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What makes building a Medium clone such a fun project for developers? This blog shows how to create a clean, modern Medium clone from setup to deployment. Learn to blend coding skills with creativity and bring your publishing platform idea to life.
Every developer at some point thinks, “I could totally build that.”
And when it comes to platforms like Medium, you actually can.
In this blog, we’re building a Medium clone that’s clean, modern, and full-stack without the usual headache. Ever wondered what happens when code meets creativity?
We’ll go from setup to deployment, mixing serious dev talk with a bit of fun.
Because it’s fun to play god with your own publishing platform. You get to control the writing flow, tweak the user interface, and watch your users post, comment, and rant about everything, just like a real platform.
Here’s what’s in it for you:
Full control: Your own layout, your own posts, your own drama.
Core features: From user authentication to in app purchases, it’s all your playground.
Learning curve: It’s a complete hands-on full stack project frontend, backend, and everything between your keyboard and caffeine.
Building something like this isn’t just about cloning. It’s about understanding how things actually tick.
Before we dive into the code jungle, let’s get a bird’s-eye view of what we’re actually building. Think of this as the blueprint before the bricks the part where we pretend we’ve got everything under control (and maybe, just maybe, we do).
So here’s what your medium clone will have:
Users who can sign up, write, and complain about bugs
A place to create posts and upload images
A way to write articles that look good on any browser
Comments for polite arguments
Optional in app purchases for those who want to read “exclusive” stories
And yes, some ai powered magic for summaries and tagging
So yeah, that’s the menu. Now roll up your sleeves it’s time to make this thing real before someone else calls their version “the next big thing.”
Alright, time to flex a little. You’ve built the basics now let’s sprinkle in some features that make your Medium clone feel less “project demo” and more “startup pitch.”
Add an ai powered helper that summarizes your posts or suggests tags. It’s like a polite intern that never takes breaks.
Hook up a payment gateway. Let users pay for “premium” stories (the kind that maybe no one asked for, but someone will buy). It’s good functionality and keeps your app sustainable.
And there you have it a dash of AI, a pinch of monetization, and boom, your app’s suddenly the smart kid in class.
Let’s take a quick peek under the hood. Sometimes a visual makes everything click especially when your brain’s juggling APIs, servers, and databases. Here’s a simple flow of how everything talks to each other:
This shows how users move through the platform, from typing articles in the frontend to saving them in the database. Pretty neat, right?
Set up your production environment variables, plug in your MongoDB instance, and run npm run build. Push your repository to GitHub, then clone it into your hosting service.
Don’t forget to test everything after deployment. If the posts, comments, and AI-powered summaries all display properly, congrats, you just built a Medium clone that actually works.
You’re not the only one turning big platforms into personal projects. Developers everywhere are building their own clones like this guy on r/reactjs , who spent two months crafting a full-stack Twitter replica just for the fun (and bragging rights) of it. So yeah, your Medium clone? You’re in good company.
You’ve built the shiny stuff, but before you brag about it online, let’s make sure it actually works. Testing might sound boring until your app crashes in front of your friends.
Think of these as little lie detectors for your code. Each function and route gets its own mini checkup to confirm it’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to nothing more, nothing less.
This is where you make sure all your moving parts backend, frontend, APIs actually talk to each other like civilized software. It’s like couple therapy for your app’s components.
Because users will notice that one misaligned button. This ensures everything on-screen behaves as expected when clicked, typed, or hovered over.
A little testing now saves you from a lot of regret later. Once everything passes, you’ve officially earned the right to say, “Yeah, it just works.”.
Tired of writing the same boilerplate code that every tutorial swears is “just a few steps”?
Yeah, we get it.
Rocket.new is your shortcut to building a Medium clone, without the pain of starting from scratch. Just describe what you want (“a blog app with AI summaries, comments, and premium posts”), and Rocket.new spins it up for you.
You can:
Generate your frontend, backend, and database in minutes
Add AI-powered features with a single prompt
Deploy your app faster than you can say npm run dev
Basically, Rocket.new helps you skip the grunt work and jump straight to the “this looks awesome” part of the project.
So if your goal is to build a Medium clone without losing your weekend Rocket.new might be your new favorite co-pilot.
You’ve got everything frontend, backend, database, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. You learned how to create, test, upload, and launch your own Medium clone with real-world features and some AI-powered spark.
The journey doesn’t end here. Keep improving your app, add more core features, and who knows… maybe your clone becomes the next big thing.
