There are hundreds of different email newsletter platforms and software around, so selecting the right one has always been a task that is harder than it should be, the good news is that if you've landed on this page you're likely looking at Beehiiv vs Substack and choosing between these two.

The good news is, you've already picked two great platforms to host your newsletter on, so no matter which you end up going with you'll be on to a winner, having said that, the below guide will help you work out which is right for you.

We've researched and had hands on experience with both companies and in our honest opinion, although both are very similar, Beehiiv is the best choice and this is mainly down to the fact that they don't take a cut of the membership fees you charge unlike Substack who do. This can end being a substantial amount and as you grow this amount grows. The other differences are more down to personal preference when using the two different platforms to design the newsletter, we personally prefer Beehiiv's interface but others will prefer Substack.

Beehiiv and Substack Overview

Chances are you know both of these companies, however below is an overview of each along with their core offerings and what makes them stand out.

Beehiiv

Founded in 2021, Beehiiv may be a newer company, but its exceptional growth can be put down to the impressive range of services and features it offers. As expected from an email newsletter platform, Beehiiv boasts an intuitive user interface that allows you to seamlessly create newsletters, send them and analyze them.

Beehiiv has been specifically designed with growth in mind, catering to the specific needs of flourishing newsletters. One of the unique selling points is its cost-effective and transparent pricing model, ensuring users have a clear understanding of their monthly expenses without any unpleasant surprises of overage charges. Moreover, content creators will appreciate that Beehiiv does not levy platform fees on revenue earned from subscribers, making it a very compelling choice.

The platform's reputation is further cemeted by it's use by some of the best newsletters around including Milk Road, Cult of Mac, The Dink, Madhappy, Overtime, The Boston Globe and hundreds more.

Beehiiv.com focuses on simplicity, making it an excellent choice for writers and creators starting their journey without unnecessary complications holding them back.

The dashboard is simple, clean and powerful, with all the tools you'll need to start growing your audience and making more money, as you can see below it s a great place to start your newsletter journey. Check out our Beehiiv review for more in-depth details about the platform to see if it's the exact fit for you and your company.

Core features

• Send customized newsletter
• Tools to help scale your subscribers and audience
• Analyze your readers, create segments and much more
• Introduce paid memberships with 0% fees (except Stripe fees)
• Inbuilt referral program
• Access Ad Network
• Newsletter recommendation to grow for free
• AI built specifically for newsletters
• Various subscribe forms with custom fields

What we love

• A powerful email newsletter platform focused around helping you grow your list and business
• No fee on memberships (except Stripe fees) - compared to Substack that take 10%
• A great free plan for those with under 2,500 subscribers
• Competitive pricing when you opt for a paid plan
• Beehiiv have recently introduced AI to help you write better
• Founded by members of the team behind Morning Brew (which grew to 4 million subscribers and $50m in revenue)

What we don't love

• Some of the good features aren't available on the free plan
• If you have over 2,500 subscribers there's no free option

Substack

Substack, founded in 2017, has gained widespread recognition as a leading digital publishing platform. It was among the pioneering companies that thrived during the newsletter company boom, where specialized companies centered around newsletters emerged, flourished, and achieved significant success.

For years, Substack has been a favored choice, offering core features that enable users to design, create, manage, send, and analyze newsletters. Additionally, it provides blogging capabilities, options to add paid members, and more, making it a comprehensive solution for writers and publishers.

However, the market dynamics have evolved with the entrance of new players like Beehiiv, challenging the once straightforward recommendation for Substack. The rise of Beehiiv and similar platforms has introduced compelling alternatives for newsletter creators.

Substack's appeal lies in its payment system, empowering writers to monetize their content through direct subscriber charges. This innovative approach has attracted writers seeking fresh revenue streams, and the 10% subscription fee cut, though relatively low compared to other platforms, is still a consideration.

Central to Substack's success is its emphasis on independent journalism and commentary, fostering a vibrant community of passionate writers and readers who value the written word's influence and impact.

With its user-friendly interface and robust payment system, Substack continues to play a significant role in the digital publishing landscape, supporting and empowering independent creators and journalists for years to come. However, the competitive landscape is evolving, and the emergence of platforms like Beehiiv adds new dimensions to the decision-making process for newsletter creators.

Core features

• Create your own newsletter
• Publish to your blog
• Introduce paid memberships (10% fee + Stripe fees)
• Ability to do podcasts

Below you'll see what the Substack dashboard looks like, it's very clean and user friendly, making adding new posts and newsletters a breeze.

