Beehiiv vs Substack: Which is Better for Your Small Business?
Beehiiv vs Substack: Which is Better for Your Small Business?
As a small business owner myself, this is an important question to ask yourself before setting up your email marketing.
There are a lot of similarities and differences between Beehiiv and Substack, we’ll explore both in detail below.
From unique features to pricing and ease of use, we’ll lay out the pros and cons of each platform to help you decide which is better for your small business.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links you’ll find below are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Key Takeaways
Beehiiv is ideal for growth-focused users who need advanced analytics, robust monetization options including an ad network, and extensive customization capabilities. It’s perfect for businesses looking to scale and maximize revenue through detailed audience insights and various revenue streams.
Substack is perfect for independent writers and small teams who value simplicity and ease of use. With its minimalist design and strong community support, Substack allows you to start publishing quickly and easily monetize through paid subscriptions without upfront costs.
Both Beehiiv and Substack offer powerful tools for creating and distributing newsletters, each catering to different needs.
Main Features
Beehiiv and Substack are solid choices for your content and newsletter needs.
Both platforms are designed for content creators and writers, but take on different approaches when it comes to design, scalability, and pricing.
Beehiiv’s Main Features
Starting off strong, let’s talk about Beehiiv’s user-friendly and intuitive interface.
Users can design websites and send emails without any code or web design skills, using ready-made templates and simple editing tools. Their newsletter builder is extremely intuitive and supports various content types such as text, images, and videos.
At its core, Beehiiv is all about growth and user engagement. Their main features are built to serve those two goals:
Website Hosting: Each newsletter comes with its own website, acting as a central hub for all your content and subscriber interactions.
Subscribe Forms: Customizable forms that can be embedded on your existing website, enhancing subscriber acquisition.
Boosts: You’re able to both grow your newsletter and get paid for growing others through the Boost program (more on this below).
Referral Program: This feature incentivizes current subscribers to refer new ones, leveraging word-of-mouth for organic growth.
Ad Network: Beehiiv offers a native ad network to help monetize newsletters through premium sponsorships.
Advanced Analytics: In-depth analytics provide insights into subscriber behavior, content performance, and growth metrics.
Why I Personally Love Beehiiv 🚀
I’m two months into my newsletter journey with Beehiiv and due to their growth and engagement features, I’ve seen some impressive growth:
Total Subscribers increased 254%
Open Rate increased 8.3%
Click Rate increased 99% (my prior click rate was pretty terrible)
Needless to say, I’m a fan. If you do decide to check out Beehiiv, use my link to get a free 30-day trial plus 20% off for the first three months of any paid plan.
Substack’s Main Features
While Substack also focuses on user engagement and growth, they hone in on both simplicity and ease of use.
I’d argue their main features are built to serve as essential tools for independent content creators:
Minimalist Design: A clean, straightforward editor that is perfect for beginners.
Paid Subscriptions: Substack makes setup easy for monetizing content through paid newsletters, integrated with Stripe for secure payments.
Blogging Capabilities: Supports both newsletters and blog posts, allowing creators to publish a variety of content.
Subscriber Management: Basic analytics and tools for managing subscribers and understanding engagement.
Pricing Insights
Pricing and affordability are important considerations when choosing a platform.
The comparison between Beehiiv and Substack when it comes to pricing is very interesting, as it isn’t necessarily apples to apples.
Beehiiv’s plans are based on the features you want access to and the number of subscribers.
For example, Beehiiv has a free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers with limited features. To access the full suite of features, you may pay between $99 per month for up to 10,000 subscribers and $299 per month for 100,000 subscribers.
Alternatively, Substack only charges you if you’re charging readers to access your newsletter. So instead of paying based on subscriber list size and email sends, you pay a flat 10% (plus credit card transaction fees) on all paid subscriptions.
Pricing is a huge pro for Substack as you can technically use the platform for free regardless of subscriber list size.
But let's say you wanted to monetize your newsletter by charging $5 per month and had 5,000 subscribers who opted in. Here’s how the pricing will shake out:
If you’re using Beehiiv, you’ll pay between $79-$149 per month for the 5,000 subscribers.
If you’re using Substack, you’ll pay roughly $2,500 per month (5,000 subscribers x $5 per month = $25,000 monthly revenue. Substack will then take a 10% takes 10% of this).
As you can see, pros and cons on the pricing front. If you plan to never charge a premium for your newsletter, based on price alone, Substack is a good option. There are other ways to monetize your newsletter, so it’s something to consider.
Keep in mind, Beehiiv is built for growth. While the platform may cost more on the surface than Substack, unless you have an established audience, it’s worth it to invest a bit more upfront and take advantage of what Beehiiv has to offer.
Depending on your business goals and needs, you may find one platform more suitable than the other.
For more details on pricing, check out both Beehiiv and Substack’s pricing pages.
Beehiiv vs Substack: Comparing Support
Customer support is essential for any small business but is also an important factor often overlooked when choosing a platform. Some platforms will offer email support only, whereas others will offer live chats and phone support at the same time.
Here's how Beehiiv and Substack compare in terms of customer support:
Email Support:
Beehiiv: 24/7 access for all users
Substack: 24/7 access for all users
Live Chat Support:
Beehiiv: 24/7 access for all users
Substack: 24/7 access for all users
Stand-Out Features of Each Platform
Beehiiv: Better Analytics + Tools for Growth
Beehiiv’s standout features are designed to support significant growth and comprehensive monetization, making it a powerful platform for ambitious newsletter creators and small business owners.
One of my favorite features by far is its Analytics suite. It provides deep insights into subscriber behavior and content performance including where new subscribers are coming from and how they are engaging with content.
You can even create uniquely coded subscription forms to better understand how your content is working across your marketing funnels.
Here’s an example of a subscription form for my newsletter:
The above subscription form injects seamlessly into your content and allows for you to still show off your brand’s personality.
Another key feature that sets Beehiiv apart is its Referral Program, a unique tool designed to drive growth through word-of-mouth marketing. Similar to other referral programs, you can incentivize your current subscribers to refer others by offering rewards. Beehiiv’s Referral Program is extremely customizable and can be tailored to just about any small business.
From a monetization standpoint, you can tap into Beehiiv’s Ad Network, which may in fact be the largest native ad network in the newsletter industry. You’re able to pull in premium sponsorships which easily integrate into your content. I’ve personally used it a few times and it’s been a great way to bring in a bit more revenue.
Substack: Simplicity + Community Strength
Substack’s appeal lies in its simplicity and the strong community it fosters. The platform is designed with a minimalist approach, providing a clean and straightforward editor that makes it incredibly easy for beginners to get started.
This user-friendly design is one of Substack’s standout features, allowing writers to focus on their content without being bogged down by complicated settings or technical details. The editor supports basic text formatting, image embedding, and hyperlinking, ensuring that even those with minimal technical skills can produce professional-looking blogs and newsletters.
Substack is all about their community - they’ve cultivated a vibrant ecosystem where writers can connect with their audience on a deeper level.
The platform encourages interaction through features like comments and discussion threads, fostering a sense of community among subscribers. This interaction not only helps build a loyal readership but also provides valuable feedback and engagement for the creators.
Integration Capabilities and Third-Party Tools
Let’s detour and explore these two platforms' integration capabilities. By connecting different tools and platforms, you can enhance the functionality of your email marketing software, streamlining your workload and process.
Beehiiv Integrations
Beehiiv offers the ability to join together additional tools and platforms that will help you optimize your email marketing and e-commerce sector. Some platforms you can integrate are Shopify, Magento, and Prestashop.
Once connected, you can easily import your product data, order history, customer information, and more into your email campaigns. This allows you to create more personalized emails targeting your audience and their shopping habits and interests.
Beehiiv also lets you connect with CRM systems like Zapier and Privvy to manage your contacts and leads and email them relevant messages. It also works with social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so you can spread your email content on different platforms and attract more people.
Substack Integrations
Like Beehiiv, Substack also offers the ability to integrate its platform with other tools and platforms. This includes Zapier, Stripe, and various social media platforms.
Zapier allows Substack to connect with a few thousand other applications, enabling users to automate various tasks and workflows. A quick example is through Zapier, you can automatically send new subscribers a welcome email through Gmail.
To note, Beehiiv has automation available on their paid plans and is built in natively, meaning you can set up welcome flows, post-purchase flows, etc.
Substack also integrates with apps that work well with small businesses, such as Stripe for payment processing, along with Hopin and Calendly for meeting scheduling. These are really great integrations especially if you’re using your newsletter to source new clients, host 1:1 coaching sessions, or webinars.
Which Platforms Offer Better Scalability?
Scalability is an enormous factor to consider when choosing an email marketing platform. Scalability refers to a platform's ability to handle increasing amounts of work and data without compromising on performance, quality, or functionality.
As your business grows and your marketing needs become more complex, you want a platform that can support your growth and keep up with the demand.
Beehiiv’s Scalability
Beehiiv supports scalability by offering advanced features that help you grow your business. These features include automation tools, segmentation, and analytics. One such tool is the platform's audience polls, which allow you to adjust your strategy according to real-time polls. These polls engage your readers and make them more likely to return.
Two notable and unique features of Beehiiv include the referral program and Boosts. With the referral program, subscribers can establish targets for how many people they need to recommend your newsletter to in order to get a prize.
A referral program is an intelligent and effective way to increase your audience.
Beehiiv’s Boosts feature supports growth by leveraging paid recommendations to attract high-quality subscribers. Publishers can set their own prices, access a network of qualified newsletters, and earn money through recommendations.
This feature ensures cost-efficient audience expansion and monetization.
How it Works:
Boost Your Newsletter: You can increase your newsletter's exposure on the Beehiiv network by choosing a budget and targeting criteria.
Boost Others: Apply to boost other newsletters and earn revenue from each new subscriber you bring in.
I recently started a newsletter on Beehiiv and have seen my subscriber list grow 2.5x in the first two months.
Part of this is organic, but by tapping into boosts, I’ve been able to scale much more aggressively.
The cost of boosting is offset by boosting other newsletters, so a win-win in my book.
Substack’s Scalability
Substack is also known for its scalability features. One of its prominent components is its ability to keep up with a fast-growing subscriber list - for free. Remember, as long as your newsletter is free, Substack won’t charge you. It’s only until you start charging readers a premium subscription fee that Substack will take a 10% cut.
Another area to call out for scaling on Substack is their recommendation feature. Essentially, writers are able to endorse each other’s newsletters in an effort to both scale together.
This helps foster organic growth and provides additional value to your customers, which is crucial for a small business owner.
Beehiiv vs Substack: What’s the Verdict?
Both Beehiiv and Substack are powerful newsletter marketing platforms used by thousands of small business owners.
These two platforms are known for their extensive range of features and benefits for casting a wider net. However, when choosing the right platform for you, you will need to consider your specific needs and goals, as one platform may suit your business better than the other.
Choosing between Beehiiv and Substack depends largely on your specific needs and growth plans.
Beehiiv offers more advanced features and better ways to scale and monetize your newsletter, making it ideal for growing businesses.
Substack on the other hand is free and very easy to use, which is great if you’re just starting out as a writer or small team.
If you are having difficulty deciding, I’d recommend you give them both a try and see which works better for you. Beehiiv offers a free plan and Substack is free until you charge your readers, so you can easily check out both platforms without investing money.
From my personal experience as a small business owner, I’d recommend Beehiiv. It’s been a game-changer for my newsletter and it’s just getting started.
If you do decide to check out Beehiiv, use my link to get a free 30-day trial plus 20% off for the first three months of any paid plan.
