Chill Subs
Chill Subs is a web-based literary magazine submission platform that helps individual writers discover 6,919+ publishing opportunities and track submissions, serving 89,522+ registered users globally via a freemium model with $100-$200/year paid tiers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersFiskdale, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Chill Subs does
Chill Subs is a web-based SaaS platform founded in 2021 that helps writers discover literary magazines, contests, and presses to submit their work to, and track those submissions through completion. The core platform (chillsubs.com) provides a database of 6,919+ publishing opportunities filterable by type, genre, fees, payment, and length limits, with 89,522+ registered writers and 362,969+ submissions tracked. Built on Next.js with Google OAuth via Clerk identity, the platform offers premium tools including Smart Search, Better Collections, Cover Letter Generator, Submitter's Passport, and an Automatic Prose Formatter. A separate editor portal (editor.chillsubs.com) serves literary magazine editors with listing management, and an MFA Programs database supports writers researching graduate creative writing programs across 20 partner universities.
The business operates on a freemium model with two annual paid tiers: Better at $100/year and Best at $200/year. The Better tier unlocks premium search, formatting, and submission tools, while Best adds Sub Club newsletter, The Forever Workshop classes, and Writers' Hour accountability sessions via partnership with London Writers Salon. The company is bootstrapped and privately held by four co-founders (Karina Kupp, Benjamin Davis, Shelby Stretton, Nikita Klimov), supported by a distributed team of 15+ across the US, UK, India, and Georgia. Go-to-market combines product-led self-serve signups with community-led growth through an active Discord server, blog content marketing, and partner-led MFA program distribution. Additional ecosystem programs include the Best Lit Mag Awards, Lit Mag Incubator Project, and an affiliate program launched in 2025.
Chill Subs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Chill Subs
- Legal name
- Chill Subs
- Website
- https://chillsubs.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Chill Subs is a web-based literary magazine submission platform that helps individual writers discover 6,919+ publishing opportunities and track submissions, serving 89,522+ registered users globally via a freemium model with $100-$200/year paid tiers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Chill Subs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Literary Submission Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content Curation & Bookmarking/Read-Later Platforms (MPACAKAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals) (EDAMAMAI), Higher Education Admissions & Placement Exam Prep (GRE/GMAT/LSAT/MCAT) (EDAGADAC)
Keywords
Where Chill Subs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fiskdale
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Chill Subs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Premium Subscriptions: Freemium model with two paid tiers: Better ($100/year) and Best ($200/year). Free tier provides basic access to browse magazines. Paid tiers unlock Smart Search, Better Collections, upgraded profiles, insights, cover letter generator, Submitter's Passport, prose formatter, 33% off Custom Lists, and exclusive events.
- Custom Lists: Personalized magazine recommendations from editors at 33% discount for premium members
- Affiliate Program: Commission-based program for spreading the word about Chill Subs
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Better - $100/year for writers who respect their time and effort |
| Subscription | Annual | Best - $200/year for those really into submitting |
| Freemium | Annual | Free tier |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Chill Subs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Chill Subs is a web-based platform that helps writers find, evaluate, and submit work to literary magazines, contests, and presses. It maintains a curated database of 6,919+ publishing opportunities with filtering by genre, fees, length, and deadline, and offers submission tracking across 362,969+ tracked submissions. The service is freemium with paid Better ($100/year) and Best ($200/year) tiers that unlock Smart Search, Collections, Cover Letter Generator, Submitter's Passport, Prose Formatter, and exclusive events.
Product overview
Chill Subs is a literary magazine submission management platform designed for writers. The offering consists of a core platform (chillsubs.com) that provides database search, filtering, and submission tracking across 6,919+ publishing opportunities. The platform uses a tiered membership model: Free tier for basic browsing, Better tier ($100/year) adding Smart Search, Better Collections, Insights & Context, Comparative Listings, Cover Letter Generator, Submitter's Passport, Prose Formatter, Custom Lists, and Exclusive Events, and Best tier ($200/year) adding Sub Club newsletter, The Forever Workshop access, and Writers' Hour access. Supporting products include an Editor Platform (editor.chillsubs.com) for magazine management, an MFA Programs Database, the Best Lit Mag Awards, the Lit Mag Incubator Project, and a Blog content hub. The platform also hosts community features including Discord and various newsletters.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Chill Subs Platform Freemium web SaaS platform that lets writers discover, evaluate, track, and submit to 6,919+ literary magazines, contests, and presses. Free tier covers basic browsing and tracking; paid Better ($100/year) and Best ($200/year) tiers unlock Smart Search, Better Collections, Insights & Context, Comparative Listings, Cover Letter Generator, Submitter's Passport, Automatic Prose Formatter, Custom Lists, and Exclusive Events.
- Editor Platform Separate self-serve portal at editor.chillsubs.com for literary magazine editors and publishers to manage listings, update submission windows, create themed calls, and reach writers on the platform.
- MFA Programs Database Database of 20+ MFA in creative writing programs that lets prospective students compare programs by genre, residency format, funding, and deadlines. Partner programs include University of Alabama, UNC Wilmington, University of Minnesota, Arkansas MFA Workshop, Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, Nevada Reno, McNeese, Idaho, Whitworth, UMass Amherst, Emerson, Brooklyn Writers Foundry, Western Colorado, Colorado State, Butler, Lesley, FAU, and Warren Wilson.
- Custom Lists Personalized magazine recommendation service where Chill Subs editors hand-pick submission lists for individual writers; offered to members at a 33% discount as part of premium subscriptions.
