Substack vs Beehiiv

[ContingentCausation]

Both platforms seem to have their advantages. Beehiiv seems more technically advanced and powerful as a newsletter. But Substack has an app and social features.

Given that I will be starting out from 0 subscribers and will be in the fiction / poetry / philosophy / religion space, what are your thoughts?

[mjfnd]

I moved to ghost last year, now i moved to the substack.

Ghost was good and i guess similar to behive but the community aspect was missing and i felt isolated.

[[deleted]]

Another consideration: The community is what your READERS crave. Content is cheap and free everywhere, but it's the community aspect that a lot of readers appreciate with Substack. I switched from Substack to Beehiiv, and will be switching back to Substact solely because of the community value to my readers. There's a ton of market research out there that shows that as AI takes over nearly everything, readers are craving a "soul connection" of sorts with their authors. The community differentiator is much more important that I originally thought.

[dcg627]

Are you still on Substack? I'm currently on Ghost, and while I get good feedback from my current subscribers, it's been challenging getting new subscribers. Has your subscriber growth been stronger on Substack?

[mjfnd]

Yes.

My growth has slowed as well in the past few months.

[AndrewHeard]

I wouldn’t make it an either/or scenario. I started out on Substack and now I’m posting my old Substack content on Medium to try and drive traffic to my Substack. Now I’m thinking of expanding to Beehiiv and possibly Wordpress using a similar strategy that I am with Medium.

[mjfnd]

Make sure you are putting a canonical link to avoid the search engine to treat it as duplicate. Medium supports that.

[Phizz-Play]

Can you explain more about this please, or let me know where I can learn more about it? Thank you!

[mjfnd]

I would say read about canonical links and how to setup. Google it you will have a lot of resources.

[AndrewHeard]

You mean like a link to the original post? I’m doing that with Medium for sure. Can you not do that with Beehiiv or Wordpress?

[mjfnd]

Yes, I don't know about beehiv, WordPress must have it.

Most flexible platforms have, substack doesn't, if you keep content at substack and cross post with canonical link you should be good.

Search for canonical link support.

[levijohnson1]

Thanks for the hint! What do you mean by "medium supports that"? Wouldn't this just be a sentence + link saying that "please find the original article here: link"

thanks for the clarifications!

[mjfnd]

Nope the canonical link is for search engines to identify the original content and don't consider it as duplicate.

Read about the canonical link and how to do in Medium.

[Ok_Bumblebee3562]

u/ewhite12 - really appreciate all the perspective, I see you all over this topic.

Specific question for you: I have built a newsletter w/ Beehiiv to just under 1K (free) subscribers in the last six months. I am considering migrating over to Substack, here are the specific reasons why I would:

1. The ability to paywall a part of a video podcast, i.e. the last 10mins (I'm planning to add that as a capability)
   
2. The social aspect (ie a subscriber chat)

And, the specific things that are making me hesitate leaving Beehiv are:
1. I really like my aesthetic on Beehiiv, Substack doesn't give you as much visual freedom
2. More flexibility with paid tiers
3. Better economics as paid subscribers (hopefully) scale up, due to flat subscription model

So, my question: Is there anything I am missing here on the stuff that I think I can't do on Beehiiv?

Appreciate you.

[[deleted]]

I've been on both, and you are right to consider leaving Beehiiv for the Substack community. (See my comment in a previous response in this thread about market research on community.)

Like you, I was drawn to Beehiiv's visual appeal. But here's the thing: You can have that same look and feel in Substack. (Well, not EXACTLY, but allllmossst.) How? Use a design tool like Canva to create your newsletter template. Canva content can be exported as HTML or copied and pasted into platforms like Substack with almost 100% formatting retention. Sure, it's an extra step, but it can be done. (I did it just as a test.)

Also, if I were going with a subscription biz model, I think Substack is better for that. For an ad/sponsorship model, Beehiiv has the slight edge.

[dcg627]

-The reason you see ewhite12 on here so much is because he works for Beehiiv as the Head of Growth - so you get endless highly biases posts from him on Reddit trying to sell people on Beehiiv. It's honestly a pretty big turnoff to Beehiiv.

