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Express vs Substack

Based on 79 and 2 real audits

View Express details | View Substack details
MetricExpressSubstackWinner
Performance4246Substack
Accessibility8672Express
Best Practices8677Express
SEO9192Substack
Security6862Express
TTFB254ms228msSubstack
Composite7473Express
Performance
Express
42
Substack
46
Accessibility
Express
86
Substack
72
Security
Express
68
Substack
62
SEO
Express
91
Substack
92
Composite
Express
74
Substack
73

Express outperforms Substack in 4 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (74 vs 73). Substack leads in performance, SEO, TTFB.

When to choose Express

Choose Express when your primary concern is accessibility and best practices. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

When to choose Substack

Choose Substack when your primary concern is server response time and performance. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 79 audited Express sites and 2 audited Substack sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

Small sample: one or both technologies have fewer than 10 audited sites. Treat these numbers as directional — medians stabilize around 20–30 audits per side.

FAQ

Which is faster, Express or Substack?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Substack sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (46 vs 42 on average).
Which has better security, Express or Substack?
Express sites score higher on security analysis (68 vs 62 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Express or Substack?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Express (86 vs 72). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, Express or Substack?
Substack sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (92 vs 91 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), Express or Substack?
Substack sites show lower Time to First Byte (228 ms vs 254 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose Express or Substack for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. Substack scores higher on overall composite score while Express may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
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