Substack has comments. But only paid subscribers can leave them.
If your newsletter is free — or even if it's paid but most readers are on the free tier — the comment section stays quiet. The readers who actually engaged with your writing can't say anything. They'd need to pay to comment, and that's not why they came.
The gap Substack doesn't fill
Every platform-native comment system assumes readers already have a stake in the ecosystem.
Substack: paid subscription required. Beehiiv: account required. Ghost: member sign-in. What none of them offer: a reader who found your archive through a search result, a forwarded link, or a recommendation — that reader leaves no trace.
A different approach
Add a Joey link to your newsletter or your web archive page.
Readers click through to a comment box. No account, no subscription, no login. They leave a line. That's it.
The reactions collect in a dashboard you own. You can read them, reply, and export to CSV. They're not locked inside Substack — they stay with you if you ever move.
How it compares to Cusdis
Cusdis is the closest open-source alternative. It's free if you run your own server. Joey is the hosted version: nothing to install, no Docker setup, i18n included.
Where to put the link
At the end of your newsletter email:
Or on your Substack archive page, in a pinned post, or your about page. Anywhere a reader might land.
The readers you're not hearing from aren't disengaged. They just don't have a low-friction way to respond. Joey adds that.
