the amount of time i have to waste switching apps and subscriptions and platforms bc some unfuckable tech bro decided to make it even more evil-- anyway if you have experience with substack alternatives/migration lmk - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

alixeharrow.bsky.social • 1 day ago

the amount of time i have to waste switching apps and subscriptions and platforms bc some unfuckable tech bro decided to make it even more evil--

anyway if you have experience with substack alternatives/migration lmk

Comments

talitherose.bsky.social•1 day ago

I hate to rain on a puddle, but I think the “free” days of the internet are over.

Not cuz of the crazy stuffgoing on now ~ I’m a web designer & even server space has tripled (or more) in 10 years.

~ that said ~
Nothing wrong about a little monetizing 😂 a little patreon to cover things is ok!

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

i wouldn't mind paying some! i just can't seem to find something like....in the reasonable range for a project that's specifically not a money-making venture!!

talitherose.bsky.social•1 day ago

I wish I had something to offer 🥺 but I read all the comments, was anything wrong with the “Buttondown” ?

alixeharrow.bsky.social•21 hours ago

it's $80/month at my # of subscribers. apparently you can pause and un-pause, though, so it might be workable

talitherose.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Ah daaaaam 🙁

drmag00.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’ve heard a lot of good things about ghost, for example from @theradr.bsky.social and @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social.

eijasumner.bsky.social•1 day ago

I exported my substack and imported it to my wordpress site— so now my substack is more like an old school blog.

Still figuring it out and have to use a plugin to import subscribers, and all future subscribers will be users to my site? I don’t think this is the best replacement but I’m fine w it.🤷‍♀️

eijasumner.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’ve never monetized it, and don’t have a huge subscriber list.

I think formatting wise I’ll probably change up what I write there or what it looks like to match the new blog structure, but I’m happy just having it live on my website and if people want to read it, great. If not that’s fine too.

toolemera.bsky.social•1 day ago

I run a blog/site through Google Blogger. Free. Mail list through MailerLite. Free. Pinterest. Free. Substack. No paywall. Threads. Free. FB and Insta are nearly worthless now.

cz-sf.bsky.social•1 day ago

I use Ghost. It works great. I think you can import lists from Substack although I’ve never tried.

oliviaatwater.com•1 day ago

The amount of effort it is taking me to slowly get everything off Facebook, and me asking myself if there is even a way to get rid of Google Workspace, and and and.

It’s not even just about the evil (tho it is that too). These services also eventually turn into useless junk.

aebanter.bsky.social•1 day ago

Maybe we weren't supposed to keep everything forever. It has a literal and figurative cost I guess.

gibknight.bsky.social•1 day ago

I haven't used these, but Wired is one of the few places I trust right now: https://www.wired.com/story/best-substack-alternatives/

gibknight.bsky.social•1 day ago

I hate the people who suck.

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

I'm struggling a bit bc i don't ever want to monetize it?? i just want to send out two lightly esoteric essays a year, to a few thousand nerds. that's not a project i want to pay $30/month for????

nebrinkley.bsky.social•1 day ago

i have yet to find one that can suit given that i have the same issue—i only send out, like, three newsletters a year and i don't want to charge but can't afford to pay a monthly fee to ... not send a newsletter? keep me updated on what you find!

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

kit seems to be free up to 10k, which might cover me for a while? although talking to you I'm having a sudden and terrible urge to do some kind of collaborative thing with other weirdos who want to write essays three times a year. similar to the urge that leads people to start podcasts i imagine 😂

nebrinkley.bsky.social•1 day ago

given how often i cite your essays it would be a natural fit but we must resist...

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

link for kit:
https://kit.com/pricing

owlwrite.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Maybe this could also help:
https://bsky.app/profile/molly.wiki/post/3ldjleicmrs2z

alixeharrow.bsky.social•18 hours ago

ha, i was making my own worse version of this, thank you!! but yeah, this is where I'm at-- mine is and will remain in the Free category, at around 7.5k subscribers. so i might go with Kit and just assume it won't go over 10k? or buttondown and just turn my subscription on and off....

phroureo.com•1 day ago

I for one love your lightly esoteric essays in my inbox.

kalinstacey.bsky.social•1 day ago

How many thousands is a few thousand nerds?
Beehiiv is the one I've heard that has a free tier up to 2500.
https://www.beehiiv.com/

Also, I subscribe to your substack and would REALLY LOVE you to make the move to anywhere, and promise to follow you there.

kalinstacey.bsky.social•1 day ago

https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/14966988360215-How-to-migrate-from-Substack-to-beehiiv

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

thanks for this!! this one has been on my list, but it looks like it's uh $70/month for me. which might doesn't make sense for how i use it. I'm poking around, and whatever it is won't be a substack for much longer 💙

oliviasblooms.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Hi, how can I get on the nerd list?

ekjohnston.bsky.social•1 day ago

HEY LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT BUTTONDOWN the easiest thing i have ever done in my life

ekjohnston.bsky.social•1 day ago

Buttondown:
1. Sign up for account
2. Import old stuff
2a. If you have ANY problems, email them and a human sorts it out for you
3. You do have to pay them, but honestly, if that's what it takes to get Not Evil, I'm okay

ekjohnston.bsky.social•1 day ago

every time you get a new subscriber, the notification email includes a celebratory gif. most of mine have been adorable dogs.

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

i love ALL of those things!!! it's mostly that i use mine so rarely (2-3 times a year) that i can't really justify the $80/month??

buttondown.com•1 day ago

definitely hear this. fwiw we are very friendly with pausing your subscription: lots of folks who send out at an annual/biannual cadence keep their subscription paused and just unpause when they need to send something (we don't charge you for the months where you're paused, and everything...

buttondown.com•1 day ago

...keeps running, you just can't send mass emails!)

ekjohnston.bsky.social•1 day ago

...buttondown was $90 for the year

alixeharrow.bsky.social•1 day ago

ah i think they must scale up quick then. honestly at this point maybe I'll just call it quits

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ekjohnston.bsky.social•1 day ago

when you're writing your newsletter, every time you start a new paragraph, you either start typing or type "/" and it immediately brings up all your options like photos and links and dividers, etc.

ecatherine.com•1 day ago

I did Buttondown, but my list is so tiny it presently costs nothing.