And substack is free because they use YOU as their growth engine. Your newsletter is plastered with their branding and links to their app, not yours. If someone subscribes to pay for your publication via their app, they own the subscription, not you.

Ultimately, even if you own the email list, you’re sharecropping on their land.

They will email your list with their own promotional offers and marketing whenever they feel like it.

If we’ve proved anything in tech, it’s that consumers will fall for the trap of “free” every single time.