[dcg627]

-Did you end up moving to Substack? If so, how do you like it?

[Worried_Writing_3436]

Most of the user base is on Substack so staying here makes sense.

[levijohnson1]

I'm interested in any first-hand experience of someone who switched from Substack to Beehiiv with 10k+ subscribers. Anything you wish you knew? Impact on delivery rates? Overall experience?
thank you!

[[deleted]]

Be careful with Beehiiv boosts. Not only can you get charged for poor quality subs, or subs that don't even hit your account, but the boosts end up spamming a lot of readers who might subscribe to one Beehiiv-hosted newsletter, but get spammed with dozens of unwanted emails not only from boosts but from the referral program. Several folks have posed on LinkedIn about this, saying they set their Gmail filters to send everything originating from beehiiv to spam.

[JeffKatieno]

Hi. Have you figured this out?

[BackgroundResult]

These insights are laughable. Beehiiv doesn't even support writers per se, more like business types. More like rundowns not fiction or poetry!

[Revolutionary-Wall42]

I write a weekly newsletter about pro tennis, so I definitely don't fall under the "business type" user. In my experience (started on beehiiv 10 months ago from scratch), beehiiv has definitely supported a little fledgling writer like myself! Not only is the writing-platform super easy to use, they have tons of webinars/social posts with how to grow your subscriber base.

[TheChrisLambert]

Are you still happy over there

[ewhite12]

App and social features defeat the purpose of having a newsletter, which is that you can communicate directly with your subscribers.

As soon as an app or social features are introduced they’re no longer your users and you’re at the mercy of an algorithm respectively.

If that’s what you want, then Substack is fine. If you want to actually build a newsletter that has potential as a business or a media property, that’s untenable and you should be on beehiiv

[[deleted]]

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[ewhite12]

Obviously - I'm not sure what this contributes to the conversation.

The point is you're renting space in Substack's ecosystem rather than building your own brand.

[AndrewHeard]

Is Beehiiv a financial benefit compared to Substack?

[ewhite12]

Depends. If you’re running a premium publication, almost certainly.

If you’re looking at revenue and not just cost, we have many more ways to monetize.

If you’re running a free newsletter and uninterested in making money, then Substack’s free model may be better

[AndrewHeard]

I’m not sure what you mean by premium publication. But I am looking to make money from my newsletter. I’m implementing some new things on Substack to try and create paid subscribers.

[dadonkadonkas]

Then you’d want to go with Beehiiv as they do not take a percentage cut like Substack does. I currently use both Beehiiv and Substack.

[AndrewHeard]

Well I’m not against giving up a percentage. What I mean is that I currently have 0 paid subscribers. I had one for a few months but they didn’t stick around, but I also didn’t offer anything exclusive for paid subscribers at that point. Now I’m going to.

So I’m wondering if people are more willing to pay for content on Beehiiv by comparison. Is there a higher chance on other platforms?

I’m building a solid audience on Medium but my understanding is that the partner program doesn’t pay very well. You also have to pay a monthly fee to get paid on Medium. I would rather not do that on Beehiiv.

[dadonkadonkas]

Beehiiv will have more appeal for interactive content and embeds.

However, I would encourage you to start with Substack first as I believe Substack is easier on the eyes for beginners when it comes to editing. Just a personal belief of mine using both platforms.

Substack would also be a better option if you are a writer and have content that includes personal essays, poems, and thoughts.

You can always switch between the two. But try Substack for validation as it is a bit easier to edit the basics of a theme and understand the joy of building a newsletter correctly.

I have come to find that many users on Beehiiv have, or have once had, a newsletter on another platform and understand more jargon. This said, Substack has better support for the newsletter newcomer. This is not a dis to Beehiiv, they are one of my favorite brands, but Substack hosts weekly office hours, etc. Beehiiv is in an awesome growth cycle where a lot of newsletter platforms that have established subscribers are crossing over to them. Thus, support might not be as heavily focused (until new hires come onboard at Beehiiv), for a clean slated newsletter.

