What Medium actually does
Medium was founded in August 2012 by Evan Williams (co-founder of Twitter and Blogger) and is headquartered in San Francisco. The platform raised ~$132M in total funding with its last priced round at Series C in 2016 at a ~$600M valuation. Tony Stubblebine has served as CEO since 2022.
Medium operates on a $5/mo or $50/year membership model for readers. Writers earn from the Partner Program — a shared payout pool based on member reading time, engagement points, and Boost multipliers. Payout rules have been rewritten repeatedly: October 2025 reserved 5% of the pool for external traffic, December 2025 added bonuses for email-delivered stories, and January 2026 broadened Boost bonuses while reducing per-Boosted-story earnings. An Editor Partner Program launches June 2026.
The platform has not disclosed MAU since citing ~60M in 2017. Ghost (53.5k GitHub stars, MIT) with 0% platform fee is the standard self-hosted alternative for writers who want to own their audience without an algorithm determining their income.
Rich text editor and publishing
Medium's editor is a clean, distraction-free writing environment with block-based formatting. It supports embeds, images, and code blocks with a focus on long-form narrative writing.
Metered paywall with member-only content
Stories can be set to Member-only, limiting non-members to a metered preview. The paywall drives membership subscriptions that fund the writer payout pool.
Partner Program and writer payouts
Writers earn from a shared monthly payout pool based on reading time, engagement, and Boost bonuses. Payouts are calculated per-read with Boost multipliers for editorially selected stories.
Boost editorial curation
Medium's editorial team selects stories for Boost — amplified distribution to non-following members. Boosted stories earn significantly more. The criteria are opaque, creating dependency on editorial approval.
Publication and multi-author support
Writers can publish under personal bylines or within curated Publications with editors, submission queues, and branded pages. Publications act as magazines within Medium.
Social features and discovery
Readers can clap (up to 50 per story), comment, follow writers, and receive email digests. The algorithmic feed surfaces stories based on reading history and followed topics.
Mediumpricing & limits
Based on one reader member at annual rate; writer earnings are a share of the global payout pool, not a fixed rate
Where Medium falls short
Earnings volatility from repeated payout-model rewrites
Medium has rewritten its Partner Program payout formula multiple times — the January 2025 earnings drop is the most-cited reference point in the writer community, documented across Write A Catalyst analyses from December 2025 and January 2026. Writers building income on Medium face unpredictable quarterly swings with no advance notice of rule changes. GRIT Capital migrated 360K Substack subscribers citing similar fee uncertainty.
Boost dependency with opaque criteria
Un-Boosted stories earn a fraction of Boosted equivalents regardless of quality or audience size. The Boost selection criteria are not published, meaning writers cannot reliably optimize for the highest-earnings distribution tier. As of January 2026, Medium broadened Boost bonuses but simultaneously reduced per-Boosted-story earnings — the Jan 2026 model change was the fifth payout adjustment in 15 months.
No email list portability versus Substack and Ghost
Medium does not provide writers with their subscriber email list for export. Substack and Ghost both allow full subscriber CSV export. This lock-in is critical — a writer with 50K Medium followers cannot migrate to a self-hosted platform without rebuilding their list from zero. Ghost built its entire value proposition around this differentiator.
Limited external discoverability from paywall-gated content
Member-only stories are largely invisible to Google because Googlebot cannot read beyond the metered preview. Medium's October 2025 attempt to compensate — reserving 5% of the payout pool for external traffic — underlines the problem while quantifying how small the incentive is. Writers who optimize for SEO traffic must either leave stories open (no earnings) or accept minimal Google discovery.
Bot and AI-generated comment spam
Medium explicitly addressed AI-generated comments in its Partner Program policy updates, indicating the problem was significant enough to require policy-level response. Platform-wide moderation failures reduce comment quality and reader engagement, which directly affects writers who rely on comment discussion as engagement signals.
Key features to replicate
The core feature set any Medium alternative needs — plus what you can improve on.
Rich text editor with Medium-style formatting
Medium's editor uses a simple block-based model: paragraphs, H1/H2/H3, blockquotes, code blocks, dividers, and media embeds. Replicate with Tiptap (a React-based ProseMirror wrapper) or Lexical (Meta's open-source editor). Both support collaborative editing extensions if you want real-time co-authoring not available on Medium.
Paywall with metered access and member-only content
The paywall is a per-story boolean flag (member_only) combined with a reading gate on the frontend. For Google Flexible Sampling, expose the first 1,000–1,500 characters of paywalled content in the HTML with a structured-data metered access signal. Use Stripe for membership billing and Supabase RLS to gate full content behind auth.
