Substack made paid newsletters effortless: it is free to start, handles email and payments, and its network helps readers discover you. For a writer who just wants to publish and grow an audience, that is real value for no setup. The trade-offs are control and economics - Substack takes 10% of your paid subscriptions, the layout and branding are fixed, and your 'site' is really their platform. lazysite lets you run the same thing - posts, feeds, members, paid content - as a site you own, keeping the full subscription revenue.

Feature	lazysite	Substack
Architecture
Content format	Plain Markdown files you own	Posts in the Substack editor
Build step	None - renders on request, caches the result	None - fully hosted
Database	None - files only	Managed for you (hidden)
Footprint	Tiny - one CGI script plus Perl modules from your distro	Fully hosted by Substack
Capabilities
Dynamic content	Server-side templating, remote data, query parameters	Posts, email, subscriptions
Built-in forms, auth & payments	All built in (forms, sign-in, x402 pay-per-read)	Subscriptions and payments (Substack takes a cut)
AI-first management	Built for it - agents edit over WebDAV, an API or MCP	No
Memberships & paid content	Pay-per-read (x402) and per-user access	Yes - core feature (10% platform fee)
Design & experience
Themes & customisation	Layout plus theme tokens - one file to re-skin	Minimal - fixed layout, limited branding
Editing experience	Markdown files, a simple manager, or an AI agent	Simple post editor, no code
Hosting & operations
Hosting	Any CGI host, or its own built-in server	Included; you cannot self-host
Performance	Cached static HTML after the first hit	Managed
Backup	Copy the files - nothing else to dump	Posts and subscriber list exportable
Migration & portability	Move the folder anywhere - plain files	Audience exports; the site itself does not
Maintenance & security surface	Small - static files, no database, a compact codebase	Fully managed by Substack
Cost	Free, with minimal hosting	Free to publish; 10% of paid subscriptions

Coming from Substack

Substack lets you export your posts and, crucially, your subscriber list, so your audience comes with you - the hard part is solved. You rebuild the publishing home as a site you own, wire up your own payments, and keep all of the revenue instead of 90% of it.

When Substack still wins

If you want the fastest possible start, zero infrastructure, and Substack's built-in discovery network to help readers find you - and you are happy to trade 10% and control for that reach - Substack delivers.

When lazysite wins

If you want to own your publishing outright - your site, your design, your reader relationship and the full subscription revenue - while keeping feeds, sign-in and paid content built in, lazysite gives you that with no platform in the middle.

Ready to try it? Install lazysite in minutes.