Substack vs Jekyll

Substack provides a platform for creators to build an audience and potentially monetize their content through subscriptions.

A gradual and reliable growth mechanism for newsletters, built on consistency and word of mouth.

Substack has a user-friendly interface that allows for easy setup and multimedia posts.

Substack provides the opportunity for writers to own their subscribers and communicate directly with them.

Substack allows for both free and paid content, giving flexibility in content sharing and potential monetization.

Substack allows writers to categorize their posts into unlimited publications, making it user-friendly for creators.

Jekyll is simple and effective for creating static websites and blogs without needing a database.

The Jekyll Admin plugin is useful for testing, even if not suitable for production.

CloudCannon integrates well with Jekyll for hosting sites, offering more control and better performance.

Users appreciate Jekyll's performance, specifically its speed and capability to produce static sites quickly.

Jekyll works seamlessly with Netlify CMS for managing content in a user-friendly manner.

Community feedback suggests Jekyll provides excellent ownership and portability of the website content.

New writers may struggle to monetize effectively on Substack without a pre-existing audience.

Substack does not offer advanced features such as personalization tags or email automations, which limits marketing effectiveness.

While there are success stories, many new writers face challenges in gaining visibility and building an audience.

Writers may find it difficult to gain traction on Substack, especially without an established audience.

There is a perception that Substack may not provide enough engagement compared to platforms like Reddit.

Substack may not be the best option for long-term growth compared to other platforms that offer better discoverability.

Jekyll requires knowledge of GitHub which can be a barrier for new users, making authoring and editing challenging.

The content editor in CloudCannon can be slow and resource-heavy, affecting the user experience.

Some users find Jekyll difficult to customize compared to other CMS options, especially for users without a tech background.

Managing images and files can pose challenges in Jekyll compared to other CMS platforms with better UI.

Editing content can be cumbersome due to not easily allowing in-browser previews.

Jekyll’s reliance on the command line makes it less accessible for non-coders compared to other CMS platforms.

The native editor was a key reason for choosing Substack due to its ease of use.

Users appreciate the minimalist design of the Substack editor, allowing focus on writing.

The simplicity of publishing content on Substack is frequently highlighted by users.

Substack allows for creative, personal writing, garnering a welcoming community.

A user noted that they find their writing process improved with Substack's tools.

Several users encourage others to start writing on Substack for its user-friendly nature.

Users can create content without coding knowledge.

JekyllPad offers a WYSIWYG editor for easier content management.

Static site generators provide better control over design for editors.

JekyllPad integrates GitHub for seamless syncing of edits.

Flexible publishing workflows allow content teams to collaborate easily.

Users appreciate the ease of designing custom components visually.

Users have expressed frustrations with the draft page becoming unresponsive at times.

Some complaints about a lack of detailed formatting options compared to other CMS platforms.

Users noted that SEO effectiveness on Substack can be lacking, affecting visibility.

Some find that monetization options can be unclear or limited without a paid subscription.

Reports of suboptimal user experience with formatting issues during editing.

Users mention that some features feel half-baked or underdeveloped compared to competitors.

Technical performance optimization requires some planning and knowledge.

Building themes may require CSS knowledge.

Less technical users struggle with day-to-day content management.

Customization can lead to unanticipated issues when themes are updated.

Some features require third-party integration, adding complexity.

Editing markdown can be daunting for some users.

Substack allows quick setup without technical knowledge, appealing to non-experts.

Users appreciate the community and engagement aspects of Substack, as it attracts serious writers.

The platform is free and offers monetization options for writers.

Jekyll integrates well with various headless CMS options for content management.

Users appreciate Jekyll's flexible integration with many services and libraries.

Setting up Netlify CMS with Jekyll can help simplify the user interface for non-technical users.

The community around Jekyll is helpful and provides extensive plugins for various needs.

Ease of deployment via GitHub Pages makes it user-friendly for developers.

Substack lacks solid SEO functionality, which can hinder discoverability.

Emails sent through Substack are public, reducing exclusivity for subscribers.

Users struggle with managing multiple lists when using Substack and Mailchimp together due to lack of integration.

There is no direct integration for tracking Facebook Pixel conversions with Substack.

Users find the setup complicated, especially when integrating with services like Netlify.

Markdown content management can be difficult and doesn't sync easily back to Git.

The need for Git can be a barrier for non-technical users.

Users report limitations in adding dynamic functionality without external services.

Jekyll does not inherently support commenting and requires workarounds for this feature.