Follow for follow on Substack
You want more Substack followers: readers who see your Notes in their Home feed and later subscribe. Here is how follow for follow works on Substack and how to get that result.
Table of contents
Substack follow-for-follow groups you can join
Free communities we checked on Oct 26, 2026. Member counts are what each platform showed that day; for Substack threads we list the comments on the latest thread, because a thread has no member list. Dedicated follow-for-follow groups for Substack are rare; most swaps happen inside Notes and share threads, so the list includes the closest real ones. Join on the host's terms, which are spelled out in each post or chat. Want real followers on your profile without working through threads? Start free on upvote.club.
| Group | Platform | Members | Language | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes Boost by Escape the Cubicle | Substack Chat | 200+ writers weekly (host's count) | en | Tuesday thread pitched as a way to find new people to follow |
| Midstack Weekly Share Thread | Substack thread | 210 comments (Oct 23 thread) | en | Introduce yourself, share a post, subscribe to writers you like (a subscription also follows them) |
| Midstack Recommendations Exchange | Substack thread | 45 comments (Oct 8 post) | en | Five-day matching of writers for mutual Recommendations |
| Creators Abroad Restack Round #18 | Substack thread | 15 comments (Sep 27 round) | en | Writers living abroad meeting each other monthly |
| Hidden Gems | Discord | 520 members | en | Fiction writers finding each other's Substack profiles |
| r/SubstackPromos | n/a (hidden) | en | Writers posting their Substack for others to follow | |
| Substack Writers | Facebook group | n/a (hidden) | en | Writers sharing profile links |
What does follow for follow mean on Substack?
Follow for follow on Substack means you follow a writer or reader and they follow you back. It usually happens in Notes and share threads, where writers trade follows to fill their Home feeds and grow their follower lists.
A follow is not a subscription. A follower sees your Notes and reading activity, such as the posts you like, in their Home feed. They do not get your newsletter by email. A subscriber gets your posts by email or in the app and follows you automatically.
How people say it on Substack
Follow
See someone's Notes and likes in your Home feed, no email.
Subscribe
Get their publication by email or in the app, which also follows them.
Mutuals
Two profiles that follow each other.
Recommendations
Publications you suggest to new subscribers at sign-up.
Follower or subscriber: what each one gets
Substack calls it a hierarchy: a paid subscriber also follows you, a free subscriber also follows you, and a follower gets only the social layer.
| - | Follower | Free subscriber | Paid subscriber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Notes in their Home feed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your posts by email | No | Yes, free posts | Yes, all posts |
| Your posts in the app's Reads tab | No | Yes | Yes |
| Can comment on your paid posts | No | No | Yes |
Does the follower number matter on Substack?
Your followers list is public and cannot be hidden, but the exact follower count on your profile is visible only to you. What matters more is what followers do: your Notes reach them in the Home feed, and every like or restack they make is shown to their own followers.
Follows grow a Substack account with the right tool behind them. Followers who read your Notes are the ones who later press Subscribe.
Where Substack F4F actually happens
Notes
"Drop your profile" Notes where writers follow everyone in the replies.
Share threads in other publications
Weekly threads where members introduce themselves and follow each other.
Substack Chat
Writers' chats where a weekly thread is set aside for swapping Notes and follows.
Contact sync
"Find friends" in the app suggests people from your phone contacts to follow.
Does F4F work on Substack? Yes, if you do it right
Yes, it works, but it has to be done right. Only upvote.club does it right; nobody else on the market has this technology.
On Substack, done right means followers who read in your topic, so your Notes reach people likely to like, restack and subscribe, rather than a list of writers who only wanted a follow back.
That is the result upvote.club gives you on Substack: real followers on the profile you choose.
What F4F gives you, and how to add what is missing
A Home feed with your people in it
Follow-backs fill your feed with writers in your niche.
A larger audience for Notes
More followers means more Home feeds for each Note.
Add the subscribe step
Pin a Note that explains what subscribers get.
Add Recommendations
Mutual Recommendations turn a follow into subscribers at sign-up.
A follow-back that is worth the same on both sides
How many follow-backs to expect
Each thread brings follows only from the members who open your profile. The Notes Boost host counts 200+ writers a week and Midstack's Oct 23 thread drew 210 comments, so even an active thread reaches a few hundred writers, and only some of them follow back. Writers who post Notes daily and keep replying in these threads see the list grow week over week.
How to see who follows you on Substack
Check these native places. For subscriptions rather than follows, use the Substack subscribe-back checker.
| Method | What it shows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Followers list | Everyone who follows you (public) | Your profile |
| Following list | Everyone you follow (public) | Your profile |
| Exact follower count | Your number, visible only to you | Your profile |
| Activity (bell) | Notifications for new followers | Top of the app and web |
When to follow back on Substack
They post Notes you would read
Your Home feed is made of who you follow.
They write in a related topic
Their likes and restacks reach readers like yours.
They engaged with your Note first
A reply or restack is a good sign they read.
Unfollow quietly if the feed stops fitting
Use the three-dot menu and "Unfollow".
What compounds instead
Daily Notes
Each Note goes to every follower's Home feed.
Likes and restacks of others
Your activity shows to your followers and puts you in front of theirs.
Being recommended
Publications recommending you send subscribers, not just followers.
Restacks of your posts
See the Substack restack exchange.
What F4F gives your Substack profile
It grows your Substack profile, but you need the right tool.
F4F gives your profile followers who see your Notes and reading activity. Add Notes on your topic and a clear subscribe prompt, and some of those followers become subscribers, the relationship Substack itself calls the most important one.
The number to look past
Look past the follower count. Watch new subscribers by source in your stats, where the Substack category covers Notes, search and leaderboards, and watch likes and restacks on your Notes.
Get real followers on Substack
Paste your profile link and get real Substack followers.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Substack follow exchange work?
Yes, it works, but it has to be done right. Only upvote.club does it right; nobody else on the market has this technology.
What does a Substack follow exchange give my profile?
It grows your account, but you need the right tool, and that tool is upvote.club.
What is the difference between following and subscribing on Substack?
A follower sees your Notes and reading activity in their Home feed but gets no email. A subscriber gets your posts by email or in the app and follows you automatically.
Can people see my Substack followers?
Yes. Your followers and following lists are public and cannot be hidden. Your exact follower count is visible only to you.
How do I follow someone on Substack?
Click Follow on their profile, or use the three-dot menu on a like or restack in your Home feed and choose Follow.
Do followers get my newsletter?
No. Followers see your Notes; only subscribers receive posts by email or in the Reads tab.
Where do people do follow for follow on Substack?
In Notes, weekly share threads hosted by other publications and writers' chats in Substack Chat.
Read next
Grow on Substack
Written by
The Upvote.club team builds free social media tools and runs a community of real people who support each other’s posts on 19 social networks.