Beehiiv Vs Substack: The Difference Between Two Newsletter Platforms

Choosing the right platform for your newsletter is crucial and challenging, especially when countless of them exist. Although there are hundreds of newsletter platforms, there is no lie that Beehiiv and Substack are comprehensively leading the pack. These platforms offer a great deal of features for both creators and readers, with their fair share of pros and cons. We will discuss everything in detail to make this search easier for you.

So, let's dive into a thorough comparison between Beehiiv and Substack.

Overview: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Before we dive into the features, pricing, and optimization factors on both platforms, here's a quick overview of Beehiiv and Substack.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv became a prominent newsletter platform soon after its birth in 2021. It stood out in the immense market through its straightforward pricing plans with no hidden charges. Beehiiv offers a free program for creators with a limit of subscribers (up to 2,500 subscribers). Moreover, it doesn't deduct any platform fees from your paid subscriber revenue, which makes it a favorite choice for many.

This newsletter platform also offers an excellent range of choices for creating and customizing newsletters. You can effortlessly create, send, and keep a check on your newsletter performance with Beehiiv. Plus, it is easy for beginners, with no complicated features and codes.

Not only newsletters, Beehiiv also supports blogs, which makes it a great choice for writers. Undoubtedly, it is a platform with excellent growth opportunities for writers, creators, and publishers. Some big newsletters like Cult of Mac, The Dink, Overtime, and Milk Road using Beehiiv leave no room to question the platform's reliability.

Substack

In 2017, Substack was established mainly as a platform to generate and publish newsletters. Now, it serves as a multiple-content platform, including newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and more. Like Beehiiv, it allows users to customize, create, send, and analyze newsletter performance. It is a user-friendly platform with a very minimalistic dashboard for new publishers and creators. However, the fewer customization choices bother advanced publishers to some extent.

Substack offers a forever free program with unlimited subscribers, charging 10% of the subscriber revenue. With the help of subscriber charges, Substack has made monetizing newsletters a piece of cake for publishers. It has been an excellent platform for individual journalists willing to grow their newsletters. However, the recent competition has raised uncertainty for publishers about whether to use Substack or explore other options.

Read the Top Substack newsletters.

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Ease of Use and Features: Beehiiv vs. Substack

User-friendliness is essential for any newsletter platform to become users' favorite. The features should be easy for writers and publishers of all levels, from beginners to experts. Have a look at where Beehiiv and Substack stand on the user's ease of use scale:

Beehiiv

Beehiiv is a user-friendly newsletter platform with a simple dashboard that gives a clean vibe. The drag-and-drop editor allows users to focus on their newsletter without distraction. Plus, there is no need to incorporate any codes for advanced features. Apart from these factors, Beehiiv also allows adding custom HTML in newsletters catering to the needs of advanced publishers.

Substack

Substack has a clean and minimal dashboard, which makes it a preferred choice for new publishers. The features available on the top allow users to keep their focus on the newsletter. Substack offers limited features and editing options, which is unsatisfactory for creators. Also, it does not allow adding custom HTML and JavaScript, which hinders advanced creators.

Customization and Content Creation: Beehiiv vs. Substack

A publisher never wants all their newsletters to appear exactly alike, so they customize and edit newsletter templates. Below is a look at the customization account of Beehiiv and Substack:

Beehiiv

What I Like:

• Beehiiv has diverse customization options for your newsletter without the need for coding
• You can customize your newsletter to stand out from others in a blink
• It allows you to save a template page to save time when you use it next time

What I Don't Like:

• It offers limited website customization options

Substack

What I Like:

• Its minimal customization approach makes editing more manageable with no distractions
• Simple options make it a good choice for beginners

What I Don't Like:

• The platform has limited newsletter customization options available
• While publishers expect more from Substack, it offers only three newsletter templates
• It provides little to no website customization options

SEO: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Regarding SEO, the truth is that Beehiiv is better than Substack. Both platforms allow using custom domains and meta-description editing with good website speed. However, more SEO options and flexibility give Beehiiv a clear advantage over Substack in terms of SEO.

Beehiiv

The most crucial difference is that Beehiiv allows custom HTML, as well as sponsored and nofollow tags. 

Substack

On the other hand, Substack lags as it doesn't allow any such SEO feature, which disappoints publishers and creators.

You can get help with your newsletter SEO by publishing a review on our site. Do you want to submit your newsletter? Work with us here.

Pricing: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Pricing is a major factor to consider before you finalize a newsletter platform. While it is necessary to avoid paying a hefty amount in the beginning, it is equally vital to consider your long-term newsletter revenue. So, let's see what Beehiiv and Substack got in their pricing plans:

Beehiiv

Beehiiv has a transparent pricing program that shows all charges upfront. It mainly offers four plans to serve all publishers, from beginners to big companies. These include:

Launch: It is a free plan for publishers with up to 2,500 subscribers and offers limited features.

Grow: This plan is for publishers with growing newsletters having subscribers under ten thousand. It offers extra features, and the monthly charge of this plan is $49.

Scale: This plan facilitates creators having up to a hundred thousand subscribers with more advanced features. Beehiiv charges $99 per month for this plan.

Beehiiv also offers a discount for both plans if charges are paid yearly. In addition, there is an enterprise plan for companies with over a hundred thousand subscribers. The charges of the enterprise plan may vary based on different aspects, including subscribers and features.

Substack

Substack offers a free lifetime plan for all users without any subscriber count limitations. However, it charges 10% of every transaction in the paid membership plan. Plus, you have to pay the Stripe card fee.

Monetization and Growth: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Monetization is an essential aspect to ensure your newsletter growth. Let's see what Beehiiv and Substack have to offer for monetizing your newsletter,

Beehiiv

Beehiiv offers subscriber insights that help you grow your newsletter by working in the right direction. It provides different ways to generate revenue, including donations and paid memberships. In addition, it allows marketing and sponsorship ads and affiliate marketing on your newsletters. The platform does not cut any fee or a profit percentage from the paid subscriber revenue.

Substack

Substack allows users to find and subscribe to new newsletters within the platform. This feature is a brilliant source of growth for all new and big newsletters. Regarding revenue, paid membership/subscribers are the primary source of revenue generation on Substack. It is important to mention that it charges a 10% platform fee on all subscriber transactions.

Like Beehiiv, Substack offers affiliate marketing for revenue and subscriber insights for better growth. However, features like sponsored and marketing ads are unavailable, which is a turn-off for many.

Subscriber Data Analysis: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Knowing what's working best for you is crucial when working on a newsletter or blog. You must know where your subscribers are coming from and what caught their attention. I'm glad Beehiiv and Substack do a commendable job in this regard.

Both platforms provide insights into subscriber data to help you grow better. When you know such details, you know the right path to work and focus on, which will result in better and more frequent growth.

Things We Love About Beehiiv and Substack

Beehiiv

Substack

Wide range of features and customization options

Minimal and simple dashboard for new creators

Deducts no platform fee from subscriber revenue

Lifetime free program with unlimited subscribers

Allows custom HTML and sponsored tags

Detailed subscriber insights

Allows marketing ads

Allows multiple types of content: Newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and more

Beehiiv vs Substack: Which One is better?

There is no doubt that both Beehiiv and Substack are two of a kind and the most popular newsletter platforms. While Substack is a good choice for beginners with its easy-to-use features and free program, Beehiiv is the perfect pick for expert publishers with its advanced features. However, considering all the features and services, I am slightly inclined towards Beehiiv for its extensive customization options and scalability benefits.

Analyze the pros and cons of both platforms according to your needs and preferences to find the most suitable one for your requirements.

Also read: What are some of the most read topics on Substack?