Introducing the The Full List of Substack's Top Categories in 2026 – Analyzed + Ranked

Stop guessing: the new ranked list of Substack categories + FREE strategy guide (32 pages)

This week was awesome. I had the please of kicking-off the LIVE Substack Kickstarter Bootcamp with the 2026 crew.

Bootcamp grad and co-host Ellen Scherr from Chicago got featured by Oprah Daily this week. And Jerry Keszka from Warsaw acted as our architect who showed us the bricks we need to build our house and make it a home on Substack.

In one of our calls he mentioned how much he loved my old Medium Tags List thatwent viral and stil attracts nots of new viewers although these tags on Medium are a thing of the past.

With the list, I explained exactly how tags worked and how to become a Top Writer.

That brought back memories, because back then some people even called me the “Medium Goddess.” (And during the Bootcamp, I’ve been jokingly called the “Substack Goddess”—probably because of my last name 😉).

I don’t share this to brag, but to show you the pattern:
As a newbie on Medium, I earned 50+ Top Writer badges

and helped my students become Top Voices.

Such as health and fitness coach Teresa.

On Substack, I’ve seen tribe members go from zero to 40,000 or even 50,000 subscribers, make their first $1K, $5 or $25K,

and becoming Substack bestselling authors and “rising” on the Substack leaderboard as tribe member Jerry.

My professional marketing background makes me love digging into data and sharing what’s often hidden.

Thanks to my hubby Patrick—who happens to be both a data nerd, a software developer and the CTO of our Writing Club —I still get the data I need.

When I asked Substack and their product team if they had a list of the most popular Substack categories (to spot what’s most and least competitive), they told me that list isn’t shared publicly.

That’s why I gathered the data with Patrick, and today, I’m breaking down the new Substack category system for 2026—so not only this year’s bootcampers but also you can choose your lane strategically.

This is key when you’re starting and when you’re already building a thriving list.

The Full 2026 Category List - Without Ranking

To zoom out and give you an overview, here are the 29 Substack categories you can choose from:

Art & Illustration · Business · Climate & Environment · Comics · Crypto · Culture · Design · Education · Faith & Spirituality · Fashion & Beauty · Fiction · Finance · Food & Drink · Health & Wellness · Health Politics · History · Humor · International · Literature · Music · News · Parenting · Philosophy · Science · Sports · Technology · Travel · U.S. Politics · World Politics

You can also download the list with suggestions HERE for FREE.

(Could you do me a favour? Would be lovely to get a review!)

Once you download the list, I bet you’ll gonna ask yourself:

“But how do they rank? What’s the most popular Substack category, and which are saturated? Which should I pick to be strategic right from the start?“

Let me save you lots of time and money.

I want you to see that you’re not picking a category blindly with this ranked list.

So you’re making decisions based on hard numbers.

And from my experience as a marketing and brand manager, a Substack Top 25 bestseller, and after supporting hundreds of list builders, I’m adding my two cents—so you can decide what works best for you.

So here’s the ranked list based on data.

Where the Data For The Ranked Category List Comes From

⬇️⬇️⬇️🔥🔥Level up your subscription NOW and become a member to ACCESS the guide to monetize your Substack categories + ALL coming tools to kickstart your email list and growth in Q1 of 2026. 🔥🔥⬇️⬇️⬇️