S

Substack Tech Stack

Creator monetization platform connecting writers, podcasters, and independent publishers to paying subscribers

Online Audio and Video Media San Francisco, California 51–200 employees Founded 2017 Privately Held

Substack operates a creator subscription platform built on Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, and Redis—a fairly conventional full-stack web foundation scaled across iOS and Android. The hiring mix is engineering-heavy (20 engineers) with outsized investment in partnerships (9) and marketing (9) relative to sales (4), signaling a creator-acquisition and ecosystem-expansion strategy over direct sales. Active projects cluster heavily around creator onboarding, activation, and retention—the company is explicitly tackling friction in how new creators discover and launch on the platform, and how those creators convert casual readers into paying subscribers.

Tech Stack 21 technologies

Core StackNode.js Express PostgreSQL Redis AWS Swift Kotlin TypeScript React DynamoDB Snowflake SwiftUI HubSpot Zendesk Stripe iOS Android Periscope SQL UIKit

What Substack Is Building

◆Challenges

Onboarding creators
Building brand awareness in brazil
Improving creator acquisition and retention
Expanding presence in cultural ecosystem
Enhancing publishing tools
Improving critical user journeys
Scaling with growing traffic
Building resilient, scalable backend systems
Bringing new subscribers into substack network
Improving user activation and conversion

▲Active Projects

Evolving french creator experience
Onboarding influential creators strategy
Creator experience improvement
Critical user journeys
Creator onboarding strategy
A/b testing for activation metrics
User activation features
Cultural ecosystem partnership expansion
Multi-channel marketing programs for key creator segments
Market-specific creator marketing programs

Hiring Activity

Steady50 roles · 20 in 30d

Department

Engineering

20

Marketing

9

Partnerships

9

Sales

4

Executive

2

Ops

2

Product

2

Communications

1

Seniority

Senior

22

Lead

14

Manager

9

Mid

6

Notable leadership hires: Head of Partnerships, Events Lead

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About Substack

Substack is a creator monetization platform founded in 2017 that enables writers, podcasters, and other independent creators to build paid subscription businesses. The company hosts over 5 million paid subscriptions across its network and operates in 10+ countries. The product surfaces creators and their work to readers, handles subscription billing (via Stripe), and provides publishing tools; the platform takes a revenue share when creators succeed. Substack's operational focus spans product engineering, creator success (onboarding and support), partnerships with influential creators and cultural institutions, and go-to-market programs tailored to regional markets (explicit work underway in Brazil, France, Italy, and others).

HeadquartersSan Francisco, California

Company Size51–200 employees

Founded2017

Hiring MarketsSweden, Brazil, Italy, United States, France, Netherlands, Japan, Canada

Frequently Asked Questions

What tech stack does Substack use?

Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, Redis, AWS on the backend; React and TypeScript on web; Swift/SwiftUI and Kotlin on iOS/Android; Stripe for payments; Snowflake for analytics.

How many employees does Substack have?

Between 51 and 200 employees. The company has 51 active open roles with steady hiring velocity.