Question 1

What is Suru?

Accepted Answer

Suru is a publishing platform built for independent writers and journalists — from local reporters covering a patch to solo publishers covering a niche, an industry, or an issue. It combines a mobile-first capture tool, Suru's drafting assistant, and a journalism standards framework — so you can go from scene to published story in under an hour, without compromising on editorial quality.

Question 2

Who is Suru for?

Accepted Answer

Suru is for solo writers, small editorial teams, and independent publishers covering a beat — a place, an industry, a community, or a neighbourhood. If you're covering something that deserves better journalism than it's getting, Suru is built for you.

Question 3

How is Suru different from WordPress, Ghost, or Substack?

Accepted Answer

Those platforms were built for general publishing. None were designed around the specific economics, workflows, or editorial standards of independent reporting. WordPress requires constant developer maintenance and has no native drafting intelligence. Ghost is clean but developer-centric. Substack is optimised for national voices and social discovery. Beehiiv is a newsletter growth tool. Suru is purpose-built for the reporter working a specific beat — with drafting that understands field reporting, and standards tools that give readers a reason to trust what they read.

Question 4

Is Suru only for professional journalists?

Accepted Answer

No. If you live in a neighbourhood and care about what's happening in it, Suru can help you report on it properly. The journalism check and editorial framework exist to help anyone produce credible, fair, well-sourced reporting — regardless of whether they have a journalism degree.

Question 5

How does capturing a story work?

Accepted Answer

Open Suru, tap the microphone, and talk through what you're seeing. Add photos or video from your camera. Suru transcribes your audio, attaches your geo-tag, and assembles everything into a draft news story. You can also type notes or upload media directly — Suru meets you wherever you are.

Question 6

What is the journalism check?

Accepted Answer

The integrity check is an AI-assisted newsroom-style audit that scores your unpublished draft 0–10 across three core editorial dimensions. Sourcing — Are claims attributable? Are quotes framed with a clear speaker, and are anonymous sources explicitly flagged? Neutrality — Detects loaded language, opinion presented as fact, or missing counter-perspectives. Verifiability — Flags names, dates, places, numbers, and concrete assertions to verify against your field notes or recordings. Findings are categorised as Issue, Watch, or Info. Issues block publication until resolved and re-checked; Watch and Info are advisory. In interview and Q&A formats, answers reflect the subject’s own words, so findings remain advisory and never block publication. These automated checks enforce the standards established in the Suru Editorial Charter, which is directly inspired by the editorial codes of practice of world-class newsrooms: Reuters Standards & Values; The New York Times Ethical Journalism Guide; The Guardian Editorial Code of Practice and Guidance.

Question 7

Does Suru publish my story automatically?

Accepted Answer

No. The Publish button only activates once you've run the journalism check and ticked the attestation checkbox, confirming you've reviewed the facts and take editorial responsibility for the story. Every published piece includes an AI-disclosure footer.

Question 8

What is the attestation?

Accepted Answer

Before publishing, you confirm: "I take editorial responsibility for this story. Facts have been confirmed against my notes and recording. AI assistance will be disclosed publicly on the published page." This is timestamped and stored permanently with the story. It keeps editorial responsibility where it belongs — with you.

Question 9

Can I edit the draft Suru produces?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. Suru's draft is a starting point, not the final word. Every field — headline, subheadline, dateline, body — is fully editable. Suru learns your voice over time and gets better at drafting in your style.

Question 10

What media formats does Suru support?

Accepted Answer

Audio (voice notes), photos, and video. All are first-class inputs to the drafting process. Video is transcribed automatically, with key quotes identified and a written companion drafted if you want one. Suru hosts and delivers your video — no YouTube dependency.

Question 11

What is a publication on Suru?

Accepted Answer

A publication is your editorial home. You could say it's your newspaper. When you create an account, Suru sets up your publication automatically, initially named after you and your beat (e.g. "Sara's Hackney Stories"). You can rename it at any time.

Question 12

Will I get my own URL?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every publication gets its own subdomain — for example, thesandovalsentinel.suru.cc — set up automatically and yours to rename. Your stories also stay reachable at suru.cc/p/your-publication. No algorithm, no newsfeed — just your coverage of your patch.

Question 13

Can I use a domain I already own?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it costs nothing extra on Publisher Max. Add your domain in Settings → Publication, add the two or three records we show you at your domain provider (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare — we link to each provider's guide), and Suru issues the HTTPS certificate for you. Once it's live you can make it the address all your public links use, and your suru.cc address keeps working.

