[1] When Compact was launched, its listed contributors and contributing editors were described by The New York Times as ideologically diverse, including religiously conservative Catholics, populists, and dissident Marxist feminists.

[2][3] Planning for the launch of the magazine began in 2020 between Ahmari and Schmitz, who later incorporated Aponte on the condition that half of the site's content cover "material concerns".

[4][5] Co-founder Edwin Aponte exited the magazine in late 2022 over political differences after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision was leaked to the public.

McManus further wrote that "Compact's ambition is to argue for a strong social democratic state that also resists libertine ideologies and upholds local, national, familial, and religious communities.

Slade wrote: "By bringing a 'labor populism' with deep roots in the socialist tradition and a 'political Catholicism' that questions the very separation of church and state under a single roof, Compact has built an intellectual meeting place not just for post-liberal conservatives but for anti-liberals of every stripe.