9 Medium Alternatives for Publishers to Diversify Monetization

Table of contents

• 1. Super
• 2. WordPress
• 3. Webflow
• 4. Wix
• 5. Squarespace
• 6. Kajabi
• 7. Blogger.com
• 8. Weebly
• 9. Ghost
• How to choose a Medium alternative as a writer?
• 1. Ease of setup and use
• 2. Writing interface
• 3. Content management
• 4. Technical infrastructure
• 5. Affordability
• 6. SEO features
• 7. Branding and customization
• 8. Integration capabilities
• 9. Support for diverse blog monetization methods
• 10. Analytics and insights

With a stellar writing and reading interface, and low resistance to getting started, Medium is a popular blogging platform among many publishers. It’s a great entry point for writers to hone their skills — they get to write for free, get feedback, and build their writing muscle.

But as your writing evolves and you get more recognition within your niche, Medium might start limiting what you can do with your content. While Medium shines for writers, it’s underwhelming for content producers who want their brand to shine and generate income.The Medium Partner Program doesn’t cut it for them anymore.

To truly establish a brand and own their content in the true sense, bloggers and writers need a platform they have complete control over. They need a customized domain, stand-out design, tool integrations, SEO capabilities, and many more features that Medium doesn’t support.

Furthermore, you get to monetize Medium only through affiliate marketing, other than the Partner Program. You can’t run Ads, manage newsletters, run courses, sell digital products, among many other monetization methods.

We will dive into more reasons for switching from Medium towards the end of this guide, but first let’s talk about which platform would suit your needs the best. While not all suggestions are free options, they contain all features of Medium while providing many more capabilities that make writing and monetization a breeze.

Let’s get started.

1. Super

Super turns content in Notion into a beautiful blog website. You can write and manage all your content assets like guides, images, videos, etc. within Notion. This means you can enjoy writing with the simplicity and flexibility that comes with Notion, which in many cases is better than Medium, and still own your website and design it to brand with Super, making it the perfect alternative to Medium.

You can integrate all your favorite tools. For example, you can add tracking codes for Google Adsense, Mediavine, and other Ad networks for monetization, opening up new avenues to make money from your blog.

Unlike Medium, you can add custom code to Super allowing you to create CTA buttons, add styling, and truly design a functional website that represents you. And because you can build a brand, you build more authenticity and sell more through any monetization method of choice.

Adding tracking tools like heatmaps, Google Analytics help you get insights from the visiting traffic and make informed decisions to pull more traffic or convert the existing traffic at a higher rate.

Furthermore, Super provides stellar SEO features that help you rank on Google and get some sweet organic traffic that is known to convert really well.

2. WordPress

WordPress is a powerhouse of blogging and deserves the top spot for large scale complex blogs. Its plugin support allows you to customize content at a great level without writing code.

But like any tool, more features and capabilities result in more complexities. Managing WordPress for a large blog is a full-time job and while solo bloggers and small teams use WordPress as well, this CMS could be too powerful for niche blog websites.

Furthermore, if you are a big fan of Medium’s writing interface, WordPress might disappoint you. It’s not uncommon for publishers to write their content in Google docs and then move it into WordPress because the markdown is easy to handle that way.

It’s also worth noting that setting up on WordPress is quite a long drawn process. So if ease of setup and use are your top priorities as a Medium user, WordPress might not be the best choice for you.

3. Webflow

Webflow is a simple yet effective blogging platform that suits well for beginner bloggers. While not as easy to use as Super with Notion, blogging with Webflow is a breeze compared to WordPress. It’s a decent tool for medium-sized blogs with a UX that makes website building easy.

However, the writing platform and reading experience might not be as light and minimal as Notion, or even Medium. LIke WordPress, it has a rich collection of customizable blog templates and it’s somewhat easy to design the blog to brand.

Furthermore, you might struggle with reaching Webflow support and might find yourself stuck with bugs with no way forward. Also, you might struggle to get your money refunded if you are not happy with the platform.

4. Wix

Wix is a no-code, drag-and-drop website builder that comes with some cool design templates for blogs, making it convenient to put a blog together with little technical know-how. While Wix can help you get started quickly, you might find some considerable SEO limitations with Wix.

