Beehiiv vs Substack, Which Platform Is Best For Newsletter & Blog?

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Are you seeking the perfect platform to publish your Notion Newsletter and reach a wider audience? Many content creators face the same challenge. In this blog post, we'll compare Beehiiv and Substack, two popular platforms, to help you decide which is best for your newsletter.

Feather's send emails from Notion is a valuable tool that helps you achieve your objectives by streamlining the newsletter creation process directly from Notion. This allows you to focus on crafting captivating content for your readers.

Beehiiv vs Substack at a Glance

Beehiiv and Substack are both popular platforms for content creators, but they offer different features and benefits. One key differentiator between Beehiiv and Substack is the level of flexibility each platform provides.

Simplicity vs. Customization

Beehiiv is flexible, allowing users to tailor their content distribution strategy as a blog post, newsletter, or both. This feature makes Beehiiv a versatile choice for content creators seeking multiple options to share their work with their audience.

Substack is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it a favorite among many writers and journalists. Even so, Substack lacks the same level of customization and SEO features as Beehiiv.

Content Control: Substack vs. Beehiiv

Content published on Substack is automatically shared on the platform, offering limited options for content repurposing and distribution. In contrast, Beehiiv empowers users with a broad array of SEO tools and content delivery options, giving creators more control over how their work is presented and shared with their audience.

SEO Focus: Beehiiv vs. Substack

Beehiiv excels in SEO capabilities, offering robust tools to optimize content for search engine performance. This emphasis on SEO makes it an attractive option for creators looking to increase the visibility of their work online.

On the other hand, Substack's focus is on providing a seamless writing and publishing experience, with less emphasis on SEO optimization. While Substack is user-friendly and straightforward, it may not offer the same level of SEO customization as Beehiiv.

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Content

Beehiiv and Substack cater to the different needs of content creators. Beehiiv offers flexibility and strong SEO capabilities, while Substack provides simplicity and ease of use. Depending on your priorities as a content creator, you may find one platform more suitable than the other. Consider your goals and preferences when choosing between Beehiiv and Substack to find the platform that best aligns with your needs.

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What Is Beehiiv?

Founded in 2021, Beehiiv may be a newer company, but its exceptional growth can be attributed to its impressive range of services and features. As expected from an email newsletter platform, Beehiiv boasts an intuitive user interface that allows you to create newsletters, send them, and analyze them seamlessly. Beehiiv has explicitly been designed with growth in mind, catering to the specific needs of flourishing newsletters.

Transparent Pricing and Revenue Model

One of Beehiiv's unique selling points is its cost-effective and transparent pricing model, which ensures users clearly understand their monthly expenses without unpleasant surprises such as overage charges.

Content creators will appreciate that Beehiiv does not levy platform fees on revenue earned from subscribers, making it a very compelling choice. Beehiiv.com focuses on simplicity, making it an excellent choice for writers and creators starting their journey without unnecessary complications holding them back.

Trusted by the Best Newsletters

The platform's reputation is further cemented by its use of some of the best newsletters around, including:

Milk Road

Cult of Mac

The Dink

Madhappy

Overtime

The Boston Globe and hundreds more. Beehiiv is steadily gaining recognition as a go-to platform for creators who value simplicity and transparency in their newsletter services.

What Is Substack?

Substack is mainly a newsletter tool, but it is trying to become a place to publish all kinds of content:

Blog

Podcast

Chat with subscribers

Twitter "clone" called Notes

Since the platform was created in 2017, it has significantly impacted media by popularizing paid newsletters.

Substack is one of the main reasons newsletters are becoming so popular again, as it makes monetizing content easy.

Substack's Commitment to Writers

Primary Focus

Empower writers with essential tools

Features for Independent Content Creators

Monetization opportunities

Audience ownership

Benefits

Control over the creative journey

Ability to build a sustainable career

Substack helps writers succeed by providing a strong platform tailored to their needs.

Marketed as “a place for independent writing,” Substack allows writers to:

Start a paid newsletter/blog business

Build community

Make money from subscriptions

They claim that zero tech knowledge is required and aim to “take care of everything except the hard part (the writing itself).” They promise “true independence” where the writer keeps the copyright to all their content.

How Substack Works

Simplicity and Excellence: Boasts over 35 million active subscriptions, with three million paid

Content Importing: Import existing content from platforms like Mailchimp, WordPress, Tinyletter, Medium, Tumblr, and custom-built sites, and the option to set up a new site from scratch in minutes

Monetization: Creators choose which posts are free and which are gated behind the Substack paywall

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog and email newsletter service that allows you to publish blog content and a newsletter through Notion, requiring no coding or design skills.

Streamlined Blog Management

Write and manage blog content on Notion

Automatically publish to Feather blog

Set up a Subfolder blog for improved SEO (domain.com/blog)

Integrate HubSpot-like CRM and website blog management within Notion

Customize designs with custom CSS

Collect emails and manage subscribers

Write on Notion and automatically publish to an SEO-friendly blog

Collaborate efficiently with the team during the publishing

Set up and send newsletters directly from Notion

Run your blog and newsletter with Feather today. Create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!

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Beehiiv vs Substack: Detailed Feature Comparison

Beehiiv

Regarding customization, Beehiiv and Substack offer different tools to help you personalize your newsletters. Beehiiv allows you to customize all newsletter elements using a simple drag-and-drop editor:

Email fonts

Colors

You can also customize the website with options limited to:

Fonts

Button colors

Switching between dark and light modes

Substack

Substack allows you to change the following:

Welcome page

Homepage

Posts

Customize different fonts and layouts

Platform Design and Customization

Beehiiv

In terms of simplicity and sophistication, Beehiiv users find the platform intuitively designed.

Substack

Substack users appreciate the simple interface but report missing embed options in the editor. All Substack pages have a similar appearance, making it challenging for creators to maintain a unique brand identity.

Email Deliverability Tools

Both Beehiiv and Substack focus on maintaining high email deliverability rates.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv takes critical measures, such as:

Configuring custom sending domains

Using integrated third-party email validation

Custom guardrails to remove poor senders from the platform

The platform also cross-references suppression lists and uses custom IP reputations to maintain a high-quality IP reputation.

Substack

Substack implements DKIM and SPF authentication to ensure emails come from trusted sources. The platform monitors email infrastructure closely, and according to a survey, Substack newsletters have an average open rate of 50%. Both platforms focus on improving email deliverability to help creators reach more audiences.

Analytics and Reporting: Beehiiv vs Substack

Beehiiv

Regarding analytics and reporting, Beehiiv offers an advanced 3D analytics dashboard to help you better understand your email performance. The dashboard provides detailed insights into:

Subscriber sources and channels

Open rates split by geographic locations

Campaign-specific data

The 3D dashboard is only available on the scale plan.

Substack

Substack provides analytics data to track subscriber:

Growth

Engagement

Content performance

The platform focuses more on open rates to help you optimize your content performance. Substack also offers insights into:

Click-through rates

Unsubscribes

Bounce rates

The analytics data is limited to email subscribers and website visitors without providing information on demographics or audience interests.

Monetization and Growth: Beehiiv vs Substack

Both Beehiiv and Substack offer unique features and strategies for monetization and growth.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv supports various revenue streams, providing creators with income diversification:

Subscriptions

Donations

The platform does not charge platform fees on membership fees, benefiting newsletters with many paid subscribers. It also offers detailed analytics and insights to optimize newsletter performance.

Substack

Substack monetizes primarily through paid subscriptions. The platform charges a 10% fee on all paid memberships, potentially impacting creators' long-term revenue. Substack boasts a vast and dedicated audience base, which can benefit new creators looking to grow their audience.

Integration: Beehiiv vs Substack

Integration plays a crucial role in simplifying the sharing process for newsletter creators.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv has an API that allows integration with any third-party platform, including:

Zapier

Shopify

WordPress

The platform also offers an RSS feed and free plugin feature to sync posts to WordPress automatically or collect email addresses using customizable forms.

Substack

Substack integrates with Facebook and Twitter but lacks an API, making connecting with other marketing tools challenging. Nevertheless, Substack focuses more on data and tracking, allowing users to add:

Facebook and Twitter pixel IDs

Google Analytics Pixel ID, etc.

These pixels enable monitoring readership and engagement levels and integration with advertising platforms. Substack also offers an import feature to import contacts and lists from platforms like Mailchimp, WordPress, or TinyLetter.

