moved off of Medium and want to ensure I \"own\" the originals.", "excerpt": "I've been blogging for 22 years now. At the beginning I could tell I had a relatively steady audience based on frequent comments (when comments on blogs were a thing). These died off over the years. Then, in 2020, I implemented my own unobtrusive subscription mechanism and email distribution to try to regain such an audience. And... it's pretty disappointing. I've gotten less than 200 subscribers that way; conversion", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 785403696, "item_id": 49087731, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087731", "by": "nickthegreek", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers", "excerpt": "> What if I want people to read me without needing a subscription or email disclosure? Medium is where you can post and get a bit of what substack offers while giving you the ability to make your post freely available via the web. > What's the email for anyway? So that you can get sent notifications of new posts? On substack, you get the whole newsletter in the email. you dont need to go to a website. I use https://k", "context": "", "use_case": "publishing posts freely on the web", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 751557475, "item_id": 46972342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972342", "by": "mekod", "date": "2026-02-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Medium is a billboard; they own the traffic.", "excerpt": "Hello HN, I built Ledger because I felt like a \"guest\" on every writing platform I used. Notion is a hotel; comfortable, but they own the keys. Medium is a billboard; they own the traffic. I wanted a house where I held the deed. So, yes, it is another blogging platform. But here is the difference: It stores absolutely nothing. I have no database. (Actually, it exists if you want.) Bring Your Own Database (BYOD): It c", "context": "", "use_case": "blogging platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ledger \u2013 Yes, another blogging platform (but you own the database)"}]}