Substack has become a home for thousands of independent journalists, analysts, and bloggers who do not want to rely on the editorial policies of large media. However, this is precisely why the platform is increasingly blocked at the provider level in countries with strict internet censorship. If you are an author who values reaching your audience or a reader who does not want to lose access to independent newsletters — proxies solve this problem without unnecessary compromises.
Why Substack is Blocked in Some Countries
Substack does not moderate content as strictly as large social networks — the platform declares minimal interference in the editorial policies of authors. This feature makes it attractive to independent journalists, political analysts, and authors who write about topics that are uncomfortable for authorities in certain regions. As a result, access to the substack.com domain and its subdomains (where each author has their address in the format name.substack.com) is periodically restricted at the DNS blocking level or through complete traffic filtering by providers.
There are different types of blocks. Sometimes, it is targeted filtering of specific newsletters that have crossed censorship red lines. In other cases, the entire domain is blocked, making thousands of unrelated publications inaccessible at once. Providers may also throttle traffic to Substack without explicit blocking — pages load in 30-40 seconds, which for most readers is equivalent to complete unavailability of the service.
A separate issue is the geoblocking of payment functions. Even if the content itself is accessible, subscribing through Stripe may not work from certain countries, cutting authors off from part of their income and readers from premium content they are willing to pay for.
Who Needs to Bypass Blocks: Authors, Readers, Publishers
The first group consists of the authors of newsletters themselves, who live in countries with censorship or write on topics sensitive to local authorities. They need stable access to the Substack dashboard to publish issues, respond to comments, and analyze open statistics. Losing access for a few days means disrupting the publication schedule and losing subscribers.
The second group includes readers who are subscribed to independent newsletters and want to receive them without having to turn on a VPN on their phone and desktop separately every time. For many readers, unstable access becomes a reason for unsubscribing — people simply get tired of fighting blocks for one email a week.
The third group consists of media agencies and publishing teams that manage several publications on Substack on behalf of different authors or brands. Here, another complication arises: the platform may interpret simultaneous logins to multiple accounts from one IP as suspicious activity, similar to the multi-accounting problem known to SMM specialists on Instagram and TikTok. This is solved in the same way — by spreading accounts across separate IP addresses.
The fourth group includes marketers and media market researchers who need to track what Substack looks like for users from different countries: which publications are promoted in recommendations, how the interface is localized, and whether the payment system works in a specific region.
Types of Proxies for Accessing Substack: Comparison
Not every proxy is equally suitable for working with Substack. The platform uses checks for suspicious activity similar to those employed by social networks, so the choice of IP type directly affects access stability.
| Proxy Type | Suitable For | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Proxies | Reading and publishing under a real profile | IP from regular providers, minimal risk of blocking | Speed depends on node load |
| Mobile Proxies | Access from mobile devices, bypassing strict filtering | IP from cellular operators, high trust from platforms | Higher cost of traffic |
| Datacenter Proxies | Monitoring and analytics without logging into an account | High speed, low price | More likely to be filtered during login |
For simple reading of newsletters in a blocked region, residential proxies are sufficient — they appear as regular home internet and do not raise suspicion. For publishing content on behalf of a publication, especially if regular access to the dashboard and managing paid subscriptions is needed, it is better to use mobile proxies — operator IPs are less likely to end up on blacklists and provide more trust from payment systems like Stripe, integrated into Substack.
Step-by-Step Proxy Setup for Reading and Publishing
Setting up a proxy for working with Substack does not require technical skills — the entire process comes down to a few steps in a browser or an antidetect tool.
- Obtain access data for the proxy: IP address, port, username, and password. For residential and mobile proxies, a choice of country and city is usually available.
- Open network settings in your browser (Chrome, Firefox) or in an antidetect browser if you manage several publications.
- Select the SOCKS5 or HTTP(S) protocol — most modern proxy services support both options, but SOCKS5 usually works more reliably with websites that actively use JavaScript, such as Substack.
- Insert the proxy data and save the connection profile.
- Clear cookies and cache before your first visit to Substack, so the platform does not link the new session to the old blocked IP.
- Go to substack.com and check if the dashboard, subscription feed, and payment form open.
If you read newsletters through an email client rather than the web interface, a browser-level proxy will not solve the email delivery issue — in this case, check whether the provider is blocking Substack's SMTP servers separately from the web domain.
Antidetect Browsers for Publications with Multiple Authors
If you manage several publications on Substack or work in a team with multiple authors, logging into all accounts from one browser and one IP creates a risk that the platform will link them together. To solve this problem, media teams use the same tools as SMM agencies for managing client accounts on Instagram and TikTok — antidetect browsers like Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, Multilogin, or GoLogin.
The principle of operation is simple: a separate browser profile is created for each publication with a unique device fingerprint (user-agent, screen resolution, time zone) and linked to its own proxy. This way, Substack sees each publication as a separate independent user accessing from their region, rather than as a network of linked accounts from one editorial team.
The setup in Dolphin Anty looks like this: create a new profile → in the "Proxy" section, insert IP, port, username, and password → select the geolocation corresponding to the country of the proxy → save the profile and link it to a specific Substack account. This approach is especially important for publications that publish materials on sensitive political topics and do not want one account's blocking to affect the others.
Security and Anonymity for Independent Journalists
For journalists working under censorship, proxies solve not only the access problem but also the security issue. Directly connecting to Substack without a proxy leaves the real IP address in the platform's logs and with the provider, which under certain circumstances can be used to deanonymize the author.
Residential proxies with IP rotation complicate linking a specific publication to a specific person, as traffic passes through the IPs of real users in different regions. This does not replace comprehensive operational security tools like Tor or specialized solutions for journalists, but it significantly reduces the risk when working with content on a daily basis.
An important point is that you should not use the same proxy profile for personal social media accounts and for editorial work on Substack. Separating digital footprints across different profiles and IPs is a basic rule of digital hygiene for any independent author who values anonymity.
Common Mistakes When Bypassing Blocks
The first mistake is using free public proxy lists. Such IP addresses are already used by thousands of users simultaneously, often end up on blacklists of platforms, and can completely compromise a session at the most inconvenient moment, such as during the publication of urgent material.
The second mistake is frequently changing the geolocation of the proxy for the same account. If yesterday you logged in from Berlin, and today suddenly from Singapore, Substack's protection system may suspect account compromise and temporarily block access until identity is confirmed.
The third mistake is ignoring the synchronization of the time zone and browser language with the geolocation of the proxy. If the IP indicates the Netherlands, but the browser is set to Moscow time zone and Russian interface locale, this looks suspicious and increases the likelihood of additional verification.
The fourth mistake is using one proxy for multiple publication accounts without separating them through antidetect profiles. This quickly leads to the detection of connections between accounts and the risk of cascading blocking of all publications at once.
Conclusion
Blocking Substack in certain countries is not a reason to give up independent journalism or lose access to favorite newsletters. Properly selected proxies restore stable access to the platform for both reading and publishing content, while antidetect browsers allow for safely managing multiple publications without the risk of cascading blocks.
If you need stable access for daily reading and working with your personal account — start with residential proxies, as they provide a high level of trust from the platform and minimal risk of blocking. For publications that require maximum reliability when working with payment functions and multi-accounting, mobile proxies are better suited — operator IPs are less likely to raise suspicion with Substack's protection systems.