Beehiiv vs Substack: Pricing Comparison

Beehiiv and Substack offer distinct pricing models tailored to their target audience. Beehiiv offers a free plan for beginners, whereas Substack charges a 10% fee on paid subscriptions.

Beehiiv's flexible pay-as-you-go plan is based on the number of subscribers, making it advantageous for those who are still determining subscriber growth. In contrast, Substack charges no monthly fees but takes a 10% cut from each transaction for paid subscriptions.

Pricing Plans

Beehiiv

Beehiiv offers a free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers, allowing beginners to explore the platform without any cost. The platform's pay-as-you-go pricing plan is based on the number of subscribers, making it flexible for users still determining subscriber growth. Beehiiv allows unlimited subscribers and newsletters on it's free plan, making it advantageous for those looking to scale their newsletter without extra costs.

Substack

Substack's pricing model is straightforward. The platform charges a 10% fee on all paid subscriptions. An additional 3% transaction fee covers payment processing, making the total fee 13%. Substack's pricing includes hosting and email delivery services, providing users with a comprehensive platform for their newsletters.

Comparing the Two Platforms

Beehiiv: Pricing plans range from free for up to 2,500 subscribers to $99 billed monthly for 10,000+ subscribers. This competitive pricing structure caters to users' needs at different stages of their newsletter journey.

Substack: It takes a 10% cut from each transaction for paid subscriptions, making it a viable option for those seeking a hassle-free solution without monthly fees.

Beehiiv vs Substack: Which Platform Should You Choose?

Both Beehiiv and Substack are awesome platforms for growing a newsletter. If you want to get started without paying a dime, you could do it with both. If you don’t want to pay subscription fees, Substack is a good choice, but do a good cost-benefit analysis first. If you are focused on monetization and ad revenue, Beehiiv is the clear winner.

Substack's Limitations

But here's the thing: Substack trips over basics like SEO and API integrations. It will never replace the good old blog. Plus, its automation is just one pathetic welcome email—not the stuff champions are made of.

Beehiiv: A Qualified Winner

Beehiiv, though better at SEO and having an API, is still a lightweight contender. Limited automation options and a pricing model that leaves a sour taste don’t do it any favors. If you’re serious about SEO, Beehive is a viable option. But make no mistake: Beehiiv’s victory isn’t a roaring triumph. It’s more of a default win because Substack didn’t have a good fight.

Beyond the Basics: A Superior Option

If you are serious about growing your audience through your newsletter and blog, where you have control over customization, design, monetization, and SEO, there is a better option.

Feather: Your Notion-Powered Content Hub

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog and newsletter platform that lets you use Notion as your CMS and automatically publish your content to Feather, requiring no coding or design skills. It also provides options to change design with custom CSS, collect emails, and manage CRM and website blog content, all through Notion.

With Feather, you can easily collaborate with your team during the publishing process and send newsletters directly from Notion, offering a more comprehensive and streamlined experience than Substack or Beehiiv.

Send Emails From Notion and Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today With Feather

Feather is a game-changing SEO-friendly blog and email newsletter service that integrates seamlessly with Notion. This innovative tool allows you to effortlessly publish blog content and newsletters directly from Notion without coding or design skills. Feather takes things one step further by offering a Subfolder blog setup (think domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com) for optimal SEO performance.

Collaborative Content Creation

One of the standout features of Feather is its ability to accommodate the entire team during the publishing process. This collaboration-friendly platform ensures that everyone is on the same page, from start to finish. Feather also allows you to:

Customize your blog's design with custom CSS

Collect emails and much more

Draft and send newsletters from Notion

Directly reach email subscribers

Save time with a streamlined process

Reduce reliance on multiple tools and platforms

Elevate Your Content Marketing

Write and manage content on Notion

Automatically publish to an SEO-friendly blog

Focus on high-quality content creation

Let Feather handle technical details

Unleash Your Content Potential with Feather

Experience Feather today and experience the benefits of a fully integrated content creation and distribution platform. Say goodbye to the complexities of managing multiple tools and platforms and switch to Feather for a smoother, more efficient workflow.

Run your blog and newsletter with Feather, and witness the difference for yourself. Create a new account today and send emails from Notion or transform your Notion content into a blog within minutes!