Why Writing Paywalled Articles is No Longer a Viable Side Hustle?
Writing paywalled articles is no longer a good passive income stream you can count on.
I started regular blogging on the Medium platform four years ago (2021-01). I recall the excitement of receiving $36 for only a few paywalled articles.
So, I kept publishing my articles—about two per week—mainly sharing my experiences and insights on E2E Test Automation and Continuous Testing. As I wrote more and gained more followers on Medium, my passive income from paywalled articles gradually grew. However, this changed in July 2023 when Medium changed its Partner Program (for worse).
Despite consistently publishing high-quality articles—over 150 featured in software testing newsletters—at a rate of about three per week and amassing nearly 6,000 followers, my passive income from Medium dropped to around $70 last month.
However, there is an exception—if your article is selected by curators to be "Boosted," its revenue will increase significantly, but only for a short period. For example, the article "Don’t you think it’s absurd that most university IT researchers are focusing on AI and machine learning?", published on February 1, 2025, was "Boosted" three days later. This single article generated nearly $200 in income within just 10 days. (the income for the first three days—before being ‘Boosted’—was a miserable $0.13, $0.16, and $0.01, respectively)
Long-time readers may know that I like to back up my statements with two supporting facts. Encouraged by me, my daughter Courtney started blogging on Medium, following a consistent schedule—publishing one purely technical article every weekend.
Courtney began in June 2023, two months before Medium changed its Partner Program.
While Medium claimed that authors should receive an equivalent amount based on their internal testing, few software companies excel at testing—right? Let’s take a look at what Courtney earned last month (January 2025).
It wasn’t “about the same” as Medium claimed—it was 28 times less. And let’s not forget that since 2023, Courtney has published over 80 new articles, with dozens featured in newsletters. Combined with my account, this reveals a sobering truth:
Your past articles on Medium contribute virtually nothing to your income.
Unless you’re an exceptionally skilled writer who can consistently produce content that appeals to a mass audience, writing paywalled articles is no longer a reliable source of passive income.
You may have heard people say, “Medium’s model is dying—you should build your own newsletter on Substack.” As someone who likes having a Plan B, I actually started a Substack newsletter in the background back in 2022, and it now became my main blogging platform last year. However, compared to Medium (which has massive paid members), earning passive income on Substack (from individuals directly) isn’t easy—at least not in the short term.
Why is that? Honestly, I don’t think about it too much. Possible reasons could be that people today have shorter attention spans and spend more time watching short videos, like on TikTok; there’s an overwhelming amount of AI-generated content; and so on. Anyway, it's beyond my control.
Will I continue writing? Absolutely. It’s for my own benefit. Writing consistently helps me clarify my thoughts, sparks creativity, and sometimes even connects me with like-minded people online. However, I believe writing is no longer a reliable source of passive income.
Since side hustle for software professionals is also a topic in my newsletter, in upcoming editions, I’ll be sharing thoughts and suggestions on other potential passive income opportunities.
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