Three Reasons I Moved from Substack to Paragraph.xyz

Following last week’s tutorial on setting up a Paragraph account, 169 readers have linked their wallets, and I’ll be arranging a DHK airdrop for them shortly.

Continuing from the brief introduction to Paragraph last week, this time I’ll dive deeper into the topic, using myself as an example to discuss whether creators should migrate to Paragraph. Of course, different creators have different needs, and what works for me may not work for you. Below, I’ll explain the three reasons why I moved to Paragraph, as a point of reference for everyone.

If I had to choose the most important reason for switching to Paragraph, it would be the platform’s data portability. This aligns not only with my values of openness and freedom but also addresses practical concerns. If at any point Paragraph’s features become unsuitable, or the team undergoes changes—or worse, shuts down—I can walk away without losing the work I've put in. It's like a product with a return policy, giving creators peace of mind.

No matter if you're currently using Substack, WordPress, Mirror, or any other tool that supports RSS, you can easily import your existing articles and images into Paragraph. For those running newsletters, even your existing subscribers can be imported. If you're using Stripe for payments, paid subscribers can be seamlessly transferred into Paragraph as well. Though this takes a bit of effort, it’s far better than asking readers to unsubscribe and then resubscribe.

When it comes to importing data, it’s a straightforward process since it involves business interests. But what about exporting data? Will it be as difficult as terminating i-CABLE, which is notorious for its customer "service"? Absolutely not—it's remarkably simple. I recently tested it again: whether it’s your articles or your subscribers, you can export everything from the Paragraph backend with just one click—it takes a minute, tops. If the new platform you're moving to supports the relevant tools, you can even import paid subscribers from Stripe. If not, manual processing is always an option. The only thing I’m unsure about is whether subscriptions paid in cryptocurrency can be transferred since Paragraph is the only writing platform I know that supports subscriptions using stablecoins, Ethereum, and other cryptos.

This leads us to another distinctive feature of Paragraph: its integration with web3.

As I mentioned in the last update, one of Paragraph's web3 features is the token-gated post, meaning that readers need to hold a specific token to access certain articles. If you followed last week's tutorial and linked your wallet to your account, and if you receive the DHK airdrop from me soon, you'll be able to unlock the mysterious token-gated post and discover what's inside.

Since Paragraph supports wallet login, it naturally follows that users can also subscribe using cryptocurrencies. Paragraph has partnered with loopcrypto.xyz to break through previous technical limitations, allowing users to authorize a one-time transaction for ongoing monthly or yearly payments, as long as their wallet has sufficient funds. For the average creator, whether their supporters use a credit card or cryptocurrency might not matter as long as they're paying, and some might even prefer "real money." However, for DHK dao, which is dedicated to web3 civic education, having readers subscribe via cryptocurrency not only aids in the spread of web3 but also holds significant meaning by elevating the day-to-day operations to another level.

Since last year, subscription income has become the operational funding for DHK dao. Currently, funds are transferred from readers to my bank account via Stripe, where I then convert the funds into stablecoins, bridge them to Optimism, and finally transfer them to the DHK dao community fund managed by a multi-signature wallet. I'm sure this process already sounds complicated just reading about it—and some might even think I'm speaking an alien language! However, with readers shifting to cryptocurrency subscriptions, the financial flow becomes much more streamlined: directly transferring from the user's wallet to the DHK dao multi-signature wallet, while partially paying platform fees. It's not only incredibly efficient but also fully transparent, eliminating any concern about funds going into my pocket (truth be told, the only person eager to avoid handling public funds is myself).

Another web3 feature I highly value is decentralized storage. Paragraph integrates with Arweave, which I introduced over three years ago, and it automatically stores content on the Arweave "permaweb" without extra charges. Additionally, when exporting content, the file includes each article's Arweave ID. So, in case Paragraph shuts down or gets censored by certain regimes, there's still a way to retrieve the valuable work from the underlying system.

