The newsletter landscape has exploded in recent years, with creators seeking platforms that not only help them publish content but also grow and monetize their audiences effectively. Two platforms have emerged as frontrunners in this space: Beehiiv and Substack. While both serve newsletter creators, they take fundamentally different approaches to content creation, audience building, and monetization.

Platform Overview

Substack has been enjoying significant momentum, boasting over 35 million active subscriptions with 3 million paid subscriptions. Built with writers in mind, it combines blogging and newsletters with a community-driven approach that feels reminiscent of digital journaling.

Beehiiv, the newer player founded in 2021 by former Morning Brew employees, positions itself as a newsletter platform specifically built for growth. It provides creators with comprehensive tools to grow and monetize their email lists in today's competitive digital landscape.

Key Differences at a Glance

Audience Approach

• Beehiiv: Focuses solely on creators, providing tools to build and grow audiences independently
• Substack: Serves both writers and readers, offering a marketplace where readers can discover new content

Monetization Strategy

• Beehiiv: Requires separate marketing and payment handling, but offers no revenue sharing on premium plans
• Substack: Built-in monetization with paid subscriptions, but takes a 10% cut plus transaction fees

Content Discovery

• Beehiiv: No built-in discovery feature; creators must drive their own traffic
• Substack: Marketplace environment where readers can find and subscribe to new content

Ease of Use

Substack wins on simplicity. Its pared-back, straightforward email editor feels like writing in a personal journal with minimal distractions. The dashboard quickly shows subscribers, followers, views, and open rates without overwhelming users with complex features.

Beehiiv offers more sophisticated features for monetization and growth, including deep audience segmentation, granular analytics, and automation capabilities. While still user-friendly, these advanced features can present a steeper learning curve for beginners.

Monetization Options

Substack's Approach

• Free to use until you monetize
• 10% fee on paid subscriptions plus transaction costs
• Manual ad integration required
• Simple paid subscription model

Beehiiv's Innovation

• No revenue sharing on premium plans (Scale and above required for paid subscriptions)
• Built-in ad network for easy sponsor connections
• Advanced monetization features:
  • Lifetime subscriptions
  • "Pay What You Want" subscriptions
  • Subscriber referral programs
• Only Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee applies

Community and Engagement

Substack excels in community building with features like:

• Reader comments and likes
• Discussion threads
• Notes feature and direct messaging
• Large creator network for cross-promotion
• Follow features creating a social media-like experience

Beehiiv focuses more on list growth than community engagement:

• Basic likes and comments (not enabled by default)
• Referral programs for subscriber growth
• Cross-promotion capabilities
• "Boost" feature for paid recommendations

Design and Customization

Both platforms prioritize simplicity over elaborate design options.

Substack offers minimal customization - all newsletters tend to look similar with basic logo and background color options.

Beehiiv provides slightly more flexibility with:

• Design Lab for customizing fonts, headers, and colors
• Block-based editor with images, buttons, tables, and social embeds
• Free website included with account
• Custom templates (on premium plans)

List Management and Analytics

Substack's Limitations

• Basic subscriber data with limited segmentation
• Simple analytics: engagement rate, open rate, click-through rate
• No automated sequences
• All subscribers receive all free content

Beehiiv's Advanced Capabilities

• Powerful segmentation based on attributes, engagement, and sign-up sources
• Comprehensive analytics including subscriber acquisition sources and geographic data
• Automated email sequences with visual workflow builder
• Detailed reporting for data-driven decisions

Pricing Comparison

Substack

• Free to publish
• 10% fee on paid subscriptions
• Additional transaction and billing fees
• No subscriber limits

Beehiiv

• Free Launch plan: Up to 2,500 subscribers
• Scale plan: $49/month for 10,000 subscribers (pricing scales with audience size)
• Max plan: $99/month for 25,000 subscribers
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger operations

The Verdict

Beehiiv emerges as the winner for creators serious about newsletter growth and monetization. Its advanced features, better analytics, superior segmentation capabilities, and innovative monetization options make it the more powerful platform for ambitious newsletter creators.

Choose Beehiiv if you:

• Want full control over your subscriber data
• Need advanced segmentation and automation
• Prefer keeping 100% of subscription revenue (minus payment processing)
• Plan to scale and optimize your newsletter business
• Want comprehensive analytics for data-driven decisions

Choose Substack if you:

• Prioritize simplicity and ease of use
• Want to tap into an existing reader marketplace
• Prefer built-in community features
• Don't mind sharing revenue for platform benefits
• Focus more on writing than technical optimization

Final Thoughts

While Substack remains popular for its simplicity and community features, Beehiiv's focus on growth, monetization, and creator control makes it the superior choice for serious newsletter entrepreneurs. The platform's innovative features and creator-first approach position it well for the future of newsletter publishing.

The choice ultimately depends on your goals: if you want a simple writing platform with built-in discovery, Substack works well. But if you're building a newsletter business and want the tools to grow and monetize effectively, Beehiiv is the clear winner.

Ready to start your newsletter journey? Both platforms offer free trials, so you can test which approach feels right for your content creation goals.