QuirkKit, Medium, and Substack: Where the Money Comes From

By quirkkitapp · 2026-10-09

If you're choosing where to publish, the most useful question isn't "which one pays more." It's "where does the money come from, and does it exist yet?"

Medium pays from membership fees. Substack passes on what your own subscribers pay. QuirkKit plans to share ad revenue, but as of 9 October 2026 ads aren't live, so there are no creator payouts on QuirkKit yet. A platform can be worth publishing on before it's worth counting as income, and those are two different decisions.

Here's how each one works, based on each platform's own help pages.

Medium: a share of membership money

Medium's help center says Partner Program writers "earn based on Medium member activity on eligible paywalled stories."

In practice, that means a few things:

- You have to be in the Partner Program. Medium sets eligibility requirements you have to meet to join.
- Only stories you put behind Medium's paywall can earn.
- Earnings come from paying members. Medium counts a member read once someone reads or listens for 30 seconds or more. Reads from non-members don't count toward earnings.
- Medium's Partner Program Terms say it can require a $10 minimum before paying out.

The money pool is real and already flowing, since it comes from membership fees Medium collects today. Your share depends on how members engage with your paywalled stories. The full method is on Medium's earnings calculation page (https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036691193-Medium-Partner-Program-earnings-calculation).

Substack: your subscribers pay you

Substack's support page puts it in two sentences: "Publishing on Substack is free, no matter how many subscribers you have. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges its own payment processing fees."

Readers pay the price you set. There's no shared pool. Each paying subscriber is money coming straight to you, minus Substack's 10% and Stripe's fees. The details are on Substack's pricing page (https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost).

That makes Substack the most direct of the three. It also means income depends entirely on people choosing to pay for your writing.

QuirkKit: planned ad revenue, plus tips

QuirkKit's get-paid page says writer rewards are planned from ad revenue. Ads aren't live yet, so there are no creator payouts yet and the reward pool is $0.

When rewards do start, the page says you'll be able to choose Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, or a bank payout in USD, EUR, INR, or AED. None of that is claimable today. The page is also clear that "there is no fixed rate and no guaranteed amount."

Reader tips are a separate channel, and they work now. You add your own wallet address once, and every post you publish gets a Tip button. Tips go straight from a reader to your wallet, and QuirkKit takes no cut. That's support from readers, not a platform payment, and nothing guarantees anyone will tip. The tips guide (https://quirkkit.com/earn/accept-tips-as-a-writer) has the setup.

So right now, QuirkKit is a free place to publish and a set of free writing tools. It isn't a source of platform income yet.

Two other models, briefly

Medium and Substack aren't the only shapes this takes.

Vocal's help center lists tips and Creator Bonuses for all creators. Read earnings and creator subscriptions are for Vocal+ members only. Wattpad's paid path runs through its Originals program, which the FAQ describes as "by invitation only, curated by our editorial team."

The pattern is the same on most platforms. Some ways to earn are open to everyone, and the bigger ones come with conditions.

Which model fits you

Instead of a scoreboard, here's how to match the model to where you are:

- You already have readers who'd pay you. Substack's model is built for that. Your list is the business.
- You're happy to join a membership program and paywall your work. Medium shares money it's already collecting, based on how members engage.
- You want a page live now and don't need income from it yet. QuirkKit lets you publish for free today, with planned rewards once ads exist and optional tips in the meantime.

If you need money from your writing this month, pick a platform whose payouts are already switched on. That's not QuirkKit yet, and we'd rather say so than have you find out later. What Is Live on QuirkKit Right Now, and What Is Not (https://quirkkit.com/blog/what-is-live-on-quirkkit) has the full status.

What this page doesn't cover

This comparison is about where the money comes from. It doesn't cover cross-posting, meaning whether you can publish the same piece on more than one platform. That depends on each platform's terms, so check them yourself before you reuse a piece.

Start where it makes sense

If you want a page live before ads exist, QuirkKit's editor is free. Run your draft through the Grammar Check (https://quirkkit.com/tools/grammar-check) first, then publish.

Start a post on QuirkKit (https://quirkkit.com/blog/new)