Substack is the largest and most influential newsletter and subscription platform, hosting hundreds of the world's top writers, journalists, and independent media outlets — including publications that have generated millions in annual subscriber revenue. It pioneered the paid newsletter model with simple 10% revenue sharing, a writer-friendly setup experience, and a built-in discovery network. Substack Recommendations has become a major growth channel, with reader suggestions driving new subscriber acquisition. Substack sites are identifiable through resources loaded from substackcdn.com for media and assets, the Substack JavaScript runtime on all publication pages, and distinctive *.substack.com subdomain patterns. Custom domain sites still load all media through substackcdn.com, making it a reliable detection signal. The platform is free to use with Substack taking 10% of paid subscription revenue.
Paste any URL to instantly detect whether it was built with Substack. Our engine checks 4 technical signals.
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: