A young man looking down at a computer screen in a dimly lit room @ Freepik

Writing on Medium isn’t always a guaranteed payday, but reading only about the bad experiences doesn’t tell the whole story either. 

I read about an interesting question and discussion posted on the Reddit forum yesterday. A new writer on the Medium publication says he has been reading plenty of posts from writers on the platform who claim their “reads, views, and earnings” have sharply dropped, with some even saying they now make “not even 20 percent of what they used to.” 

Thinking twice before committing his time and effort to writing on the same platform, his question to the r/Medium subreddit community was: “How true is this? I want to know the real experiences,” and is Medium still worth it for someone like him who's just starting out? 

The replies from other Medium writers using pseudonyms on the forum did come in, but they don't seem to agree with each other, though. One new writer offered a calm counterpoint to the doom-and-gloom narrative. “Please take this with a pinch of salt,” he wrote, adding that he had only been on Medium for about a month, but then, his early experience has been quite positive. 

So far, so good... 

The same new writer who responded said he had written four stories so far, “one of which wasn't paywalled but still got a lot of reads, even though it wasn't published in any Medium publications.” Another piece even received a boost. 

And despite starting with just 30 followers and still having “only a small number of followers,” his stories were getting read. So for him, for the moment, the platform is working in his favor.

By the way, just in case you're wondering what a Medium “boost” is, it's when “a story gets picked up by a Medium editor, and it's promoted more than regular stories. In general, a boosted story will easily reach at least 10X (times) more people, and earnings obviously follow. There are a few requirements for stories to be eligible for boosting — see Medium's help section for more info,” a Medium writer advised.

Others stressed the painstaking workload involved. One writer said Medium can be worth it, “but you've got to know it's a hard graft.” He compared it to freelance journalism, stressing that writers need to produce consistently and maintain quality. 

“You have to write a lot, and your writing has to be good...” 

As he said, “You have to write a lot, and your writing has to be good. You can write on any niche, and Medium already has an audience for it,” warning against unrealistic expectations. 

“People get into Medium and think they can earn hundreds of dollars per month quickly. It cannot be done.” Long-term effort, publication placement within Medium, and genuine engagement mattered more than follower counts. 

“Don't get hung up on followers; they will come as you write more. Do engage with people who comment, but don't fall into the trap of follow-for-follow. Only follow people and comment on the articles of people whom you're genuinely interested in following. It's not a system to be gamed. 

You need to think of it as a professional writer does freelance writing, with the only difference being that you are your own editor,” he explained. And his final verdict about the whole process was: “It's a marathon, not a sprint.”

But then, even that road was not promising for some. Another newcomer shared with a short, frustrated update: “I've just started. No money. Hard to get boosted.” 

According to him, visibility also depends heavily on having an existing audience. “You need your own following to pump your writing so it gets boosted,” he said, highlighting how difficult discovery can be for writers starting from zero.

“Simply not worth the effort... not anymore...”

Then came the harsher assessments from writers who had already contributed for years on the platform. 

One writer didn’t hold back his conclusion of whether it's still worth writing in Medium: “Not anymore,” was his reply. After writing on Medium for three years, he claimed that “many traffic streams have been hobbled.” 

The comparison of different writing platforms was also brutal: “I now regularly get more visitors to a single Substack Note than to 800 Medium articles.” 

For him, Medium was “simply not worth the effort.” He also highlighted Substack’s built-in audience and email delivery as major advantages, explaining that he uses notes as “mini articles” to stay visible.

Another experienced writer echoed the same sentiment, despite having a significant reach. “Same here,” he wrote in agreement. “I have more reads and make more money on Substack than Medium... and I’m a boost nominator with thousands of followers.” 

He felt, even with insider access, Medium’s boost program had faded: “the boost program has become nearly non-existent.” 

His strategy now revolves around writing short essays on LinkedIn and then funneling readers back to his Substack. The growth, he shared, was still slow but real. He's now also “close to shutting down” his Medium publication in the new year.

“Depends on your expectations... what is your goal in writing on Medium?”

For now, new writers asking whether Medium is still worth it, the community’s answer seems to be: it depends on expectations. 

As a place to practice, publish, and reach some readers, Medium still works. As a reliable income stream, especially without an existing audience, it is far less convincing than it once was, as one writer wrote in his reply:

“... the question you should ask yourself is what is your goal in writing on Medium? Is it worth it? Depends on your expectations. 

Are there people who earn ‘a living’? Sure, just like there are people earning a living singing or creating art. And just like in those professions, the same truth applies to Medium: for every person who earns ‘a living’ there are at least a thousand who earn pennies. Sure, you can get lucky, but don't count on it.

If you only write to make money, it will be a disappointing experience. If you don't enjoy writing, I urge you to find another hobby or side hustle that you actually enjoy. If you just write for money, you will probably create generic, subpar content and get discouraged by how little you earn.

I am not a big earner, but I am happy with what I earn, because (a) I enjoy writing, and (b) Medium is only part of a whole range of things I do. And even though I earn more than the average writer, if I calculate my hourly wage, I would be better off [working at some fast-food joint].

I had a look at your content [on Medium], and I noticed you write quite a few meta articles; that's fine, but just so you know: monetizing those is against Medium rules.

Meta articles are articles about Medium, e.g., about how to write on Medium, earnings, strategies... The rules are clear on this: you cannot monetize that content... It doesn't matter if they're your experiences, etc.

I know there are a lot of people writing this kind of thing, and if they monetize, it's against the rules just the same. It doesn't really harm you to write this content, though Medium can reclaim earnings from these stories if you monetize them.

There is no real upside to publishing these because Medium limits distribution to your own network and the publication you submitted it to, as it's not eligible for general distribution. 

Medium would remove the paywall before. I'm not sure what they do now, but I reckon that at some point, they will reclaim earnings on those stories, and maybe even penalize offenders. This rule has been in effect for quite some time now.”

So Medium is not dead, but...

Taken all together, the responses paint an uncomfortable picture. Medium is not dead, but it is no longer the easy discovery-and-earnings engine many writers remember from earlier years. 

New writers can still gain reads, especially with consistency and luck, but income is uncertain, and boosts are harder to come by these days. 

Meanwhile, seasoned writers, it seems, are increasingly diversifying or leaving altogether for platforms where audience ownership is much clearer and earning potential is more predictable.