List of the 29 Substack Categories in 2025

Often writers wonder about Substack's categories, so I created a list for you.

In 2024 Substack added three more categories, so that there are now 29 Substack categories you can select for your newsletter to get discovered by Substack's built-in audience.

Substack has grown rapidly and hit 4M paid subscriptions in 2025.

If you get on Substack and want to set up your newsletter fo success, be seen and found, the two categories you pick are very important.

There's a primary and a secondary category you can pick.

Good news: On the Explore page you can now see more than just these 29 categories!

I have 11,700 subscribers. The Online Writing Club is a Substack bestseller with hundreds of paid subscribers.

Also, it belongs to the Top #25 Education publications on Substack.

More than 330 members are inside my invite-only community. I host weekly chats, workshops with writers, mini courses, Q&As and networking events.

I wish I had a guide like this back then. Now you do. Let’s get started!

💌 Click here to join The Online Writing Club community for MORE.

🚀 Take action and join The Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp in March HERE.