Substack is a newsletter-focused content management and publishing platform used primarily by independent writers, journalists, and media creators who monetize their content through paid subscriptions. The platform has a distinct technical footprint that makes it reliably identifiable: our detection engine recognizes Substack-powered sites through a combination of 2 script patterns, 1 CDN domain, 1 HTML pattern, and 1 meta tag pattern embedded in the page source. These signals — including characteristic script references tied to Substack's CDN infrastructure and specific HTML markup and meta tag conventions consistent across all Substack publications — allow for high-confidence identification regardless of whether a site uses a custom domain. Substack operates as a fully hosted platform, meaning publishers do not manage their own server infrastructure, which keeps the technical signature highly consistent and predictable across deployments. This uniformity makes Substack one of the more straightforward CMS platforms to detect accurately, as its front-end delivery relies on centralized assets that appear on every publication regardless of custom branding or domain configuration.
Paste any URL to instantly detect whether it was built with Substack. Our engine checks 4 technical signals.
These sites were detected by AI Website Detector as using Substack. Each was verified against 4 technical fingerprints.
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Substack is used across many industries. These are the most common website types built on this platform:
Publishers & bloggers
Flexible content management with rich plugin ecosystems
Enterprise businesses
Scalable CMS with extensive customization
NGOs & nonprofits
Affordable open-source platform with wide community support
E-commerce retailers
WooCommerce integration for product catalogs
Every Substack website leaves distinctive technical fingerprints. Here's what to look for:
CDN Domains
Network requests to these domains are a reliable indicator:
substackcdn\.comJavaScript Patterns
2 script patterns linked to Substack
HTML Attributes
1 HTML pattern in the page source
Explore how Substack compares to similar cms tools: