MemetikEdition 2026-09

Research / Edition 2026-09

The creator economy according to AI: Substack, Circle, Kajabi, Linktree and Podia

Memetik · 2 September 2026 · Data: Memetik Index 2026-09

Key findings

  1. Substack was named in 100% of newsletter answers and first in 64%. Beehiiv was named in 98% and first in 30%. Kit was named in 88% and first in none.
  2. Circle leads paid communities (100% share, 60% first). Skool is named in 98% and first in 16%. Whop is named in 52% and first in 0%.
  3. Kajabi leads courses on share (100%) but Thinkific (96%, 28% first) is close on named-first (Kajabi 30%). Teachable is third at 80% and 20%.
  4. Linktree and Beacons were both named in every link-in-bio answer. Linktree was first in 48%, Beacons 26%, Stan 20%.
  5. Podia leads creator monetization (92%, 48% first) across OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity; Google's models lean Gumroad and Payhip. Patreon was named in 30% and first in none.
Newsletter platforms · answer share, 2026-09
  1. Substack100%
  2. Beehiiv98%
  3. Ghost96%
  4. Kit88%
  5. MailerLite44%
  6. Buttondown34%
  7. Mailchimp20%
  8. ActiveCampaign8%

Share of 50 answers that named the vendor

Paid community platforms · answer share, 2026-09
  1. Circle100%
  2. Skool98%
  3. Mighty Networks88%
  4. Discord74%
  5. Kajabi60%
  6. Whop52%
  7. Patreon34%
  8. Heartbeat28%

Share of 50 answers that named the vendor

Online course platforms · answer share, 2026-09
  1. Kajabi100%
  2. Thinkific96%
  3. Teachable80%
  4. Udemy58%
  5. Podia52%
  6. Circle48%
  7. LearnWorlds44%
  8. Skool42%

Share of 50 answers that named the vendor

Link-in-bio tools · answer share, 2026-09
  1. Linktree100%
  2. Beacons100%
  3. Stan90%
  4. Later50%
  5. Carrd42%
  6. Lnk.Bio30%
  7. Taplink22%
  8. Bento16%

Share of 50 answers that named the vendor

Creator monetization platforms · answer share, 2026-09
  1. Podia92%
  2. Gumroad82%
  3. Payhip72%
  4. Kajabi62%
  5. Shopify42%
  6. Patreon30%
  7. Skool26%
  8. Circle26%

Share of 50 answers that named the vendor

Five creator categories, five clear leaders, and the incumbents hold four of them. Substack, Circle, Kajabi and Linktree lead newsletters, communities, courses and link-in-bio. The one category without an incumbent, creator monetization, went to Podia. Whop, the fastest-growing company in the space, was named in half the community answers and recommended first in none.

Newsletter platforms

Substack, Beehiiv and Ghost were named in nearly every answer. Substack was named first in 64%, Beehiiv 30%, Ghost 6%. Kit was in 88% of answers with zero firsts: the models list it and do not lead with it. MailerLite (44%) and Buttondown (34%) round out the field. Loops, Paved and Medium were never named. Beehiiv’s own site was the top cited source at 112 citations, ahead of Substack’s 11; Beehiiv is winning the comparison content and Substack is winning the answer.

Circle in 100% of answers, first in 60%. Skool in 98%, first in 16%. Mighty Networks in 88%, first in 2%. Discord in 74% and first in 18%, the models treat it as a real option. Whop was named in 52% and first in 0%. Kajabi appeared in 60% of community answers as a bundled option. Geneva and Tribe were never named.

Online course platforms

Kajabi 100% share and 30% first. Thinkific 96% and 28%. Teachable 80% and 20%. The three incumbents are named first in 78% of answers between them. Udemy (58%) and Podia (52%) follow; Circle appears in 48% of course answers. YouTube was the top cited source with 186 citations, the second most YouTube-cited category in the Index.

Linktree and Beacons in 100% of answers. Linktree first in 48%, Beacons 26%, Stan 20%. Stan at 90% share is the strongest newer entrant in the creator set. Later (50%) and Carrd (42%) follow. Bio.site, Tap.bio and Snipfeed were never named.

Creator monetization

Podia 92% share, 48% first. Gumroad 82% and 22%. Payhip 72% and 10%. Kajabi 62%. Shopify 42%. Patreon was named in 30% of answers and first in none, the weakest showing for a category-defining brand anywhere in the creator set. The providers split: OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity most-named Podia; Gemini 3.6 Flash most-named Gumroad and Gemini 3.5 Flash Payhip. Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee were never named.

What the field shows

The models treat the creator economy as a mature market with settled leaders. Circle, Kajabi and Substack are named in every answer. The newer platforms that have grown fastest in the past two years, Whop, Skool and Beehiiv, are on almost every list and lead none of them. Beehiiv’s 98% share with 30% firsts is the strongest challenger position; Whop’s 52% with zero firsts is the weakest relative to its actual scale.

YouTube was the top source in four of the five categories. Creator software is recommended from creator video.

What this means for a vendor

A challenger in the creator space has answer share; the leader has the first mention. Closing that gap is about the specific reason a model gives to pick you, in the sources it reads, and for this field those sources are YouTube reviews and comparison pages.

Limitations

Fifty answers per category from ten models. Prompts are English and creator-generic; a niche creator segment could see a different order. One edition.