Media

Media platforms

Creators often grow and monetize their audiences using social media platforms and other media platforms with built-in discoverability. Note that factors such as organic reach, platform-specific subscription features, and quality of monetization aren't included in this ranking, as there exists little publicly available information to objectively compare them.

YouTube

Sore: 56.90

YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform. Creators can monetize their channels through the YouTube partner program.

YouTube earns points for being free and having creator education resources. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

Instagram

Score: 46.00

Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing social media platform. Users can connect with influencers, brands, friends, family, and more.

Instagram earns points for being free. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

TikTok

Score: 42.00

TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app that allows users to create and share videos on any topic. Creators can monetize their videos through the creator fund, which pays out based on views.

TikTok earns points for being free. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

Substack

Score: 40.30

Substack allows creators to launch paid newsletters to subscribers. Creators can set their own pricing for newsletter subscriptions.

Substack earns points for being free, allowing the migration of lists into and out of its platform, and creator education resources. It loses points for the inability to remove transaction fees, lack of integrations, limited support, and unclear support availability.

Medium

Score: 32.20

Medium is an online publishing platform where writers can publish as an individual contributor or as part of a larger publication. Creators can monetize their writing through the Medium Partner Program.

Medium earns points for being free. It loses points for presenting creator’s content in a feed with other content, limited support, and unclear support availability.

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See how every company scored on every ranking factor

Sources

Click through to see the source materials for our scoring — like information about pricing, support, fees, and other factors.