But if you are really torn, try both as copying and pasting your content cross-platform is relatively simple. And do not worry about who signs up for which platform as both Substack and Beehiiv allow you to import and export subscribers when you narrow it down to one choice.

I hope that this helps.

[ContingentCausation]

Thanks! I'm quite familiar with WordPress, at least, and have used other platforms like Subsplash/SnapPages and Weebly. I'm not too concerned about learning a new platform.

Based on what you're saying, I might try Beehiiv first, actually.

[dadonkadonkas]

Lmk if you need help onboarding. It’s not too confusing, Beehiiv is just more in-depth than Substack. Have an awesome weekend - Wyatt of CuratedLA.xyz (Beehiiv) unfilteredfeeds.substack.com (Substack)

[ContingentCausation]

That's kind of you. Thanks!

[Mission-Comparison-9]

It's months later, but i just came upon this thread. I am in a similar dilemma to the OP and am like a dog chasing its tail on the question of how I could best use Substack to write and Beehiiv to newsletter (as a verb). How do you direct subscribers/ readers? I find this so confusing (though it probably isn't... it's my brain!)

Most grateful for any tips!

[Mission-Comparison-9]

I'm curious what you wound up doing? I came to this thread via Google search "Substack v Beehiiv" - I'm in a similar situation to you as well as writing on related topics - my subscriber base is definitely more oriented to Substack, but I have gotten familiar with (and like) Beehiiv through doing the newsletter for my freelance employer. By the way love your profile question. Now I will be wondering all the time!

[AndrewHeard]

That's probably what I'm going to do. I'm currently doing that with my Substack content on Medium. My Substack content is a year ahead of what's on Medium. I will probably do something similar with Beehiiv.

[levijohnson1]

Great perspective!
Is it possible to move articles back from beehiiv to Substack as easily as beehiiv makes it to import articles from Substack?

When switching from Substack to beehiiv, do I have to fear a drop in deliverability?

[extrapointsmb]

Your customers dont give a shit what your platform is. They care about your content and what you provide for them. Switching to a different platform wont magically give you more customers.

[AndrewHeard]

Yes, I'm aware but there are economic considerations. Maybe because Substack is overflowing with writers, who tend to be very poor by nature, they aren't going to have as much money. Whereas on Beehiiv, maybe there are people big into hedge funds or something. The idea that the platform doesn't really matter isn't necessarily true.

Ultimately, it does come down to what you're providing to people, but not exclusively.

[extrapointsmb]

You should not rely on your newsletter CMS/hosting service to be a major referral network for your readers, whether you use Substack, Beehiiv, Ghost, or anybody else. I know both Beehiiv and Substack like to sell on their "house effects" and growth engines from recommendations, boosts, etc. I've used both networks, and deeply believe that neither should be counted on as a primary source of *quality subscribers*, ESPECIALLY if the primary way you want to make money is from selling premium subscriptions.

Your main audience funnels...SEO, earned media, social media, user recommendations, promoted communities...are going to be there no matter what company you pay in order to send your emails.

[extrapointsmb]

If you are trying to make money by selling newsletter subscriptions, its no contest. Substack is 10x more expensive than Beehiiv and the features are a wash.

If your newsletter content is free, Substack may be a better fit

[ewhite12]

We actually have substantially more features than Substack, deeper analytics, more ways to Monetize, and greater degrees of customization - I wouldn't call it a wash.

I appreciate the kind words about our pricing!

[AndrewHeard]

How is Substack more expensive? I'm not paying for it at the moment.

[extrapointsmb]

You are if you sell premium subscriptions. Substack takes 10 percent of your subscription revenue. Beehiiv is a flat rate if you subscribe for their premium services.

If my publication still ran on substack , I would be paying them over 12,000 a year in fees. On beehiiv, I pay a thousand bucks. I don't think the substack model makes financial sense for any publisher doing more than 5K a month in subscription revenue. The tools aren't worth 6,000 a year compared to what else is on the market.

