>Is it simply because no such product exists? I feel like you answered your own question here. Self hosting your own blog + monetization is a high bar and even

>Is it simply because no such product exists? I feel like you answered your own question here. Self hosting your own blog + monetization is a high bar and even when you have those things, people generally don't like entering their credit card details into random sites. Patreon predates substack and didn't even provide publishing tools while taking 8%. There are plenty of 00s pornstars who had their own sites that make more on OnlyFans. I think monetization is the primary draw, then publishing next. But I don't believe the product is just "monetization tools". You are right that isn't defensible; it's the substack brand. Consumers are comfortable paying for substack content and that kind of branding isn't easily built.