Substack’s rolling out a video feature, but it’s not available to everyone yet

Screenshot: Andrew Zimmern via Substack

Substack, the platform where creators can share free or paid newsletters, has announced a new video feature that is currently in a private alpha. Users will be able to record and publish videos in Substack.

Substack says that the videos will be usable from a browser. Users won't be able to click and play it from within the email itself, instead videos will show up as clickable images that will lead to a web version. The platform's support page says users can record and upload videos. If the post is for subscribers only, users can choose thumbnail images, as well as provide a free preview of videos. Substack supports a wide range of formats, from 3gp to mp4 and mp4 to mp4.

The platform shows a few examples of how videos might look on Substack, while one is a vocal test from musician Patti Smith and another is a cooking demonstration. In the final video, Bari Weiss shows how videos will look with paid posts.

Videos are not available to all Substack creators. Users can join the feature by filling out the form.

Substack began exploring other forms of media when it first introduced podcasts in 2019. The funding of Booksmart Studios was announced last year.

Substack, which reached 1 million paid subscribers last year, is one of the reasons why the platforms have launched their own paid newsletter services. More than half of the publishers in Meta's Bulletin have over 1,000 free email subscribers.