Detailed Feature Comparison Of Beehiiv vs Ghost & How To Choose?

blog_related_media

blog_topic

blog_related_activities

blog_niche

blog_related_tips

unique_blog_element

Setting up your Notion newsletter can be exciting and challenging. Notion offers flexibility in customizing and organizing your content, but publishing it can be a hurdle. That’s where Beehiiv

and Ghost come in. Both platforms offer unique features to help you publish, manage, and enhance your newsletter. This post will compare Beehiiv vs. Ghost to determine which is best for your Notion newsletter.

Feather also simplifies the process by allowing you to send emails from Notion, so you can focus on creating great content without worrying about the technicalities of publishing.

Beehiiv vs. Ghost at a Glance

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Ghost and Beehiiv help you create and grow an audience for your newsletter. Nevertheless, they have different strengths that cater to different needs. Ghost is a powerful blogging platform with robust newsletter features, while Beehiiv is tailored to grow and monetize a newsletter.

Ghost is an excellent choice for improving SEO, driving traffic to your website, and engaging your audience through a newsletter. However, if you want to focus on growing your newsletter and making money off it, Beehiiv is the better option.

What Is Ghost?

Ghost is an open-source platform for building websites with a focus on publishing. While it started as a simple blogging platform, today, it has evolved into a full-fledged CMS with a powerful blogging module.

Ghost is perfect for SEO and building an audience for your blog. It covers you if you want to create a newsletter to engage your audience and keep them updated about your latest content. The platform even allows you to create a newsletter that looks exactly like your blog. This way, you can impress your readers with your email design while promoting your latest content.

What Is Beehiiv?

Beehiiv is a newsletter creation and growth platform designed to help creators and businesses build and monetize their email audiences. The platform was created by former Snap employees who wanted to make it easier for creators to grow and monetize their newsletters.

As such, Beehiiv has many features to help you grow your email subscribers, organize them into groups, and create targeted content for each group. The platform also supports several monetization options, including:

Memberships

Ad revenue

If you want to make money off your email list, Beehiiv has you covered.

Substack vs Patreon

Substack Alternatives

Flodesk vs Mailchimp

Substack vs Medium

Mailerlite Alternatives

Convertkit vs Clickfunnels

Beehiiv vs Substack

Ghost vs Substack

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Beehiiv, established in 2021, has rapidly gained recognition for its exceptional features and growth trajectory. Designed as a newsletter platform, Beehiiv stands out with its user-friendly interface, making it easy to create, send, and analyze newsletters.

One of its key strengths is its focus on growth. Beehiiv offers a transparent pricing model that avoids unexpected costs, and crucially, it doesn’t charge platform fees on the revenue you generate from subscribers. This clarity and cost-effectiveness are beautiful to content creators looking to maximize their earnings without hidden charges.

The platform's appeal is bolstered by its use among top newsletters, including:

Milk Road

CCult of Mac

The Dink

Madhappy

Overtime

The Boston Globe

And many others

This high-profile adoption speaks to its effectiveness and reliability in the newsletter space.

Why Beehiiv is Ideal for Writers and Creators

Beehiiv.com is all about simplicity and efficiency, making it an excellent choice for writers and creators who want to focus on content creation without getting bogged down by complex tools or hidden fees.

Ghost: An Open-Source Platform for Independent Creators

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Ghost is a non-profit, open-source platform founded in 2013 by John O’Nolan following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Mission Statement

Empower independent journalists, writers, and content creators.

Provide tools for managing and monetizing online work.

With over three million installations to date, Ghost has established itself as a powerful solution for various types of content management, including:

Blogs

Paid newsletters

Membership sites

Podcasts

Ghost CMS: A Writer's Dream Platform

Ghost CMS is particularly favored by bloggers and writers for its strong SEO capabilities and user-friendly interface. It's designed to be safe, fast, and optimized immediately, allowing creators to focus on content creation without getting bogged down by technical details.

Managed Hosting for Effortless Blogging

While the open-source version of Ghost offers flexibility, managing it can be complex. For a more streamlined experience, Ghost (Pro) provides managed hosting services, handling updates, backups, and installation so users can concentrate on their content without worrying about the technical aspects.

A Smart Notion Add-On for Email Newsletters and Blogs

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog and email newsletter service.

Key Features

Publish blog content and newsletters directly through Notion, with no coding or design skills required.

Automatically publish blog content written in Notion to your Feather blog.

Set up a subfolder blog (domain.com/blog) for better SEO than a subdomain (blog.domain.com).

Manage your CRM and website blog entirely through Notion, offering a HubSpot-like experience.

Customize your design with custom CSS, collect emails, and access additional features.

Write on Notion and automatically publish to an SEO-friendly blog, collaborating effortlessly with your team. Feather lets you set up and send newsletters directly from Notion to your email subscribers.

Send emails from Notion with Feather. Publish your blog and manage newsletters all in one place.

Beehiiv vs Ghost: Detailed Feature Comparison

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Beehiiv shines with its simplicity. The platform provides a user-friendly editor that is perfect for those who want to get content out quickly without fuss. You can format your text, add custom HTML, and use features like:

AI writing assistance

Buttons

Polls

A cool feature is the ability to save pages as templates, which saves time if you often produce similar types of content. Plus, the right sidebar lets you tweak SEO settings and preview how your content will look before publishing. It’s straightforward and intuitive, ideal for creators who want a no-fuss content creation process.

Ghost takes content creation to the next level with its rich tools. You can do the following:

Upload images

Videos

Audio

Create product review cards with star ratings without coding.

Ghost’s editor is versatile, allowing for a lot of customization. It supports multiple newsletters within a single site so that you can cater to different audiences from one place. If you love controlling every detail of your content, Ghost’s feature-rich editor will be a great asset.

Beehiiv’s easy-to-use editor will serve you well if you value simplicity and efficiency. But if you want more advanced content creation tools, Ghost is the way to go.

Customization

Easy-to-use interface for newsletter design, even without coding skills.

Allows customization of your newsletter’s look and feel.

Limited website customization options.

No ability to create or purchase custom themes for your site.

May not meet the needs of a highly personalized website

Ghost Website & Flexibility

Extensive range of themes available.

Ability to create or purchase custom themes using code.

Requires some coding knowledge for advanced customization.

Unmatched flexibility for tailoring your website.

Supports numerous plugins and integrations to enhance site functionality.

To sum up, Ghost is your go-to for extensive website customization. If you’re after newsletter design simplicity, Beehiiv will fit the bill.

Monetization

Monetization is where Beehiiv stands out. It offers a variety of ways to make money that helps you find sponsors:

Memberships

Display ads

Manual embed ads

Ad Network

There’s also a feature called Boosts, where you can earn money by recommending other newsletters. Beehiiv doesn’t charge platform fees on subscriber revenue, which is a big win for creators.

Ghost has basic monetization options such as:

Supports memberships and display ads.

Offers straightforward monetization options.

Lacks advanced tools like sponsorships or an ad network.

Monetization options are reliable but less diverse compared to Beehiiv.

Beehiiv is the better choice for a more comprehensive range of monetization options. Ghost is solid but doesn’t offer the same variety of tools.

SEO

When it comes to SEO, Ghost is the champion. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools that includes:

Custom domains

HTTPS

URL slug and meta description customization

Sitemaps

Canonical tags

Robots.txt editing

These features ensure that your site is well-optimized for search engines right out of the box.

Beehiiv offers essential SEO features like:

Custom domains

Meta descriptions

Nevertheless, Beehiiv falls short of Ghost’s advanced capabilities. It lacks features like redirects and detailed robots.txt editing, so it might not be as effective for those needing in-depth SEO control.

If SEO is a big part of your strategy, Ghost’s extensive features make it the superior choice.

Scalability

For scalability, Beehiiv is tailored for growth. It includes features like:

Automated email sequences

Referral program

Subscriber segmentation

A/B testing

These tools are designed to help you expand your newsletter audience effectively.

Ghost supports growth through plugins and integrations but doesn’t have:

Built-in automated email sequences

A/B testing

While it does offer subscriber segmentation and RSS feeds, you might need additional third-party tools to optimize your growth strategies fully.

