Medium x WordPress Dispute: What Is The Best For You?

Check this WordPress vs. Medium comparison & dispute, pros and cons, main differences, and learn how to choose the best blogging platform

By Claudio Pires
Updated on October 21, 2023
Medium x WordPress Dispute: What Is The Best For You?

Are you trying to choose the best between Medium or WordPress dispute for your blog posting or website? In this article, we’ll share the differences and benefits. This is a bit of a flawed argument because the two are pretty fundamentally different tools. One is not inherently better than the other. They’re just different. And you can even successfully use both at the same time! Check this WordPress vs. Medium comparison & dispute, pros and cons, main differences, and learn how to choose the best blogging platform.

Introduction to the Contenders

  • WordPress: Launched in 2003, WordPress is an open-source content management system. It powers over a third of the web, thanks to its flexibility, customization options, and vast plugin ecosystem.
  • Medium: Founded in 2012 by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Medium is a platform that emphasizes simplicity, community, and high-quality content. It’s designed to connect readers with stories that matter.

Medium vs WordPress Dispute

Medium Practices

If you want to create a simple blog on Medium and promote it to your followers, you don’t need to worry about Medium’s curation approach. But if you want to tap into Medium’s existing audience, it’s essential to understand how curation works. There are two ways that people can browse your content on Medium.

First, people who follow you on Medium will always see your articles no matter what. This is equivalent to a WordPress blog in that only people who directly subscribe to your blog will see your content. Here’s an example of someone’s “blog” on Medium:

It’s just a list of Luke’s most recent posts. People can then subscribe to the Follow button to be notified when Luke posts something new. However, suppose you want to get featured to Medium’s built-in audience. In that case, Medium needs to “curate” your content, which is the second way people can find your content on Medium and what makes Medium a publisher.

When you get it, your content is introduced to any Medium user interested in your topic, even if they don’t follow you. Think of it like getting published in the New York Times Business section. For example, if your article gets curated to the “Food” topic, anyone who’s browsing the food topic will see your content. You can see an example of the food topic below:

Audience Perspective – WordPress x Medium Dispute

From an audience perspective, the big value of using Medium vs WordPress is getting curated and gaining access to Medium’s built-in audience. However, the shift to the curation approach means that you only get this benefit if Medium’s curators see your content as worthy of being featured.

If you’re not getting curated, you get very little benefit from Medium’s built-in audience. People who don’t already follow you can still find your posts if they search for it or are browsing a tag you’ve used, but you’re missing most of the benefit when you don’t get curated.

I couldn’t find public data on the average curation rate, but people seem to say that ~65% is an excellent rate for an average writer on Medium. Check this WordPress vs. Medium comparison, pros and cons, main differences, and learn how to choose the best blogging platform.

How To Gain Money On Medium?

Another unique thing about Medium in comparison to WordPress is the Creators Program. With the Partner Program, you can gain money for your work when Medium curates your content.

Firstly You’re almost certainly not going to get rich or turn it into a full-time gig. Only 8.5% of active writers earned over $100 monthly in 2019. As a result, the highest amount for a single story is $8,000. So you can make significant money if your article gets a lot of traction. This post has great earnings stats, including the two I mentioned.

WordPress x Medium: WordPress Has More Options To Make Money

If you’re serious about making money from your work. You’re often better off going with WordPress because you can monetize your content differently. Like selling ads or sponsored content.

Medium lets you include first-party promotion (e.g., promoting your work) and affiliate links (with disclosure), but you cannot engage in third-party promotion (promoting someone else). Additionally, we can add affiliate links, Medium is unlikely to curate an article that contains them.

However, the Partner Program is still attractive because you get payments for writing. You don’t have to worry about growing your audience, working with clients, etc. You just publish content and, if people like it, you can make a little money.

To generate the money to pay its authors. So, Medium uses a metered paywall to encourage Medium readers to upgrade to a paid plan (which costs $5 per month or $50 per year). This is how most newspapers do things.

Finally, if you’re the author of a story, you can generate a special “Friends” link. So, lets people bypass the paywall. So while there are differences in the writing experience and technical flexibility. The publishing aspect of Medium is one of the biggest philosophical differences between it and WordPress.

  • WordPress: With WordPress, the monetization options are vast. From affiliate marketing, ads, sponsored posts, to selling digital products, the sky’s the limit. Plus, you have full control over your earnings.
  • Medium: Medium’s Partner Program allows writers to earn based on how many claps (akin to likes) they receive. However, the potential for earning can be less predictable than WordPress.

Costs

  • WordPress: While WordPress software is free, associated costs like hosting, domain, and premium plugins can add up.
  • Medium: It’s free to write on Medium, but there’s a membership fee for readers wanting access to unlimited stories.

Keep reason to understand WordPress vs. Medium comparison, pros and cons, main differences, and learn how to choose the best blogging platform

WordPress x Medium: Design Possibilities

Medium allows you to choose a layout for your publication. You add your own logo, background color, or image to the header. For layout, you can choose a grid or stream layout. This drag and drop editor is very easy to use and offers multiple customization options.

However, the appearance of your publication is still limited to the choices available in Medium. You cannot choose your design and layout for your website. On the other hand, there are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes available.

Professionals with innovative designs and unlimited customization options design these themes. WordPress gives you the flexibility to build a site that looks uniquely yours. If you can spend a little more, then you can hire designers and developers to create any kind of website imaginable.

Security

Medium is a fully self-platform, which means you don’t need to worry about the software. Your content is in highly secure Medium servers. Your private information is kept secure using industry-standard security measures.

WordPress is a self-platform. This means that you are responsible for the safety and security of your website. WordPress is well-known for its quick response to security issues with immediate updates automatically present to millions of WordPress sites. As a result, in this Medium X WordPress for posting dispute, medium gain on Medium and WordPress + How to Choose a best blogging platform.

Conclusion

Your choice between WordPress and Medium hinges on your blogging goals. WordPress is your best bet if you crave flexibility, customization, and a platform you can fully control. On the other hand, if you’re after a straightforward writing experience with an in-built audience, Medium might be the perfect fit.

Remember, the success of your blog doesn’t solely depend on the platform but on the quality, consistency, and authenticity of your content. Choose wisely, and happy blogging!

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.