Writer payout system with per-read calculations
The payout system requires a reading_events table (user_id, story_id, duration_seconds, engaged_boolean), a monthly payout pool calculation (total_pool / total_engaged_reads), and a fraud-detection layer to prevent artificial inflation. Start with a simple time-weighted model and add Stripe Connect payouts to writer bank accounts. This is the most complex feature at complexity 8/10.
Boost-style editorial curation and recommendation engine
Build a curation queue where editors can tag stories for amplified distribution. The recommendation engine surfaces curated stories to members who haven't seen them based on topic and reading history. A custom platform can make curation criteria transparent (e.g., 'Editor picks must have >10 minutes average read time and <0.5% spam reports') — a direct response to Medium's opacity.
Publication and multi-author support
Publications are branded sub-sites with their own header, about page, and submission queue. Implement as a publications table with many-to-many membership (roles: editor, writer, submitter). Writers submit stories to publications via an invite/submission flow; editors accept or reject with feedback. Medium's own Publications feature is the reference.
Social features (claps, comments, follows)
Claps are a weighted engagement signal (1–50 per reader per story). Implement as a claps table (user_id, story_id, count) with a CHECK constraint on count. Comments are threaded with depth-limited nesting. Follows are a simple follower graph. Add AI spam detection on comments using a classifier model (OpenAI moderation API or fine-tuned BERT) from day one.
Full-text search with topic-based discovery
Story search requires indexing title, subtitle, and body text. Use Meilisearch for low-latency full-text search with topic facets. Topic tagging is user-defined (up to 5 tags per story) plus editorial taxonomy. A custom platform can build a transparent topic graph showing story distribution across topics — something Medium has never provided.
Technical architecture
A Medium alternative is a publishing platform requiring a rich text editor, a paywall layer, a payout calculation engine, a social graph, and an editorial curation system. The hardest problems are the payout fraud detection and the recommendation algorithm. The SEO architecture (Google Flexible Sampling for paywalled content) is non-trivial but well-documented.
Frontend
Next.js App Router, Remix, Nuxt 3
Recommended: Next.js App Router — critical for SEO: SSR for paywalled story pages with Google Flexible Sampling markup, ISR for topic pages, and Client Components only for the editor.
Editor
Tiptap, Lexical, Slate.js
Recommended: Tiptap — best balance of customization and out-of-box features; excellent React integration; large extension ecosystem for embeds, mentions, and collaborative editing.
API / Backend
Node.js (Fastify), Go, Rails
Recommended: Node.js with Fastify — fast, TypeScript-native, pairs naturally with Next.js; good ecosystem for payout calculation jobs and Stripe Connect integration.
Database
PostgreSQL, PlanetScale, Supabase
Recommended: PostgreSQL via Supabase — RLS policies for paywall access control, full-text search fallback, and pgvector for recommendation embeddings.
Auth
Supabase Auth, Auth.js v5, Clerk
Recommended: Supabase Auth — row-level security maps directly to member vs. non-member content access; handles Google, Apple, and email/password out of the box.
Payments
Stripe Billing + Stripe Connect, Paddle, LemonSqueezy
Recommended: Stripe Billing for reader memberships + Stripe Connect Express for writer payouts — the combination handles the two-sided payment flow. Stripe Connect handles 1099-K reporting automatically.
Search and recommendations
Meilisearch, Algolia, pgvector
Recommended: Meilisearch for search + pgvector for recommendation embeddings — self-hosted combination covers both use cases at low cost for early scale.
Complexity estimate
Complexity 8/10 — payout fraud detection and the recommendation algorithm are the hardest pieces. Plan for 12–16 weeks with a team of 3–4 developers. The Stripe Connect integration for writer payouts adds 2–3 weeks alone.
Medium vs building your own
Open-source Medium alternatives
Existing projects you can self-host or use as a starting point. Each has trade-offs.
Ghost
53.5kGhost is a Node.js publishing platform (MIT license) with native membership management, newsletter delivery, and 0% platform fee. It is the de-facto self-hosted Medium alternative. Self-hosting costs $10–20/mo on a DigitalOcean droplet plus Mailgun. Ghost(Pro) hosted starts at $29/mo (Publisher) after the July 2025 pricing restructure removed paid subscriptions from the $15/mo Starter plan.
WriteFreely
7kWriteFreely is a minimalist, ActivityPub-native blogging platform built in Go (AGPL-3.0). It focuses on clean writing and federation over feature richness — think bare-bones Medium with no monetization but full fediverse connectivity.
