Beehiiv vs Substack [2024] Pay, Features Comparison 

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Looking at Beehiiv vs Substack, I’ll make it really easy for you.

If you want dead simple and want to pay $0, just use Substack. But if you’re creating a real business, you’ll want Beehiv. I’ll explain.

I’ve been making money online for over a decade. Anytime a product is free, it’s because YOU are the product. 

I get it though. If you’re a writer and don’t mind sharing big chunks of your profit down the road, Substack is a perfectly fine platform. It works.

If you consider yourself a business or a content creator who dreams of independence, take a closer look at Beehiv.

Arnold Schwarzenegger uses Beehive for his
Arnold Schwarzenegger uses Beehiv to email his fans and promote his app.

For my hands-on learners, Beehiv is currently offering a 30-day free trial, no card required.

Also, I’ve got a sick hack for those of you who don’t mind doing crazy stuff. (Chill, it’s legal.)

Beehiiv vs Substack Overview

On average, people check their email 77 times a day. 1 Holy macaroni and cheese ‘n rice! 

This means if you’re not emailing your fans and prospects, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

You can use either Beehiiv or Substack to create an email newsletter, but that doesn’t mean the platforms are the same. 

Let’s take a careful look at both options in the Beehiiv vs Substack conversation. 

But first, here’s my hack option that only the craziest of you will do. But I’ll share the sauce anyhow.

Get yourself in the Beehiiv. It’s free until you reach 2,500 subscribers. And they’ve got that free 30-day trial. So nothing to lose. Ok, now it gets interesting.

ALSO sign up for Substack, which is totally free. Use both. Publish on both. Use Substack’s Recommendation Network to leverage its huge user base to grow your subscriber numbers. 

Then, export your subscriber email addresses. Upload them to Beehiiv. 

Best of both worlds.

Eventually, you can decide which service you like better.

The idea is you’ll reach people who hang out on Substack. Remember, if you’re able to sell thousands of paid subscriptions to your newsletter, Substack is going to peel off 10% of your money. With Beehiiv, you keep 100% of it.

Beehiiv lets creators keep more of their profits.
If you sell a premium newsletter for $5 a month to 5,000 subscribers, you’d lose nearly $30,000 in fees to Substack.

What Is Beehiiv and How Does Beehiiv Work?

Have you heard of Morning Brew? Ya know, the super popular email newsletter that the co-founders sold part of – part of – for a valuation of $75 million dollars.

Well, the first employees at Morning Brew said, hmm, we helped them do it. Let’s build incredible software to help other people do that, too. And so they created Beehiiv.

Beehiiv (sometimes misspelled as Beehiv) is an email newsletter platform that gives you the tools and data you need to succeed.

Famous Internet personality and Excel exert, Miss Excel, uses beehiiv for her email newsletter.
Miss Excel uses Beehiiv for her email newsletter. She makes millions of dollars a year selling online courses.

What’s great about Beehiiv is that it has everything you need already built into it. 

This Beehiiv tutorial shows you the features in action:

  1. Creation. This is where you use Beehiiv’s tools to launch your website and start your newsletter.
  1. Publication. Beehiiv’s text editor helps you improve your copy. Tend to write convoluted sentences? Beehiiv can sort that out for you. They’ll also automate the sending of emails, which means your readers will receive your newsletter at the exact time you think is best.
  1. Growth. Your email newsletter should be strategically designed to get more subscribers. Beehiiv gives you the tools you need to make this happen – including popups, magic links, subscribe forms, referral programs, and recommendation features for cross-promotion.
  1. Monetization. Even if you’re in it for the passion, not the money, you can’t pay your rent with good vibes! Beehiiv makes it easy to monetize your newsletter through ads, premium subscriptions, and cross-promotion with other newsletters on the platform.

So that’s the basic process, but Beehiiv gives you other tools, too. For example, you can insert surveys and polls into your newsletters. That’s the type of interactive content that boosts user engagement.

Beehiiv also gives you tools to analyze and improve your newsletter’s performance, including:

  • 3D analytics – See who’s reading your newsletter (so you can adjust your content accordingly).
  • A/B testing – Learn which subject lines get the best Open Rates
  • Integrations – Connect Beehiiv to Shopify, Asana, and other software tools you’re already using.
  • Segmentation – Divide your readers into cohorts (aka segments) so that you can give each group the content they’re craving.
Beehiiv makes it simple to monetize content and make money online.
You can use Beehiiv’s tools for every stage in the newsletter process – from launching your website to monetizing your content.

Beehiiv has tools built in to replace all these other services:

What Is Substack and How Does Substack Work?

Substack is an email newsletter platform with a user-friendly model and a ton of brand recognition. 

Why the brand recognition? Well, some pretty famous people use Substack – including author George Saunders and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

Okay, Substack’s famous, but how can you use it to make money from a newsletter? That depends on whether you’re moving an existing newsletter to the platform or starting from scratch.

If you’re already publishing a newsletter with Mailchimp, Beehiiv, or some other service, you can switch over to Substack in 5 minutes. Just head to the official Substack website, find the “Switch to Substack” page (under the “Creators” dropdown list), and paste in your blog or newsletter’s URL. 

But what if you’re starting a brand new newsletter with Substack? In that case, follow these steps:

  1. Head to the official Substack website.
  2. Click “Create your Substack.”
  3. Type in your email address.
  4. Upload an email list (if you have one).
  5. Write and publish your first post.

It really is that easy. Better yet, using Substack is completely free! Yes, they’ll take a share of the profits from paid subscriptions (they gotta make their money somehow), but there are no monthly fees, period. This is a key difference in the Beehiiv vs Substack debate. 

When you post through Substack, your content will simultaneously get published in 3 places:

  • The web
  • Email
  • The Substack app

This allows you to reach people wherever they’re at.

Substack also makes it easy to publish videos within your posts. This allows you to give your audience a hybrid experience – a bit of text, some images, and a short video. And if you’re really feeling adventurous, you can even use Substack to launch a podcast.

Now, there’s a question at the heart of the Beehiiv vs Substack debate: How can you make money on each platform?

With Substack, you can monetize your content by offering paid subscriptions. It’s simple, and it’s usually effective. You create content, and you charge people to access it. Not a bad way to make a living, right?

Substack is an excellent platform for creators that want to set up paid subscriptions.
Substack is famous for giving creators a way to make money from paid subscriptions. 

Beehiiv vs Substack Pricing / Beehiiv vs Substack Cost

Each side in the Beehiiv vs Substack debate has a completely different pricing model.

With Beehiiv, you pay a monthly subscription fee for the right to use the platform (unless you choose the most basic plan, which is free).

Substack, on the other hand, doesn’t charge monthly fees at all. Instead, they take a 10% cut of all the money you make from paid subscriptions.

So which is cheaper, Beehiiv or Substack? It depends on several factors, such as how many features you would need from Beehiiv and how much you’d earn through subscriptions on Substack.

Let’s dig deeper into the pricing angle of the Substack vs Beehiiv conversation. 

Beehiiv Pricing

Beehiiv offers 4 different plans – including a free plan and 3 paid plans that each offer additional features. You can also try premium features with a 30-day free trial.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the Beehiiv plans:

  • Launch (free). Despite being the most basic plan, it still gives you everything you need to create a custom newsletter and website. 
  • Scale ($34/month*). You’ll get email automations, 3D analytics, access to an ad network, and more. 
  • Max ($86/month*). Extra features include priority support and the ability to create up to 10 publications. You can also remove the Beehiiv branding from your content. 
  • Enterprise (custom pricing). This is for companies or real-deal creators with over 100,000 subscribers. 

*Note: These prices are for annual billing and fewer than 1,000 subscribers. 

The exact pricing for each plan depends on how many subscribers you have. For example, the popular “Scale” plan costs $34 per month with up to 1,000 subscribers, but the price increases to $52 per month if your subscriber count reaches the 1,000 – 2,500 range.

You’ll also have to pay more if you opt for monthly (rather than annual) billing. The $34 Scale plan, for example, goes up to $39 if you choose to pay every month instead of every year.

Beehiiv has four pricing plans available, and the lowest one is free.
Beehiiv has a 4-tiered pricing model, and the basic “Launch” plan is free. 

If lack of money is holding your business back, check out my resources:

Substack Pricing

Creating a Substack is completely free. No matter how many subscribers you have, Substack won’t charge you to create and publish your newsletters. 

Now, Substack will charge you 10% of each transaction if you enable paid subscriptions. 

So if you have 200 paying subscribers and they each pay you $5 per month, that comes out to $1,000, but Substack will take their 10% cut. That means they’ll get $100, leaving you with $900.

You’ll also have to pay fees for Stripe – which is the credit card processor that Substack uses for subscriptions. 

Here are the fees you’ll pay to Stripe:

  • A “credit card” fee – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
  • A “billing” fee – 0.5% for recurring payments

So, you technically won’t have to pay to use Substack – but you’ll get a chunk bitten out of your profits.

Beehiiv vs Substack Pros and Cons

Both platforms in the Beehiiv vs Substack conversation have their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s take a closer look. 

Beehiiv Pros and Cons

Beehiiv Pros:

  • There are multiple ways to monetize your newsletter. You can offer paid subscriptions, put ads in your content, and get paid to promote other newsletters on the platform. 
  • You’ll have access to next-level email marketing tools. Want to segment your audience into different groups? Beehiiv can do that. Hoping to automate email delivery? They can do that, too. 
  • You’ll get tons of data. Beehiiv gives you the insights you need to improve your newsletter and boost your profits. 

Beehiiv Cons:

  • The platform doesn’t have as much brand recognition. You won’t hear people say, “Oh yeah, you should totally read her Beehiiv.” Substack definitely wins the fame portion of the Beehiiv vs Substack debate. 
  • There’s no Beehiiv mobile app. This is another area where Beehiiv loses the “Beehiiv or Substack” battle.
  • The price increases when you reach certain subscriber thresholds. This is totally normal – but you might catch yourself thinking, “Wait… I’m getting punished for my success!” 

Substack Pros and Cons

Substack Pros:

  • There are no monthly fees. With Substack, you’re charged a portion of your earnings from subscriptions, but you’ll never pay just to use the platform. 
  • The platform is relatively famous. Spend enough time online, and you’ll find someone saying, “Come find me on Substack.” That brand recognition could help you build your email list. 
  • You can easily embed videos in your emails. You’ve probably got some “visual learners” on your subscriber list, and this feature will help you connect with them. 

Substack Cons:

  • It can get expensive. Substack takes a 10% cut of all subscription fees you collect. That doesn’t sound like much, but if your newsletter is popular, it could come out to thousands of dollars a month.
  • There’s only one monetization method (paid subscriptions). Unlike Beehiiv, Substack doesn’t help you make money through ads. 
  • You don’t get much data. When it comes to analytics, Substack loses the Beehiiv vs Substack debate. 

Beehiiv vs Substack Reviews

Wondering whether to use Substack or Beehiiv to publish your newsletter? 

Well, there’s a place where the Beehiiv vs Substack debate is raging: Reddit!

In fact, I literally found a Reddit thread titled “Substack vs Beehiiv.” It was posted by someone who wanted to start an email newsletter from scratch. 

A person on Reddit started a thread comparing Beehiiv and Substack.
Someone started a “Substack vs Beehiiv” thread on Reddit.

One person responded that Substack won the Beehiiv vs Substack competition because “most of the user base” is already there.

Someone on reddit recommending Substack over Beehiiv.
Substack or Beehiiv? This Redditor votes for Substack because it has more users.

Someone else said that, while they “don’t dislike” Substack, they found Beehiiv to offer “a better experience overall.” 

So, why does Beehiiv win the Beehiiv vs Substack showdown? This person gave a few reasons. For one thing, they said you can make money from “boosts” and ads, which Substack doesn’t offer.

They also argued that “it’s just a numbers game,” so once you have enough subscribers, it makes financial sense to switch to Beehiiv.

A person on Reddit shares that they like Beehiiv better than Substack and that ConvertKit vs Beehiiv is a more fair comparison.
A Redditor says Beehiiv wins the Substack vs Beehiiv battle.

In the same thread, two people engaged in a testy back-and-forth. Who knew the “Beehiiv or Substack” debate could get so heated!

One person said that “Substack blows Beehiiv away” because of its large network of users. The other person argued that “Substack’s platform is objectively worse in every way except the size of its user base.”

Redditors agree that Substack's network makes it easier to grow your following.
Two Reddit users debate the “Beehiiv or Substack” question. 

Either Substack or Beehiiv can be a good way how to make money fast if you have a big enough subscriber base:

Beehiiv vs Substack: Which is Better? / Which is Better, Substack or Beehiv?

So here we are, at the end of this Beehiiv vs Substack comparison, and it’s time to answer the main question: Which is better, Substack or Beehiiv? 

There are two ways to answer this question. We could look at which platform is more cost-effective, and we could consider which will help you meet your goals. Let’s do both. 

Okay, starting with the question of which platform provides better value – it really comes down to how many subscribers you have (and how much they’re willing to pay).

Remember, each side in the Beehiiv vs Substack debate has its own pricing model. Beehiiv charges monthly fees (unless you use the free plan, which only works with up to 2,500 subscribers), while Substack takes a 10% cut of all subscriptions. 

So, if you have 3,000 subscribers, and they each pay $5 a month – which would be cheaper, Substack or Beehiiv? 

Well, with Beehiiv, you’d have to pay for at least the “Scale” plan, which, with 3,000 subscribers, would cost you $69 per month (if billed annually). 

And with Substack, you’d be paying $1,500 per month – since that’s 10% of the $15,000 you’d make each month in subscriptions. So, in this case, Beehiiv is clearly the cheaper option in the Substack vs Beehiiv debate. 

Now, let’s move on to the second question: Which platform will help you reach your goals, Substack or Beehiiv? It depends, of course, on what those goals are.

With its in-depth analytics and multiple monetization strategies, Beehiiv is best if you’re:

  • Creating an email newsletter as part of a larger business
  • Hoping to improve your content production with AI assistance
  • Trying to make money in as many ways as possible

And Substack, with its name recognition and huge user base, could be best if you’re:

  • Planning to stick with a subscription model
  • More interested in the writing (and not so worried about customizing content)
  • Hoping to tap a pool of readers without engaging in too much marketing yourself 

So, not to generalize, but the techie entrepreneur who dreams of a digital empire? Welcome to Beehiiv! The passionate writer with the tweed jacket and Sylvia Plath tattoo? Substack, right this way!

Commonly Asked Questions About Beehiiv vs Substack

Alternatives to Beehiiv / Alternatives to Substack?

Here are some alternatives to Beehiiv and Substack:

See my list of the Best email marketing software. 

What Is the Difference Between Beehiiv and Substack?

The main difference in the Beehiiv vs Substack conversation is how each platform charges users. With a paid Beehiiv plan, you’ll pay a monthly fee. With Substack, you can use the platform for free, but they’ll take a 10% cut of the money you earn from subscriptions. 

With Beehiiv, it’s easy to

  • Get Paid subscriptions to your email newsletter
  • Get Sponsorships (Beehiiv has a sales team)
  • See your reader stats and analytics 
  • Create surveys 
  • Run email automations 

Beehiiv is also a good way to promote referral bonus apps and earn 20 dollars per referral.

If you’re interested in making money promoting products your readers want, check out my:

What Is Better Than Substack?  

Beehiiv is better than Substack if you plan to make a serious online income. If you’re only looking for side hustle money, Substack is good enough. 

Beehiiv is an email newsletter platform that charges by the month instead of taking a chunk of your subscription payments. Beehiiv also lets you easily monetize your content with ads. 

How Do I Transfer From Beehiiv to Substack?

To transfer from Beehiiv to Substack, just go to the Substack website, click “Creators,” and select “Switch to Substack.” From there, you can paste the URL of your Beehiiv site, and Substack will walk you through the transition. 

Substack is good if you’re looking at writing as one of these hobbies to make money. 

But I’d say Beehiiv is easy enough to use when you want to learn how to make money online for beginners.

Is Beehiiv Free Forever?

You can use Beehiiv’s free “Launch” plan for as long as you’d like, but only if you have 2,500 subscribers or less. Once you’ve passed that threshold, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan.

Beehiiv vs Substack vs ConverKit?

Beehiiv, Substack, and ConvertKit can all be used for email newsletters, but they’re very different platforms. While Beehiiv and ConverKit use a monthly pricing model, Substack takes a cut of your earnings from paid subscriptions. ConvertKit also has more features for selling products and running a complex marketing campaign.

In general, email marketing is a legit way:

Email marketing is one of the most fun low-cost business ideas with high profit. It’s a great business to start with 10k. Or with $0 if you know how to build an audience on social media or YouTube. And it’s one of the most profitable online businesses. It’s a legit way how to turn 10k into 100k. And it’s one of the best business ideas for women.

You can put your email newsletter online business for sale to make millions of dollars like the dudes from Morning Brew. 

Related:

Sources:

1 – https://www.informatics.uci.edu/regaining-focus-in-a-world-of-digital-distractions/