Own your audience.
Own your revenue.
Substack takes a share of paid subscriptions. Medium's Partner Program pays you a share that Medium sets. VeloCMS charges a 0% platform fee. A post-level paywall, newsletter segments by tag, and importers for Substack and Ghost, on your own domain.
Newsletter Hub
Subscriber-first layout with serif headlines, for Substack refugees
Live Preview →Everything a creator needs to own the relationship
Revenue, subscribers, and content — all yours. No algorithm, no platform tax.
0% platform fee on subscriptions
Substack takes a share of every subscriber payment. VeloCMS charges a 0% platform fee. Your Stripe account receives the money directly, and Stripe's own processing fee applies on both. That is a platform fee you would otherwise hand to Substack, and it grows with every subscriber you add.
A writing environment you will actually enjoy
The TipTap editor is a distraction-light canvas with a slash-command menu for inserting blocks (images, galleries, embeds, tables, code, footnotes) without breaking your writing flow. You write; the editor stays out of the way.
Campaign emails to segmented audiences
Send campaigns to all subscribers, free-only, paid-only, or any tag-filtered segment. Email goes out through the platform's Resend account; on the Business plan you can verify your own sender domain. Open and click data come back via webhook and are stored in your own database, not a third-party analytics dashboard.
Real campaign analytics
Every email campaign shows its open rate, click rate and unsubscribe count in Admin → Newsletter → Analytics. The dashboard adds your top posts by views, subscriber growth and a revenue widget, so the basics sit in one place.
Migrate from Substack or Ghost
Export your Substack archive as a ZIP and import it at Admin → Import → Substack. Posts keep their slugs and publication dates and arrive tagged "imported" and "substack", and the subscribers in the export arrive as members marked free or paid. Substack billing does not transfer, so paying readers subscribe again through your Stripe checkout. Ghost has its own card on the same Import screen.
Your content, your platform
Run a full export from Admin → Settings → Data Export: a ZIP with one Markdown file per post (YAML front-matter), your members as a CSV, and your other data as JSON Lines. The export is portable on day one. This is the contract that separates owning a website from renting a Substack.
VeloCMS vs Substack vs Ghost
| Feature | VeloCMS | Substack | Ghost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee on subscriptions | 0% | A share of revenue | 0% (self-hosted) |
| Custom domain | Included in every plan | Paid plan | Included |
| Tag-based segmentation | Yes | No | Yes |
| Open/click rate tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Paywall per post | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data export (subscribers + posts) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI writing assistant | Yes | No | No |
| Page builder | Yes | No | No |
Frequently asked questions
What CMS is best for online creators in 2026?
VeloCMS gives creators a 0% platform fee on subscriptions, a post-level paywall, newsletter segments by tag, and importers for Substack and Ghost. You own the subscriber list, the domain, and every dollar your audience sends you, with no algorithm deciding who sees your posts.
Can I sell digital products from my site?
Yes. Digital products work like this today: add the product and its price in Admin -> Products, then paste the link to a file you host yourself on the variant. VeloCMS emails that link to the buyer after payment. Uploading the file inside VeloCMS isn't available yet. Stripe handles checkout with your own account keys. VeloCMS takes a 0% platform fee on sales; you pay only Stripe's payment processing fee.
Does it integrate with my newsletter?
The newsletter system is built in, so no third-party integration is required. Send campaigns to all subscribers, free-only, paid-only, or tag-filtered segments. Resend powers delivery, with open-rate and click-rate tracking via webhook. Your subscriber list lives in your own database, not a rented platform.
How do I monetize without relying on sponsors?
Three ways: paid membership subscriptions (monthly or annual, via your Stripe), paywalled posts (the excerpt and a paywall card are public, the full post is for members), and product sales through Stripe checkout. All three can run at the same time. Substack takes a share of the equivalent; VeloCMS charges a 0% platform fee.
Can I run a paid community alongside my blog?
Yes, with membership tiers. Gate posts one by one by setting each to members-only or paid; there is no category-level gate. Members get a /member/account portal, and you can send a post to your subscribers by switching on "Send to subscribers" in the post settings. You can also share a Discord or Slack invite link inside a members-only post.
Does it have built-in analytics?
Yes. The dashboard shows your top posts by views, subscriber growth and a revenue widget, and each campaign reports its open and click rates. For deeper traffic analytics, install the Google Analytics 4 plugin in Admin → Plugins and add your measurement ID.
Can I customize the design without touching code?
Yes. VeloCMS ships dozens of themes, and five suit creators especially well: Newsletter Hub, Serif, Engineering, Terminal and Atelier. Switch themes with one click and set fonts and colors in Admin → Appearance → Design. The Page Builder adds drag-and-drop blocks for landing pages. No CSS knowledge is required for standard customization.
What about social media embeds?
The embed block renders YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud, CodePen, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Calendly links; paste the URL and the block does the rest. TikTok and X posts are not supported, so link to them instead. Custom HTML embeds work on Pages only, not inside posts.
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Your next thousand subscribers are reading someone else.
Move them to a platform you own. 14-day trial, full export on day one, zero platform fee on revenue.