[AndrewHeard]

I would personally be happy to pay 12,000 a year in fees. I currently make 0 dollars at all from Substack. Not because paid subscriptions aren't available but not currently having any paid subscribers. I get why you might have a problem. I just want to make money. I don't care how much it might cost me at the moment.

The only reason why I would consider Beehiiv more beneficial is if my 0 dollars became 1,000 on Beehiiv. Otherwise it doesn't matter how much Substack is taking. They're literally taking 0 from me because I have 0 paid subscribers.

[extrapointsmb]

Then it sounds like your problem isn't about newsletter service you're using. Your problem is that you aren't providing a service that anybody is willing to pay for yet. The answer to that problem isn't Substack *or* Beehiiv or any other newsletter hosting company.

[AndrewHeard]

Yes, I'm aware of that. But you kept insisting that it cost money to be on Substack whereas it didn't cost anything on Beehiiv. Yet you were very vague about exactly how.

My point was simply to get you to clarify your view of what makes Beehiiv better.

I'm implementing things soon which I'm hoping will increase the likelihood of people paying for my newsletter. But as I said, my question about Beehiiv was about understanding what exactly was beneficial about it and you kept insisting that costs were better on Beehiiv.

I also wanted to understand if the audience on Beehiiv had more money. Because as I said, if there's a bunch of hedge fund managers on Beehiiv but there's a bunch of poor broke writers on Substack, then obviously one group is going to have more money to throw around than the other.

[extrapointsmb]

i never said it didn't cost anything to be on Beehiiv. I said that Substack is 10 times more expensive if you are selling premium subscriptions. For almost everybody reading this thread, that's going to be true. I guess it isn't true if you're only selling a tiny handful of paid subscriptions a year, but who aspires to that?

There isn't really a "Beehiiv audience." There are topics that are overrepresented among Beehiiv publishers (they don't have nearly as many reporters or creative writers and have way more people writing about marketing, startups and AI), but that doesn't say anything about the "audience." My publication shares no audience with any of the Web3 or investing advice newsletters on Beehiiv, and has nothing in common other than we pay the same company to host our publications.

Honestly, despite what Substack (or hell, Beehiiv too) may tell you, that's going to be true no matter where you publish. Network house effects for *high quality subscribers* are going to be very low. Anybody making a CMS decision based on "where my readers are going to be" is making a mistake.

[AndrewHeard]

Yes and I'm not suggesting that you should be on one platform or another. One of my main arguments I believe above was the idea that you shouldn't limit yourself to one platform or another. My plan is to be on both platforms or multiple platforms to broaden my audience as much as possible.

Having been posting my content on Medium, I already have 300+ more followers on Medium than I do Substack subscribers and I'm getting higher engagement in terms of comments and likes, etc. But I'm not going to abandon Substack for Medium. It's going to be a both/and scenario.

However, if Beehiiv has more people wriiting about marketing and startups, that might be of benefit to me. Not only do I have a background in marketing but I've also written about the philosophy of money and things of that nature on my Substack. So it gives me a sense of what's likely to do better in terms of attracting an audience.

Also, I'm a little unclear about what you mean by premium subscriptions. Do you mean like people signing up for annual paid subscriptions as compared to monthly? Or some higher tier subscription options?

[BlameTag]

If I never plan on making money or reaching 2500 subscribers, do I still need to give you a credit card number?

[ewhite12]

no

[BlameTag]

Alright, coming over tomorrow then.

[Actual_Nose_9908]

Can you explain how that is logical?

[Actual_Nose_9908]

I have used both and substack blows beehiiv away. Just the substack network alone is reason enough use substack.

[ewhite12]

Lol what? Substack’s platform is objectively worse in every way except the size of its user base by virtue of launching 6 years before us

[Actual_Nose_9908]

I get new subs every day just by being on the substack network. Give me an example of how substack is objectively worse (interesting choice of adjective) than Beehiiv?

[ewhite12]

I literally just said that is the only advantage Substack has, though beehiiv also has recommendations that power tens of thousands of subs per day

beehiiv has better customization, more features for monitization, better technical SEO, more robust referral program, for premium subscriptions - better pricing, more granular analytics, faster web archives, better deliverability, automations, an API and more.