Build vs buy: the real math
12–16 weeks
Custom build time
$30K–$60K
One-time investment
At $1,500/mo gross subscription revenue, custom build saves more than Substack's 10% fee
Breakeven vs Medium
Medium doesn't charge writers a platform percentage directly — it pays from a shared pool. The build case is about earning control, not cost savings. A writer or publication earning $5,000/mo in subscriptions on a custom Ghost setup keeps 100% minus Stripe's ~2.9% ($145/mo) — versus Medium's opaque Boost-dependent payout with no subscription-level earnings guarantee. A $30K–$60K custom platform recoups its cost in 6–12 months for a publication earning $5K+/mo in subscriptions. Ghost self-hosted is the right choice for most individual writers — a full custom build is for publications that want their own brand, multi-author workflows, and custom payout rules. RapidDev's recommendation: Ghost self-hosted for individuals, custom platform for publications with 20+ writers.
DIY roadmap: build it yourself
This roadmap targets a Medium-style publishing MVP with a rich editor, paywall, member subscriptions, and basic writer payouts. It assumes a team of 3 developers using Next.js, Supabase, and Stripe.
Foundation and editor
3–4 weeks- Set up Next.js App Router with Supabase auth (email + Google OAuth)
- Integrate Tiptap editor with Medium-style formatting blocks
- Build story creation, editing, and draft-management flow
- Implement story publishing with member_only flag and slug generation
- Set up SSR story pages with Google Flexible Sampling meta tags
Membership and paywall
3–4 weeks- Integrate Stripe Billing for $5/mo and $50/yr membership plans
- Implement paywall logic with Supabase RLS: member_only stories require active subscription
- Build subscriber management dashboard with cancel/upgrade flow
- Add email delivery for new story notifications via Resend or Postmark
- Implement metered reading for non-members (free preview first 1500 chars)
Social features and discovery
3–4 weeks- Build follower graph and activity feed for followed writers
- Implement clap system (1–50 per reader per story) with deduplication
- Add comment threading with OpenAI Moderation API spam filtering
- Build topic/tag system with browse pages (ISR)
- Implement full-text search with Meilisearch across story titles and bodies
Writer payouts and analytics
3–4 weeks- Build reading_events tracking (story_id, user_id, duration_seconds)
- Implement monthly payout pool calculation with time-weighted per-read formula
- Integrate Stripe Connect Express for writer bank account payouts
- Build writer analytics dashboard: views, read time, earnings, engagement
- Add editorial curation queue for Boost-equivalent promotion
These estimates assume 3 experienced developers. Solo builders should double the timeline and treat the payout system as a V2 feature. Stripe Connect onboarding for writers requires KYC compliance that varies by country — budget 2 extra weeks for international payout support. Fraud detection for the payout pool is significantly underestimated in most builds.
Features you can't get from Medium
This is where a custom build pulls ahead — features impossible or impractical on a shared platform.
Transparent payout formula with public rule documentation
Medium's payout criteria are opaque and change frequently. A custom platform can publish the exact payout formula: '70% of the monthly pool is distributed proportionally to minutes-read by paying members, 30% to engagement score, zero Boost multiplier dependency.' This transparency becomes a direct competitive differentiator and trust signal for writers.
Email list ownership from day one
On Medium, writers cannot export their subscriber emails. A custom platform built on Ghost-style architecture makes subscriber email export a first-class feature — writers own their list and can migrate to any email provider. This single feature drove significant GRIT Capital's 360K-subscriber migration from Substack to beehiiv.
AI writing assistant integrated directly in the editor
A custom platform can embed an AI writing assistant (Claude or GPT-4o) in the editor for outline generation, headline suggestions, and story improvement feedback. Medium has no native AI writing features. This is a clear upgrade path that adds subscription value to the Publisher tier.
Per-publication revenue sharing for multi-author platforms
Medium's payout pools all writers into a single pool with no Publication-level payout logic. A custom platform can allow Publications to set their own payout splits: 60% to writers, 40% to editors, with custom tiers per article. This enables vertical publications (tech, finance, health) to run with editorial staff who earn from the content they commission.
SEO-first content with transparent Google Flexible Sampling controls
A custom platform can give writers per-story controls over how much content is freely available to Google: free-access paragraphs, preview depth, and structured data markup. Medium offers no per-story SEO controls. This differentiation matters enormously for writers who depend on organic search traffic.
Who should build a custom Medium
Publications with 20+ writers needing transparent revenue sharing
Medium's payout is a black box — Publications cannot set custom revenue splits or guarantee earnings to their writers. A custom platform with Stripe Connect and transparent per-article payout rules enables a sustainable editorial business model that Medium cannot offer.
