Is Cardel an alternative to Medium or WordPress?

Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Medium or WordPress when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Medium and WordPress are marked.

Can I use Cardel with Medium or WordPress?

Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Medium or WordPress for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

How much does Cardel cost compared with Medium and WordPress?

You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Medium and WordPress set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

How do I switch from Medium or WordPress to Cardel?

Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.

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MediumvsWordPress

Medium gives writers a built-in readership and Partner Program earnings without a site. WordPress.com hosts the world's most used publishing software with themes, plugins, and commerce plans.

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How Medium and WordPress compare

Medium is where a good essay can find readers on its own. The editor is calm, publications curate, the algorithm and topics surface work to members, and the Partner Program pays writers from member reading time. You bring words; Medium brings the audience and the distribution.

WordPress powers a huge share of the web for good reason. This page compares WordPress.com hosted plans. You get the block editor, thousands of themes, comments and likes, Jetpack newsletters, and on higher plans the full plugin ecosystem and WooCommerce. Nothing else offers this much freedom to extend, and your content is exportable and yours.

Where they are different

Medium

Medium owns the reader relationship.
Medium is one publication format.
Medium claps and responses stay on Medium.

WordPress

WordPress extends by plugin: a form plugin, a booking plugin, an email plugin, each with its own settings.
WordPress email is Jetpack newsletters or a plugin.
WordPress accessibility and SEO depend on your theme and plugins.

Choose Medium when you want readers and modest earnings without owning a site or a list.

Choose WordPress when you want maximum control, plugins for anything, and the option to self-host.

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What's on Medium and WordPress

A check means that capability is available. Medium and WordPress are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

Workspace site
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included
Custom domain
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included
Theme and fonts
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included

Public content

Blog
Medium: Included
WordPress: Included
Reader engagement
Medium: Included
WordPress: Included

Reach and quality

SEO
Medium: Included
WordPress: Included

Audience and email

Audience
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included
Marketing emails
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included

Commerce

Shop payments
Medium: Not included
WordPress: Included

Team

Admin users
Medium: Included
WordPress: Included
Per-admin permissions
Medium: Included
WordPress: Included

Feature comparison for Medium and WordPress
Feature	Medium	WordPress
Site and brand
Workspace site	Not included	Included
Custom domain	Not included	Included
Theme and fonts	Not included	Included
Public content
Blog	Included	Included
Reader engagement	Included	Included
Reach and quality
SEO	Included	Included
Audience and email
Audience	Not included	Included
Marketing emails	Not included	Included
Commerce
Shop payments	Not included	Included
Team
Admin users	Included	Included
Per-admin permissions	Included	Included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Medium or WordPress, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Medium or WordPress may add or remove features that are not shown here.