For any content platform boasting web3 features, NFTs are a must. Paragraph allows subscription relationships and works to be represented by NFTs. For subscriptions, this means I could send NFTs that activate and expire alongside the subscription period. However, since many DHK dao newsletter subscribers still don’t have wallets, I haven’t activated this feature yet. As for NFTs representing works, it’s very similar to the Writing NFT familiar to LikeCoin users. When publishing an article, authors can simultaneously issue it as a Writing NFT for readers to mint, satisfying their urge to collect and show support for the author (is this hint clear enough yet!?). The downside is that there’s currently a bug with Paragraph's Writing NFT feature on Optimism, so for now, I have to use Coinbase's Base chain, which might inconvenience some users (editorial update: the bug has been just fixed).

Speaking of bugs brings me to the third reason I switched to Paragraph.

Wait, you switched to Paragraph because you like its bugs!? Of course, that's not what I mean.

Paragraph is a small team. When I first started using it back in April, the entire team, including the founders, consisted of only three people. In recent months, it seems they’ve hired a few more staff. To be honest, Paragraph has its fair share of bugs, and over the past few months, I’ve had to contact customer support multiple times. Often, the responses came directly from founder Colin Armstrong himself, and either the issue was resolved quickly, or at the very least, acknowledged and added to the backlog for future fixes.

Participating in early-stage projects, especially those building public goods, helps under-resourced teams bring meaningful change to the world. Even from a purely practical standpoint, getting involved early in promising projects can bring future benefits—though don’t read too much into it, I have no insider information about any potential future airdrops from Paragraph.

The most tangible benefit is the pricing. Paragraph doesn’t charge a base fee, only taking a 5% cut from the author’s subscription revenue, which is half of Substack’s 10%, and in line with Patreon’s Lite plan, though most creators usually opt for the Pro plan with an 8% cut. Additionally, since there aren’t too many creators on the platform yet, it's easier to secure simple and memorable usernames. For example, the veteran film critic Kaming recently secured @movie, and my co-host Michael from GM FM, after reading last week's newsletter, registered and got @word.

In short, getting involved early in a project is like moving into a newly developing neighborhood. The transportation might be inconvenient, and there might be issues, but you gain the "early mover advantage," get to know the community, and may even become a core member of the area. If the area eventually flourishes, the sense of satisfaction is particularly rewarding.

One more thing: although I’ve described Paragraph as a small team of three just six months ago, "small" is relative to more mature startups like Substack and Medium. In fact, in May of this year, Paragraph secured a "small" investment of $5 million from Union Square Ventures and Coinbase Ventures, and it also acquired another web3 content platform, Mirror.

Every creator has different priorities. What works for DHK dao and me may not necessarily suit you. All I can do is clearly explain the reasoning behind my choice, allowing you to make an informed decision—just like Paragraph's slogan: Create on your own terms. Ultimately, it doesn't matter which platform you choose, as long as you own your content. This means avoiding closed gardens that lock down your work and your audience.

If you've also started a newsletter on Paragraph, feel free to leave a comment on this post to let other readers know. As long as you're seriously publishing, I'll add your newsletter to my recommendations. This way, readers who subscribe to my newsletter may end up subscribing to yours too.

p.s. Last week, I visited my elementary school teacher with an old classmate who had returned to Hong Kong. The teacher’s first words were, “Kin, the last time you visited me was on February 21, 2018. It’s been more than six years.” My old classmates will know exactly who I’m talking about—this teacher, with countless students, is famous for remembering every date. Even though she've had eight full-body anesthesia surgeries in recent years, she can still recount what happened on specific dates over lunch. What makes me feel slightly less ashamed is that, while she remembers asking me for help to buy her family's first computer in 1993, she can't recall the exact date. Meanwhile, I, relatively younger, not only missed my lunar birthday but have also forgotten most of the anniversaries, with only a few public events remaining in my mind. I don’t blame myself; after all, I have to try hard to remember these dates in my ongoing struggle against forgetting.