Can anyone tell me whats the difference between gold accounts and the subscriptions?

A subscription gives you a gold account, but you can buy them separately as well, with the gold account medals. Plus the subscription comes with other perks as well, like the subscription item and buddy gold accounts. :) And you'll have a gold account while the subscription is active, versus activating a medal every time you want a gold account.

The Gold Account gives you a variety of perks which you can read more about here. You can purchase a gold account medal from users / user shops or from the cash shop. The gold accounts range in time from one week (1 Week Gold Account Medal) to a year (12 Month Gold Account Medal) with the most common probably being the 1 Month Gold Account Medal.

Subscriptions are a monthly payment program. There are four tiers to the program. Read all about them here. All four options of the subscription program include the monthly gold account, with the other tiers also including additional perks. One of those perks in the "buddy gold account" which is a giftable gold account that is not a physical item. You can purchase these sometimes from other users as well.

If you have any questions about the perks of the Gold Accounts (GA) from that page I linked or about the benefits of the subscriptions from the page I linked just let me know!

If you respond to me make sure to "ping" me by using the @ symbol and my name (Faune) so I get a notification.

Not only can you buy the gold account medals but users will also host contests throughout the year on the forums: Depending on the contest's holder/s, a GA medal, or sometimes a GA buddy account, would be up for grabs as a top-tier prize. Your best bet is to lurk on the forums during Subeta's holidays and see if they offer them. I just did one during Luminaire where every participant wound up getting a buddy GA from me since I had so many floating around :)