Writers with large existing audiences ready to monetize directly
A writer with 50K+ followers on Medium earns from an opaque pool. Moving to a custom Ghost-backed platform gives them a fixed $5–10/mo subscriber fee with 0% platform cut and full email list ownership. At 1,000 paying subscribers at $5/mo, that's $5,000/mo gross versus unpredictable Medium earnings.
Vertical content platforms (legal, medical, finance)
Regulated industries need content moderation controls, contributor verification (e.g., credentialed authors only), and compliance audit trails that Medium cannot provide. A custom publishing platform can enforce author credentials, add disclaimer management, and generate regulatory-required disclosures automatically.
Skip the DIY — let RapidDev build it
Everything above is doable — but it takes months of full-time work. We build custom Medium alternatives using AI-accelerated development, delivering in weeks what used to take quarters.
Discovery call (free)
30 minWe map your exact requirements: which Medium features you need, what custom features to add, your users, integrations, and compliance needs. You get a detailed scope document and fixed-price quote within 48 hours.
AI-accelerated build
12–16 weeksOur engineers use Claude Code, Lovable, and custom AI tooling to build 3–5x faster than traditional development. You see progress in a staging environment every week — not a black box for months.
Launch + handoff
1 weekWe deploy to your infrastructure, transfer the GitHub repo, set up CI/CD, and walk your team through the codebase. You own 100% of the source code — no vendor lock-in, no recurring platform fees.
What you get
Timeline
12–16 weeks
Investment
$30K–$60K
vs Medium
ROI in At $1,500/mo gross subscription revenue, custom build saves more than Substack's 10% fee
30-min call. Fixed-price quote within 48 hours. No commitment.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a Medium alternative?
A custom Medium-style platform costs $30K–$60K with an agency team of 3–4 developers. This covers a rich text editor, paywall, Stripe membership billing, writer payouts via Stripe Connect, social features, and Meilisearch. A minimal blog + paywall MVP can be built for $15K–$25K if you use Ghost as the base instead of building from scratch.
How long does it take to build a Medium clone?
Plan for 12–16 weeks with a team of 3–4 experienced developers. The editor and paywall take 3–4 weeks. Membership billing and email delivery add 3–4 weeks. Social features (follows, claps, comments) add 3–4 weeks. The payout system with fraud detection adds another 3–4 weeks. Solo builders should expect 6–12 months.
Are there open-source Medium alternatives?
Ghost (53.5k GitHub stars, MIT) is the best open-source alternative — it offers native memberships, newsletter delivery, 0% platform fee, and email list ownership. WriteFreely (7k stars, AGPL-3.0) is a minimalist ActivityPub-native option without monetization. There is no OSS equivalent of Medium's discovery network and shared payout pool.
Can RapidDev build a custom Medium alternative?
Yes. RapidDev has built 600+ apps including publishing platforms, paywall systems, and Stripe Connect payout flows. We can build a custom Medium-style platform with transparent writer payouts, publication tools, and SEO-optimized content delivery. Book a free consultation at rapidevelopers.com/contact.
Why do writers leave Medium for Ghost or Substack?
The primary reason is earnings predictability and list ownership. Medium's payout pool has been rewritten multiple times with no advance notice — the January 2025 earnings drop is the most-cited example. Ghost and Substack let writers charge a fixed subscription fee and keep the revenue. Ghost also provides full subscriber email export; Medium does not.
Does building a Medium alternative require WebSocket or real-time infrastructure?
Only for the collaborative editing feature (if you want real-time co-authoring). Basic Medium functionality — publishing, comments, claps, follows, and feed — can be built with standard HTTP APIs and Supabase Realtime for notifications. WebSocket infrastructure is optional and adds significant complexity.
How does Medium's Boost algorithm work?
Medium has not published the Boost criteria publicly. Based on writer reports and Medium's own Partner Program updates, Boost selection involves editorial review of story quality, topic fit, and engagement signals. Boosted stories are distributed to readers who don't follow the writer, earning significantly more per-read than non-Boosted stories. As of January 2026, non-Boosted stories earn somewhat more than before, but Boosted stories earn proportionally less.
Is Ghost better than building a custom Medium alternative?
For individual writers and small publications, Ghost self-hosted is almost always the right answer — it costs $10–20/mo on a VPS and gives you 100% of subscription revenue minus Stripe fees. A custom build is justified when you need features Ghost doesn't offer: multi-author revenue splits, a custom discovery algorithm, brand-specific UI, or integration with proprietary content systems.
We'll build your Medium
- Delivered in 12–16 weeks
- You own 100% of the code
- No per-seat fees, ever
30-min call. No commitment.