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Publishing Tools

Tools for publishing, newsletters, portfolios, and audience.

17 tools evaluated. Ratings backed by published methodology.

Arc XP

Enterprise CMS built by The Washington Post. Powers hundreds of newsrooms worldwide. Cloud-native, API-first, very expensive.

Adequate
Publishing Built for journalism 2026-04-11 Custom enterprise pricing only — not publicly listed

Authory

Auto-imports and permanently archives all your published work. Self-updating portfolio with full-text backups — not screenshots.

Adequate
Publishing Built for journalism 2026-04-03 Free plan: up to 10 portfolio items, no auto-import

beehiiv

Newsletter platform built by the Morning Brew team. Referral programs, ad network, A/B testing, and analytics — no revenue cut on subscriptions.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-02 Free (Launch: up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, custom domains, API access)

Bluesky

Decentralized social network built on the AT Protocol. Open-source, no link demotion, domain-as-handle verification. 43M+ users. No ads.

Adequate
Publishing Open source 2026-04-03 Free

Buttondown

Privacy-first newsletter platform. Markdown editor. 0% platform fee on paid subscriptions. API-first. Built and operated by a single founder.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-03 Free: up to 100 subscribers, rich text or Markdown editor, custom domain sending, hosted archives

Coral

Open-source commenting platform built for newsrooms, now maintained by Vox Media.

Adequate
Publishing Built for journalism Open source 2026-04-02 Free self-hosted (Apache 2

Ghost

Open-source publishing platform. Nonprofit-operated. No revenue cut. Self-host or use managed hosting.

Strong
Publishing Open source 2026-04-02 Self-hosted: free (you pay for server and email delivery)

Journo Portfolio

Purpose-built portfolio builder for journalists. Import clips by URL, auto-screenshot backups, custom domain — starting at $0.

Adequate
Publishing Built for journalism 2026-04-03 Free: 10 portfolio items, 1 page, journoportfolio

Muck Rack

PR database that profiles 600K+ journalists and sells access to communications teams. Free portfolio tools for journalists — but you are the product.

Adequate
Publishing Built for journalism 2026-04-03 Free for journalists: portfolio profile, media alerts (600K+ outlets), verified journalist badge with access to the media database

Sky Follower Bridge

Browser extension that finds your Twitter/X contacts on Bluesky — migrate your professional network without starting over.

Adequate
Publishing Open source 2026-04-11 Free

Spotify for Creators

Free unlimited podcast hosting from Spotify. Audio and video podcasts, built-in monetization, and distribution to all major platforms.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-11 Free

Squarespace

Design-forward website builder. Zero code required. The default portfolio platform for freelance journalists.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-03 Four plans, billed annually: Basic $16/month, Core $23/month, Plus $39/month, Advanced $99/month

Substack

Newsletter publishing platform. Free to publish, 10% commission on paid subscribers. Built-in social network and recommendation algorithm.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-02 Free to publish

Superdesk

Open-source newsroom CMS built by Sourcefabric. Used by national news agencies. Headless architecture for multi-platform publishing.

Strong
Publishing Built for journalism Open source 2026-04-11 Self-hosted: free (AGPLv3 license)

Threads

Meta's text-based social platform. 400M+ monthly active users. Instagram integration. No link demotion. ActivityPub federation in progress.

Caution
Publishing 2026-04-03 Free

Transistor.fm

Professional podcast hosting with unlimited shows per account. Multi-show support, analytics, private podcasting, and distribution to all directories.

Adequate
Publishing 2026-04-11 Starter: $19/month (20K monthly downloads, 50 private subscribers)

WordPress

Powers 43% of the web. Self-hosted gives full control. Open source since 2003.

Adequate
Publishing Open source 2026-04-02 WordPress

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