What Is A Restack On Substack?
What is Restacking on Substack? Restacks Explained!
A Restack on Substack is a core sharing feature that functions similarly to a retweet on X (formerly Twitter) or a share on Facebook. It allows writers and readers to share a post they enjoyed or found valuable directly with their own Substack subscriber base or follower network, adding it to their profile’s public feed alongside a brief optional comment.
Why Do Writers Use Restacks?
Restacks serve as the primary organic growth engine within the Substack ecosystem. Key benefits include:
Audience Cross-Pollination: When a writer restacks another creator’s post, they introduce that content to their own readers, helping lesser-known writers gain visibility.
Community Building: Restacking acts as an endorsement, allowing creators to curate and highlight valuable insights for their audience while signaling alignment with peers.
Algorithm Boost: Posts that accumulate a high volume of restacks gain traction on the Substack app’s recommendation network and discoverability tabs.
How to Restack a Post on Substack
Sharing content via a restack takes only a few seconds through the web or mobile app:
Navigate to the Substack post you want to share.
Click the Restack button (represented by two overlapping arrows forming a cycle, usually found at the bottom or top of the post alongside the “Like” and “Comment” buttons).
(Optional) Add a custom note or quote explaining why you are sharing the piece.
Confirm to publish the restack to your profile and distribute it to your subscribers’ feeds.
What is the Difference Between a Restack and a Recommendation?
While both features promote content on Substack, they serve completely different purposes:
Restack: A one-time share of a specific article or post. It pushes that individual piece of content to your feed and subscriber notifications.
Recommendation: A permanent endorsement of an entire publication. When you recommend another Substack, you are adding their newsletter to your publication’s homepage and welcome emails so new subscribers can easily find them.
*Here’s an important tip to remember though… when you post a Note on Substack - it only goes out to your OWN followers & subscribers. There is NO NEW discovery & visibility there for yourself.
But when you swap a restack with another user, it will then go out to all of THEIR followers & subscribers as well. Which is WAY better discoverability - from NEW and/or DIFFERENT people who didn’t even realize your publication existed!
If you’d like to find other writers to swap restacks with, you can learn more or take part here in The Substack Restack Exchange
Paul Arino
The Official Substack Restack Exchange