Question 14

Can readers sign up, comment and react?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Readers can create a free account on your publication to react to stories and leave comments. During signup they see an unticked checkbox — 'Email me new stories from this publication. You can turn this off any time.' — which controls whether they receive an email whenever you publish. They can change that preference at any time. Reader accounts are branded to your publication, not to Suru. Publishers can see their followers' names, business names, emails and countries on the Followers tab of their Publication page, and can remove or block a reader. The follow form tells readers their name and email are shared with the publication.

Question 15

What's the difference between a follower, a reader and a backer?

Accepted Answer

They're three levels of the same relationship, not three different kinds of person. A reader is anyone with a free account on your publication — they can react to stories and leave comments, though reading never needs an account at all. A follower is a reader who has also asked to hear from you: they ticked 'Email me new stories from this publication' when they followed, so they get an email whenever you publish and no longer see the follow box inside your stories. You'll find followers on the Followers tab of your Publication page, where you can remove or block someone, and a follower can turn story emails off later without unfollowing. A backer is a reader who pays you monthly through Reader Payments — they can read anything you tick 'Only for backers' and see your publication under 'Publications you back' on their account page. So every follower is a reader, but not every reader follows you, and only backers pay.

Question 16

Can I run more than one publication?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Publisher Max. One account can own several publications, each with its own masthead, address, followers, backers and team. Your Max plan and usage allowance are shared across them. Publisher Free includes one publication.

Question 17

Do team members need to pay?

Accepted Answer

No. Publisher Max includes unlimited seats. Editors and contributors join your publication free and work on your plan.

Question 18

Who can see contributor drafts?

Accepted Answer

Only the contributor who wrote it, until they send it for review. Then the publication's owner and editors can read, edit and publish it. Contributors can publish themselves only if the owner or an editor gives them permission.

Question 19

How much does Suru cost?

Accepted Answer

There is a free tier and one paid plan. Publisher Free covers 1 story a month with 3 AI drafts, 3 integrity checks, 30 transcription minutes, 1 photo per piece and 1 published piece, in English. Publisher Max is $9 a month and covers 10 stories a month with up to 10 drafts per story. Pay annually and Publisher Max is a single $90 payment per year — equivalent to $7.50 a month, two months free versus paying monthly. No credits to buy and no per-minute meters to watch.

Question 20

What if I need more than 10 stories a month?

Accepted Answer

We're working on a plan that supports more than 10 stories per month - this will be released soon (as of 18 September 2026).

Question 21

Does Suru handle payments from my readers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Reader payments are a free add-on for Publisher Max publishers. Suru runs subscriptions end to end through Stripe, with your publication's name on the reader's card statement, and pays out to your account.

Question 22

What does Suru take from reader revenue?

Accepted Answer

6.5% of what your readers pay, after card processing fees. Substack takes 10% of the gross, so at any real subscriber count you keep more with Suru. There is a live calculator on the pricing page if you want to check the maths against your own numbers.

Question 23

What is the Editorial Charter?

Accepted Answer

Every publisher on Suru adopts an Editorial Charter at onboarding. It covers accuracy and verification, independence and ethics, fairness and tone, corrections policy, and community standards. The mission statement is personalised per publication; the standards are universal across the platform. It's your public commitment to your readers.

Question 24

Does Suru control what I publish?

Accepted Answer

No. The journalism check is advisory. Every flag can be acknowledged or overridden by you. Suru advises; the publisher decides. All editorial discretion and legal responsibility remain with you at all times.

Question 25

Is AI assistance disclosed to readers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, automatically. Every story published with AI assistance includes a disclosure footer on the page. This is non-negotiable and applied by Suru regardless of the level of AI involvement.

Question 26

How do I sign up?

Accepted Answer

Create a free account with your name, email, and your beat — verify your email and you're in. Then start your first capture: record or upload a conversation, and Suru drafts the story for you.

Question 27

Is there a free tier?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Publisher Free covers 1 story a month with 3 AI drafts, 3 integrity checks, 30 transcription minutes and 1 published piece, plus your own publication and subdomain and reader comments. Upgrade to Publisher Max ($9/month) when you need more.

Question 28

Can a reader account become a publisher account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A reader can tap 'Start your own publication' from their Account page at any time. Suru upgrades the account to a reporter, starts the publisher onboarding, and preserves any follows, comments or backings already attached to the account.

Question 29

Is Suru available on mobile?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Suru is designed mobile-first. The capture flow — voice, photos, video, geo-tagging — is built for use in the field from your phone.

Question 30

Where is Suru available?

Accepted Answer

Suru is available wherever independent writers and journalists are online. The platform is built for independent publishers in any English-speaking market, and we continue to expand language and regional support based on what publishers need.

Question 31

Who built Suru?

Accepted Answer

Suru is a DoublePortrait Labs production.

Everything you might want to know about Suru.

About Suru

Capturing & publishing stories

Publications & URLs

Pricing & payments

Editorial standards

Getting started

Still have a question?