Furthermore, true to its no-code nature, Wix does not support edits to the HTML. But limited ability to add custom code limits design customization. You might also experience slow page load speed for your blog which is not good for SEO.

However, transitioning from Medium to Wix is quite a natural smooth because Wix is easy to use and set up.

5. Squarespace

Squarespace is a good alternative to Medium because it’s user-friendly. It provides customizable templates and useful features that support branding for your blog. It has a good preview interface supporting WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get.

However, Squarespace blocks access for the HTML code, preventing edits to existing blocks. Something as easy as opening links in a new tab could be a cumbersome process because built-in features do not support that.

Furthermore, scaling your blog with Squarespace could be challenging because of general technical complexities.

In short, if you are used to Medium managing all the backend while you focus on writing, Squarespace might not be the best tool for you. But if you plan to build a small niche blog that just works within its limitations, Squarespace could be a nice alternative to Medium.

6. Kajabi

Kajabi is a decent alternative to Medium if your blog is meant to support any of these monetization methods: selling online courses, offering exclusive membership, community building, creating subscription podcasts, coaching, etc. With its rich collection of templates and plugins, blogging and monetizing with Kajabi is much more feasible than with Medium.

However, Kajabi can get very expensive quickly and its customer support is not up to the mark. Kajabi is not built exclusively for blogging, unlike Medium, making it a less desirable choice than most options listed in this guide.

7. Blogger.com

We were a bit hesitant about adding Blogger to the list because it is too similar to Medium and depending on your taste, might not even have a good enough writing and reading interface. It does not support custom domains, code, or design which means you don’t really own the website or personalize it — similar to the limitations with Medium.

But since we are talking about Medium alternatives for monetization, Blogger fits right in. While you can’t add tracking codes to your Blogger account, you can optimize it for Google Adsense and make some money.

It’s a monetization option alright but there’s probably more to lose switching from Medium to Blogger than to gain. First, your Medium Partner Program revenue would be impacted. That’s true irrespective of which alternative you switch to, but with Blogger, there might not be enough compensation because Adsense pays pennies per mille.

Furthermore, getting traffic to Blogger is a pain — you probably never saw a Blogger article rank for anything on Google, so SEO traffic is out of question, Blogger.com’s owned audience is too small for any impact, so you would barely get anyone on your blog unless you are already an established expert in your niche and have good social media presence.

In other words, while you can still sell products as an affiliate, you can’t get enough people to visit your pages, and click and buy from your links.

Other alternatives like Super can help you more than compensate for income from the Partner Program.

8. Weebly

Weebly is a decent alternative to Medium with its basic blogging capabilities, good enough for individual bloggers. It could be a good alternative if your blog is supposed to support e-commerce efforts. Its drag-and-drop feature makes blogging more flexible for beginners CMS users.

While Weebly is super-affordable, it’s not built with blogging in consideration. The blog templates feel dated and customization options are narrow. If a refined, modern look like Medium’s is indispensable for you, you will likely find Weebly's design capabilities restrictive.

9. Ghost

We have kept Ghost at the last not because it’s a bad alternative for Medium but because we wanted to leave one of the best for the last. Ghost is built for blogging and offers a clean writing interface with lots of embeddable content blocks.

You also get to maintain a content pipeline with a view of drafted, scheduled, and published articles which can come in handy for your content marketing efforts. This is definitely a good step up from Medium where you could only write content and had no control over project management.

Ghost could be a great blogging CMS if your primary goal is to drive newsletter subscriber base. So if your blog sells services and products, Ghost’s newsletter features can help you get details of potential buyers and set up a nurture journey to turn them into paying clients.

However, given that Ghost is a headless CMS, your blog would remain static and will first have to pull edits from the backend before serving them in the live version. Also, it’s free and basic plans are quite limiting, making it a slightly expensive CMS for practical blogging purposes. Furthermore, Ghost’s community and support assets are quite subpar, making it a less lucrative option than WordPress and Super.

How to choose a Medium alternative as a writer?

Leaving the comfort and familiarity of Medium can be intimidating for someone switching to a CMS for the first time. What might help is looking for an alternative that is similar to Medium in its UX, pricing, functionality, and features, but one that truly builds upon what it has to offer.