In short, Beehiiv is designed with growth in mind, offering built-in tools to help you scale up. Ghost requires extra tools for similar results.

Integrations

Beehiiv offers a good range of integrations. It works seamlessly with Zapier for:

Automating tasks

Integrates with Stripe for payment processing

Supports Google Analytics for tracking

Its API is robust, allowing for custom integrations and advanced automation.

Ghost also provides strong integration capabilities, primarily through its API. It supports various third-party services, including Zapier and Stripe, and offers powerful API access for custom functionalities.

Both platforms offer excellent integration options, but Beehiiv’s ease of use with its API might be preferable for those looking for straightforward automation.

Reporting and Analytics

Beehiiv provides solid reporting and analytics tailored for newsletters. It offers insights into:

Subscriber metrics

Engagement rates

Churn statistics

You can track open rates, click-through rates, and overall subscriber activity. Beehiiv also integrates with Google Analytics to provide a broader view of website traffic.

Ghost delivers:

More advanced analytics suite

Covering website traffic

Member engagement

Content performance

It offers detailed insights into page views, unique visitors, and referral sources. With its integration with Google Analytics, Ghost provides a comprehensive view of how your content is performing.

Ghost’s advanced analytics are ideal for detailed performance tracking, while Beehiiv’s reporting is effective but more focused on newsletter metrics.

User Reviews

Beehiiv gets high marks for:

User-friendly interface

Practical reporting tools

Users appreciate its ease of use and monetization options. However, some concerns about customer support and security issues have been raised, with reports of slow responses and fraud attempts.

Ghost is praised for:

Modern interface

Built-in membership features

SEO tools

Users value its flexibility and integration capabilities. Criticisms include limitations with payment options and reliance on Mailgun for newsletters, which can be a drawback for those seeking alternative email service providers.

Convertkit vs Activecampaign

Flodesk vs Convertkit

Beehiiv vs Convertkit

Mailerlite vs Convertkit

Convertkit Alternatives

Flodesk Alternatives

Beehiiv vs Mailchimp

Mailerlite vs Flodesk

Convertkit vs Aweber

Substack vs Convertkit

Ghost vs Beehiiv

Beehiiv Alternatives

Beehiiv vs Ghost: Pricing Comparison

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Regarding pricing, Beehiiv's free plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers. This generous offer allows newsletters to get off to a healthy start without breaking the bank. Paid plans start at $42 monthly and offer additional features such as team access and API integration. The Scale plan, at $84 per month, includes multiple newsletters and advanced tools like AI writing.

While Beehiiv’s free plan is appealing, the need for paid plans to access custom domains and other features might be a barrier for smaller newsletters.

Pricing Breakdown: Ghost's Plans

Ghost offers a more flexible pricing structure. There’s no free plan, but the Ghost (Pro) plan starts at $9 monthly and includes:

Hosting

Updates

Maintenance

Self-hosting is also an option with DigitalOcean, starting at $5 per month, though it requires technical know-how. Ghost’s pricing is competitive, particularly for those without membership features or who prefer self-hosting. Beehiiv’s free plan is a strong draw for budget-conscious creators, while Ghost offers a more affordable option if self-hosting or basic features are sufficient.

Beehiiv vs Ghost: Which Platform Should You Choose?

Beehiiv vs Ghost

Spotting Your Email Marketing Needs

Your first task is to identify your specific email marketing needs. Consider what you want to achieve with your newsletter, such as:

Growing your audience

Generating revenue

Creating content

Then, look for a platform with the right tools to help you reach your goals.

Assessing Features & Customization Options

Every newsletter platform has unique features that cater to different audiences. Look for a solution that has the right tools for your needs. If you want to create and manage a blog alongside your newsletter, platforms like Ghost offer advanced SEO tools and customization options to help you succeed. If you want to grow and monetize your newsletter, Beehiiv has robust audience management features to help you reach your goals.

Comparing Pricing Plans

Most email marketing platforms offer several pricing tiers, including a free plan or trial. Before committing to a solution, compare the pricing plans to determine which is right for you. Consider your budget, the features available at each tier, and how many subscribers you can have before needing to upgrade.