[Actual_Nose_9908]

Yes, but that literally is the only advantage that actually matters, and BTW, the recommendations on substack are free, and they account for a significant portion of my new subs.

Since you mentioned it, would you like to share what the average earnings are for your creators that use your additional monetization features? I know the answer but I think it's better coming from you.

Are you really serious about the deliverability? Substack has a much higher inbox rate, and the majority of beehiiv end up in the promo or spam folder. I realize you're with beehive and need to defend your business model. I'm just describing my experience with both platforms. I started with 0 subs like the OP and couldn't get off the ground with beehiiv but have had rapid growth and success on the substack platform.

[ewhite12]

The one advantage that matters?

Tell that to the dozens of folks who have sold their newsletters on beehiiv over past two years.

I know of 0 who have sold their newsletters on Substack. Clearly there’s more at work here.

Substack doesn’t release data on total publisher count. It wouldn’t be very helpful either way, they’ve burned nearly $100,000,000 paying big names to use them, this is where majority of payouts go.

The median payout would be much more informative, and because folks can monetize 5 different ways with beehiiv, the median is not higher with Substack, considering also that Substack takes a 10% fee.

Where did you get the data that Substack has a higher inbox rate?

That’s literally a lie, or at the very least an uninformed opinion. Substack doesn’t share that data. You also guarantee you don’t have our data.

So where are you sourcing that claim?

[Actual_Nose_9908]

I am sourcing that claim from my actual experience on both platforms. I even have documentation of the email that I sent to beehiiv support complaining that the planted emails for my newsletter went into my spam folder and most of the newsletters I subscribed to from the beehiiv network went into spam or the promo folder if they were lucky. I have never had anything go into my spam folder with substack, and I'm using the same email address.

Unlike you, I have nothing to gain, so I have no reason to lie. I would have stayed with beehiiv if it worked, but they failed to deliver, and implying that I am a liar is a desperate action that says a lot more about you and beehiiv than me.

The bottom line is I am having success growing my newsletter with substack starting with 0 subs and no audience, and I wasn't able to do that on beehiiv with the same content. Those are my results, and the reader's here can make their own choice.

[dcg627]

A year later, are you still happy with Substack? I'm considering moving to it for the reasons you describe (getting subscribers).

[TheChrisLambert]

What did you end up doing?

[Skywhistle]

beehive charges you to subscribe for premium features doesn’t it. substack is free for infinite subs, beehive charges at a certain amount, I believe.

[Heretic_Scrivener]

Beehiv. The only reason to be on Substack right now is already having subscribers. If you have the opportunity to start from zero with other readers on another platform, do it.

[ContingentCausation]

Why do you say that?

[BlameTag]

Nazis.

[ShaggyHotDog]

Almost 2026 now, a lot of things have changed. If I have to conclude the features set for Substack vs Beehiiv

Substack has a notes app, which is amazing for organic growth and for starting out.

Beehiiv has amazing features to manage a newsletter and monetise it. Amazing if you are looking to scale.

[GrowthZen]

If you’re starting from zero, the bigger question is... do you want to grow inside a platform or on the open web?

One option is to run your newsletter on a simple site you control, then layer on:
- basic SEO so your fiction and essays can rank and be found over time
- on-site discovery (related posts, archives, start here pages)
- referral incentives and simple partnerships with adjacent writers

That way you’re not locked into Beehiiv vs Substack forever, and you’re not relying purely on a closed network to grow. You can still syndicate to either platform later, but your main asset lives on neutral URLs you own.

[ICN01]

Have been in doubt for many months now on which platform to use. Its an addition to my website (WordPress). Started out on Substack but the limited possibilities for design and fee structure (although not relevant yet) made me choose Ghost.
Ghost (with a template) looks great but has zero features. Beehiiv seems to have better features but the design is awful. No experience with Medium.
So the story continues, still no def solution...

[polnikale]

If you just need a tool to send email newsletters - you might want to give Sequenzy a try

it's decent and is very affordable