Substack
Best for: paid newsletters.
Newsletter-first: every post goes to your subscribers’ inboxes. Free to start; when you charge for subscriptions, Substack takes a share of the revenue.
Word to Share vs Medium
A free Medium alternative for writers and readers.
Searching for sites like Medium without the paywall? Word to Share is a free blogging platform where you publish your writing online for free, keep ownership of every word, and readers get the whole story — not a preview.
- No paywallevery story, free in full
- Freeto publish, no membership tier
- Yoursexport as Markdown or HTML
- Openindexed by Google, RSS for all
Side by side
What changes when you switch.
An honest comparison. Where Medium is ahead, we say so.
| Feature | Medium | Word to Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Partly: Metered paywall. Member-only stories need a paid membership after a few free reads. | Yes: Every story is free to read in full. No reading limit, no member-only wall. |
| Publishing | Yes: Free to publish. | Yes: Free to publish. Stories go live after automatic checks; moderation only on reports. |
| Earning | Partly: Partner Program pays from member reading time. Eligibility rules and supported countries apply. | No: No paid program yet. Readers follow, clap, save and subscribe to your newsletter instead. |
| Your words, your files | Partly: Bulk “download your information” archive from account settings. | Yes: Export any single story as Markdown or HTML from your dashboard, any time. |
| Bringing stories with you | Yes: Import tool for stories published elsewhere. | Yes: Import from a link, .md, .txt or .docx. The original URL is kept as the canonical link. |
| Why a story is in your feed | Partly: Algorithmic feed. Occasional “based on your reading” labels. | Yes: Every story in your feed says why it is there — a writer you follow, a topic you chose. |
| Discussion | Partly: Responses under the story. Highlights are mostly private. | Yes: Reply to a specific line. Popular passages are shown to other readers. |
| Getting seen as a new writer | Partly: Depends on distribution and followers. | Yes: “New voices” on the home page features writers who just joined — no followers needed. |
| Writer analytics | Yes: Views, reads, read ratio, earnings. | Yes: Views, read percentage, countries, who saved your story, 30-day chart. |
| RSS | Yes: Feeds for writers, publications and tags. | Yes: Feeds for the site, every writer and every tag. |
| Reading comfort | Partly: Type and size settings mainly in the mobile apps. | Yes: Serif or sans, five text sizes, listen to any story, print-friendly pages — on the web. |
| Story blocks | Partly: Quotes, code blocks, images and embeds. | Yes: All of those, plus polls, FAQs, pros and cons, ratings, tip and warning boxes, galleries, spoilers and shareable quotes. |
| Editor | Yes: Clean editor, embeds, scheduling, canonical links. | Yes: Clean editor, 40+ embeds, scheduling, canonical links, private notes to self, revision history. |
Medium details summarise its public help pages and plans as of October 2026 and may change — check medium.com for the latest. Medium is a trademark of A Medium Corporation; Word to Share is not affiliated with it.
Other Medium alternatives
Other sites like Medium, and who each one suits.
Word to Share is not the right fit for everyone. If you want something else, here is where to look.
Ghost
Best for: your own branded site with paid members.
Open-source publishing with memberships built in. Free if you host it yourself; managed hosting (Ghost(Pro)) is a paid plan.
WordPress.com
Best for: a full website, not just a blog.
A website builder with pages, themes and plugins. The free plan uses a wordpress.com address; custom domains and plugins need a paid plan.
Blogger
Best for: a simple personal blog from Google.
Free, on a blogspot.com address or your own domain. Easy to start, but themes feel dated and there is no built-in audience.
Hashnode
Best for: developers and technical writing.
Free blogging for developers, with code-friendly posts and a custom domain on a free plan.
Word to Share
Best for: readers without running a site.
Free to write and free to read, with no paywall. Feeds, “New voices” and topics bring readers to new writers, and there is nothing to set up.
Summaries of each service’s public pages as of October 2026; plans and prices change, so check each site before you decide. All names are trademarks of their owners; Word to Share is not affiliated with them.
Who it’s for
Built for three kinds of people.
Writers leaving Medium
Import your stories from a link, keep the canonical URL so Google does not see a duplicate, and keep publishing without a paywall between you and your readers.
Import a storyReaders tired of paywalls
Long-form articles, personal essays and stories you can read in full, with feeds that explain themselves and a reading list that is yours.
Read the latestBeginners starting a blog
A free blogging platform for writers with no setup: no hosting, no theme, no plugins. Write, pick a topic, publish, and get your first readers from the home page.
Create a free accountSwitching
Move in an afternoon.
Three steps, no technical setup.
- 01
Create a free account
Sign up with email, Google, LinkedIn or X, and set your username.
- 02
Import your stories
In the editor choose “Import a story”, paste each Medium link, and review. The original URL becomes the canonical link.
- 03
Tell your readers
Share your new profile and RSS feed. New writers are featured in “New voices” on the home page.
- No paywalls or subscription tiers for anyone.
- Polls, FAQs, pros and cons and ratings built into the editor.
- Export every story as Markdown or HTML — no lock-in.
- Clean URLs, structured data and sitemaps on every story.
- RSS feeds for the site, every writer and every tag.
Is Word to Share really free?
Yes. Reading and publishing are free, with no membership tier and no paywall. There is no card to add and nothing to upgrade.
Can I move my Medium stories to Word to Share?
Yes. In the editor choose “Import a story” and paste the Medium link. The text and images are imported and the original URL is stored as the canonical link, so search engines do not treat the copy as duplicate content.
Do I keep the rights to what I publish?
Yes. You own your writing. You can edit, unpublish or delete a story at any time, and export it as Markdown or HTML from your dashboard.
Can readers in the US, UK and Europe read my stories?
Yes. Word to Share is an English-language platform open worldwide. Every story is indexed by search engines and shareable to X, LinkedIn, Reddit, WhatsApp and email.
What are the best free alternatives to Medium?
It depends on what you want. For readers without running a site: Word to Share. For paid newsletters: Substack. For your own branded site with members: Ghost. For a full website: WordPress.com. For a simple personal blog: Blogger. For technical writing: Hashnode. All of them can be started for free.
Is there a site like Medium without a paywall?
Yes. On Word to Share every story is free to read in full. There is no member-only content and no limit on how many stories a reader can open.
Is Word to Share a good minimal blogging platform?
Yes. The editor is a clean page: no hosting, themes or plugins to manage. When you need more, type / for blocks such as FAQs, polls, pros and cons, ratings, galleries and tip boxes.
What does Medium still do better?
Medium has a much larger existing audience, pays eligible writers through its Partner Program, and offers native iOS and Android apps. Word to Share is newer and smaller, and is upfront about that.
Publish your writing online for free.
Free forever. No card. Your first story can be live in minutes.