The list of Medium alternatives we shared in the previous section is based on the below criteria:

1. Ease of setup and use

The ideal platform welcomes you with an intuitive interface, minimal technical barriers, and a smooth onboarding process. You should be able to create an account, set up your profile, and start writing within minutes, not hours — similar to Medium.

Most Medium alternatives listed in this guide prioritize user experience and make technological complexities disappear behind elegant, simple design.

2. Writing interface

A powerful editor provides a distraction-free environment that allows your creativity to flow seamlessly. This means robust editing tools, smooth markdown and rich text support, and intelligent draft management, all of which are available for Medium users.

Your new writing space should adapt to your style, offering comfortable typography, easy formatting options, and intelligent auto-saving that preserves your work without interrupting your creative process.

3. Content management

The right platform helps you organize, curate, and showcase your work with intelligence and eclat. You'll want capabilities that allow you to create interconnected collections, schedule posts in advance, and categorize your writing effortlessly. The ability to manage drafts, cross-post content, and create series or thematic collections can transform a basic publishing platform into a comprehensive content management system.

One of the major drawbacks of Medium is that it does not support the strategic and project management aspect of content creation, the alternative that you choose should plug that gap.

4. Technical infrastructure

A robust platform ensures consistent performance, minimal downtime, and seamless cross-device functionality. Look for platforms with fast page load speeds, mobile responsiveness, and strong security protocols.

Your chosen platform should feel like a reliable partner, continuously updating and improving to provide a smooth, secure writing and reading experience. Medium, for example, takes away the need to understand what’s going on in the backend — how your content is saved, where it’s stored, how fast it loads, etc. You new writing platform should manage all these factors and more without you having to intervene.

5. Affordability

The best platforms offer transparent, flexible pricing models that grow with your needs. Whether you're a hobbyist blogger or a professional writer, you should find a tier that provides value without breaking the bank.

Free options, similar to Medium, with reasonable limitations can be an excellent starting point, allowing you to test the platform's capabilities before committing financially. However, you might be better off choosing a paid platform to access features that meet practical blogging requiremens.

6. SEO features

A sophisticated platform provides built-in optimization tools that help your content get discovered. This includes the ability to customize meta descriptions, control URL structures, optimize images, and integrate with broader search tools. The goal is making your writing not just beautiful, but discoverable across various search platforms.

Medium content does not rank on search engines often because it does not support SEO to the extent it should. Most modern CMS’, however, has basic SEO features which outshine what Medium has to offer.

7. Branding and customization

The best alternatives offer extensive customization options, from custom domain support to flexible design themes. You should be able to adjust colors, upload your logo, modify fonts, and even implement custom CSS if you're technically inclined. Your platform should feel like an extension of your personal or professional brand.

While Medium’s design is neat and aesthetic, it lacks personality since every blog hosted on the tool looks exactly the same. There’s no differentiation, making you content look like yet another wave in the ocean. Alternatives like Super help you customize your website exactly the way you want.

8. Integration capabilities

One of the major drawbacks of Medium is the inability to connect it to other tools. You can’t, for example, connect it with Hotjar to analyze visitor engagement, Google Analytics to draw key insights, Mediavine for monetization, etc. This means your content is a standalone entity which can’t be analyzed or monetized.

Look for platforms that offer seamless connections with social media, email marketing services, analytics tools, and newsletters. The ability to easily share content, track performance across multiple channels, and connect with your broader digital ecosystem can significantly enhance your writing and publishing strategy.

9. Support for diverse blog monetization methods

The ideal platform provides multiple revenue streams, including subscription models, paywalls, affiliate marketing options, and direct payment integrations. Whether you're looking to earn through sponsored content, reader tips, or comprehensive membership models, your platform should offer flexible monetization strategies.

The only two monetization options available with Notion are affiliate marketing and Medium Partner Program. You can’t run Ads, sell courses or digital products, run an e-commerce store, etc. with Medium. Your new blogging platform should support most of these options.

10. Analytics and insights

Look for platforms offering deep engagement metrics. Beyond simple page view counts, understanding how long people read, where they come from, and what resonates most can help you refine your writing and grow your audience strategically. Comprehensive analytics transform your writing from a creative pursuit to a data-informed profession.