Things we love

• A great choice for a newsletter platform.
• User-friendly and easy to navigate.
• Unlimited free subscribers, making it accessible to a broader audience.
• Seamlessly integrates everything from blogging to newsletters and payment systems in one convenient place.
• Ability to Podcast on Substack too

Things we don't like

• The 10% fee on memberships is a hard one to swallow when Beehiiv offer 0% fees
• Limited customizations
• $50 fee to set up a custom domain

Comparing the pricing

A crucial aspect to consider when comparing Substack and Beehiiv is their pricing. Starting out, it's vital to keep costs low, but it's equally important to choose a platform with pricing that remains suitable as your business expands. You don't want to be locked into expensive software as your growth progresses.

‍Beehiiv pricing

You'll find there are three main plans that Beehiiv offer as well as an Enterprise plan for larger companies, the difference between plans is largely down to the number of subscribers you have as well as the features you want.

The three plans are:

• Launch - Free - This plan is for up to 2,500 subscribers
• Grow - $42 a month (if paid annually) or $49 billed monthly - More features and for up to 10,000 subscribers
• Scale - $84 a month (if paid annually) or $99 billed monthly - Even more features and for 10,000+ subscribers up to 100k

For those over 100,000 subscribers there is the Enterprise plan, pricing for this will vary and you'll need to get in touch with them to find it out.

Substack pricing

Substack does things a little differently to Beehiiv, there are no monthly fees and it's free for unlimited number of free subscribers, they then charge if you opt for paid subscriptions, here they take a 10% cut of each transaction, you'll also have to pay the credit card fees which is generally around (2.9% + $0.30 per transactions as well as a billing fee for recurring payments (0.5%)

• No monthly fees
• 10% of each transaction
• + Stripe card processing fees
• Unlimited free subscribers

So which is better?

The quesiton of Substack vs Beehiiv depends on your business needs and newsletter plans. If your intention is to send out newsletters and publish on a blog without charging your subscribers, Substack would be the preferable option. However, if you plan to introduce a paid membership, Beehiiv would be the better choice. Substack takes a 10% cut, which can accumulate over time, while Beehiiv's fee-free approach could potentially save you thousands every month.

An example of costs

Let's say you have a newsletter business and have 6,000 subscribers and introduce a paid membership option of $7 and have 1,000 sign up to it. You'll be bringing in $7,000 per month in subscriber revenue but lets take a look how much each platform would charge:

1,000 paid subscribers at $7 a month = $7,000 a month

As Stripe fees are the same for both we'll ignore these for this comparison as they cancel each other out.

Total Beehiiv costs = $42 - Made up of plan fee of $42 a month, 0% cut and a Stripe fee

Total income with Beehiiv = $7,000 minus $42 = $6,958 (minus Stripe fees)

Total Substack cost = $700- Made up of $0 monthly fee, 10% cut and a Stripe fee

Total income with Substack = $6,300 (minus Stripe fees)

As you can see, in this scenario, you're over $650 better off using Beehiiv over Substack.

Pricing summary

We recommend that you work out how many paid subscribers you have or plan on getting and then work out a rough idea of how much each platform will cost you. Beehiiv in generally will make more sense when you have anything over a $400 a month in paid subscribers. If your planning on a newsletter that is solely free subscribers, then Substack will generally be the better option as you'll incur no monthly fees.

Don't forget if you do opt for Beehiiv then you can enjoy a Beehiiv promo code where you'll get 20% off your three months with code: FP20 on the Beehiiv.com website if you're a new customer. You can also pair this with other software and deals such as our Google Workspace promo codes to create a tech stack to grow your business without spending too much money.

Our thoughts overall

We've trialled and tested both platforms, finding little to differentiate in terms of features with both doing a fantastic job of providing newsletters, publishing to a blog and implementing paid memberships, however where Beehiiv excels is in it's pricing when it comes to having paid subscribers, although you'll have a monthly fee to pay Beehiiv this in generally will be tiny in comparison to the savings you could make as you'll not have to give any cut of the paid memberships to them, where as with Substack you'll have to give 10% off all paid memberships. This for us is a crucial and decision making difference and one that makes us sway to Beehiiv as our choice for newsletters.

In a nutshell, for those running a business where newsletters are or will become a source of revenue by charging, Beehiiv is the better choice, for those running a newsletter where you don't plan on introducing or having any paid memberships then Substack is the choice for you. P.s Don't forget when you visit Beehiiv here to enter the code: FP20 for 20% off your three months!

If you're still not sure, you could consider another option in our ConvertKit vs Beehiiv comparison.