- Affiliate Program Commission-based referral program that lets community members earn commissions for promoting Chill Subs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 89,522+ registered writers on platform
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Chill Subs
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Chill Subs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature6 records
Chill Subs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- The Forever WorkshopcorePremium membership benefit - Best tier subscribers receive full access to monthly classes from working writers with lessons and community. The Forever Workshop provides craft development courses integrated into Chill Subs membership.
- London Writers SaloncoreBest tier subscribers receive unlimited access to daily writing accountability hours (Writer's Hour) for any timezone. Calendar extension provides full access to writing sessions.
- Sub ClubcoreBest tier subscribers receive full access to Sub Club newsletter - weekly curated lists of lit mags, agents, jobs, and pitch opportunities. Benjamin Davis, co-founder of Chill Subs, also runs Sub Club.
- University of Alabama MFAminorMFA partnership providing students access to Chill Subs tools. Program includes Visiting Writers Series, Conference funding, Alabama Prison + Arts Fellowship, and publishes Black Warrior Review.
- University of North Carolina Wilmington MFAminorMFA partnership with partnership with HarperCollins. Notable alumni include Jason Mott (National Book Award Winner). Program publishes Ecoton, Chautauqua, and Lookout Books.
- University of Minnesota MFA ProgramminorMFA partnership with editing/publishing experience through Passages North journal. Includes Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer Series and Graywolf Press Internship.
- 20 University MFA ProgramsminorPartnership database with 20 universities including Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop, Northern Michigan University, Bowling Green State University, University of Nevada Reno, McNeese, University of Idaho, Whitworth, UMass Amherst, Emerson College, Brooklyn Writers Foundry, Western Colorado University, Colorado State University, Butler, Lesley, FAU, and Warren Wilson.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Chill Subs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Duotrope: Duotrope is a long-standing literary magazine and contest database with submission tracking. It is Chill Subs' closest direct competitor, serving the same writer audience with overlapping core functionality (database + tracking), though Chill Subs positions as more modern and free-tier friendly.
- Submittable: Submittable is a submission management platform used by literary magazines and writers to receive, review, and track submissions. It overlaps Chill Subs on submission tracking and magazine relations, though it monetizes from the editor side (SaaS for publications) rather than writers.
- Poets & Writers: Poets & Writers maintains a respected directory of literary magazines and MFA programs, plus content for writers. It overlaps Chill Subs on the magazine/MFA directory use case and shares the same target writer persona, though it is more content- and resource-driven than SaaS.
Emerging players
- The Rumpus: The Rumpus is an online literary magazine and culture publication with strong community features. It overlaps Chill Subs in serving literary writers with publication opportunities and community, though it focuses on original content and interviews rather than database aggregation.
- Lit Hub / Literary Hub: Lit Hub is a major literary content platform covering books, magazines, and writing culture. It reaches the same writer audience as Chill Subs and offers adjacent value (discovery, reviews, excerpts) but does not provide submission management or magazine database tools.
Broad incumbents
- Writer's Digest: Writer's Digest is a long-established writing resource brand offering magazines, writing prompts, contests, and educational content. It serves the same broad writer audience as Chill Subs but with a more generalist, education-focused portfolio rather than a database product.
- Substack: Substack is a major publishing platform enabling writers to publish newsletters and earn from subscriptions. It overlaps with Chill Subs on the writer-as-publisher journey and benefits from the same anti-AI, ad-free premium tier philosophy that Chill Subs promotes.
- Medium: Medium is a large online publishing platform serving writers and readers. While broader in scope, it shares the writer-discovery and audience-building use case and competes indirectly for writers' publishing time and attention.
Others
- Catapult: Catapult runs online writing classes, a literary magazine, and book publishing. It shares Chill Subs' writer-development mission and target audience (especially via Forever Workshop partnership) but operates in adjacent education/publishing rather than directly competing on magazine discovery.
- NaNoWriMo: NaNoWriMo is a global writing challenge community that has influenced Chill Subs' First Draft November product. It is a thematically related community platform for writers rather than a direct competitor on magazine submissions.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Chill Subs social profiles
Digital presenceChill Subs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Chill Subs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Chill Subs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Chill Subs M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Chill Subs
What does Chill Subs do?
Chill Subs is a web-based platform that helps writers find, evaluate, and submit work to literary magazines, contests, and presses. It maintains a curated database of 6,919+ publishing opportunities with filtering by genre, fees, length, and deadline, and offers submission tracking across 362,969+ tracked submissions. The service is freemium with paid Better ($100/year) and Best ($200/year) tiers that unlock Smart Search, Collections, Cover Letter Generator, Submitter's Passport, Prose Formatter, and exclusive events.
Is Chill Subs a public or private company?
Chill Subs is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Chill Subs founded?
Chill Subs was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Chill Subs based?
Chill Subs is headquartered in Fiskdale, United States, in the North America region.
How does Chill Subs make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Premium Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are custom Lists and affiliate Program.
Who are Chill Subs's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Duotrope, Submittable and Poets & Writers. Emerging players are The Rumpus and Lit Hub / Literary Hub. Broad incumbents are Writer's Digest, Substack and Medium. Others are Catapult and NaNoWriMo.
Does Chill Subs have an API?
No public API is recorded for Chill Subs.
What industry is Chill Subs in?
Chill Subs's product category is Literary Submission Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAKAH, Content Curation & Bookmarking/Read-Later Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAMAMAI, Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.