Convert vs Substack
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Convert and Substack, verified . Convert is primarily a/b testing; Substack is primarily email marketing.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Convert
- Growth$299/mo
- Pro
Most popular: $420/mo billed yearly
$420/mo - EnterpriseCustom
Substack
- Standard
Free to publish; 10% of paid subscription revenue
Free
When Convert wins
- Marketing and CRO teams running 5+ tests per month with budgets to match
- Companies scaling out of free Optimize or VWO Free tier deprecations
- Mid-market e-commerce running structured experimentation programs
Where Convert is the wrong fit
- Small teams that can use PostHog feature flags and experiments for free
- One-test-a-quarter buyers where cost-per-test is too high
- Enterprises with Optimizely contracts where switching incentive is weak
When Substack wins
- New writers with no list yet who want platform-driven discovery
- Writers who would rather give 10% of revenue than pay a flat $20-100/month with no readers
Where Substack is the wrong fit
- Established creators with a paid list above ~5,000 subscribers; the 10% share exceeds what Kit, Ghost, or beehiiv would charge in flat fees at that scale
- Operators who want full control over deliverability, subscriber data, and migration optionality
- Brands needing automations, segmentation, or marketing tooling
Common questions
- Is Convert cheaper than Substack?
- At the entry tier, Substack starts at Free versus Convert at $299/mo. Substack is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Convert or Substack have a free plan?
- Only Substack has a permanent free plan. Convert only offers a free trial.
- Are Convert and Substack in the same category?
- No. Convert is primarily a a/b testing tool; Substack is primarily a email marketing tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Convert or Substack?
- Convert ships 3 plans; Substack ships 1. Convert's longer ladder gives more granular upgrade steps, which can mean smoother price escalation as your team scales.
- Where can I see alternatives to Convert or Substack?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/convert for Convert and /alternatives/substack for Substack. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Convert: https://www.convert.com/pricing/ · Substack: https://substack.com/going-paid
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.