You’re going to need a dedicated platform, like an ESP, that will bring your ideas from the microwave to the table—unspoiled.
The tricky part? There are literally dozens of these ESPs to choose from.
Worse, most of these ESPs offer nearly similar features.
So how do you pick the right one? Or does it even matter if they’re all cut from the same cloth?
Short answer: Yep, it totally matters. Because similarities start and stop at the level of features. What distinguishes one from the other is the flexibility a tool offers with respect to your peculiar business needs.
As to how to pick the right one—well, that’s what this post is all about.
We have been in this space for over 12 years now, and we have designed and coded newsletters for brands across 52+ countries.
Right now, Beehiiv and Substack are two of the biggest names in the newsletter world. You’ll see them popping up all over Reddit threads and community chats. Looking for the best platform for newsletters? Substack and Beehiiv are the top contenders.
In today’s guide, we offer expert insights into these two platforms so you can figure out which one is the right tool for you.
So then, Beehiiv vs Substack—on to the showdown!
Which Is Better: Beehiiv or Substack?
It depends. But here’s a measuring stick—just a list of questions—that may offer some clues later. We’ll get into a detailed review just after.
- Is your newsletter an independent program or part of a website?
- Are you comfortable having to pay to send your newsletter emails?
- Do you want to monetize your newsletter?
- If yes, what kind of a business model are you building on?
- Are you okay with basic, minimalist newsletter design?
Sit through the above questions before diving into the next part—a detailed Beehiiv vs Substack comparison. Let’s kick off with Beehiiv.
Beehiiv
Launched only in 2021, Beehiiv has quickly made its mark in the newsletter space, with a star-studded clientele (featuring the likes of TIME and Boston Globe Media) using the platform to create newsletters.
Beehiiv may be just the tool you need for your newsletter IF:
- You’re looking for a zero-fuss, one-click publishing option
- You want to track referral-based engagement with your newsletter
- You want to build a referral program into Beehiiv
- You want to run polls and surveys from within the newsletter
Here are some of the features in Beehiive which stand out:
1. A Simple Email Builder
Beehiiv’s email builder is simple, easy to use, and intuitive. If your design needs are modest, their ready-made templates are a great starting point. These templates are fully customizable—whether it’s adjusting fonts or swapping out content tiles, you have plenty of flexibility to align with your brand. Our favorite feature is the pre-styled canvas, which comes equipped with heading tags, buttons, banners, tables, etc. so you can just pop your content into the tiles, including videos and tweets, and send it out to your readers. No format-fretting anymore!
The best part? Beehiiv lets you know beforehand whether your newsletter risks being clipped by Gmail.
2. Multilingual Support
You can now reach out to a global audience thanks to Beehiiv’s multilingual support—a feature that sets them apart from all other ESPs.
Including English, Beehiiv supports French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
3. Advanced Analytics
From routine tracking to engagement deep-dives, you get granular visibility into how your audience is responding to your newsletter.
In fact, you can also look into the engagement level of specific segments.
“For instance, if you’re running a Facebook ad to grow your list, you can use Beehiiv’s dashboard to see if the users who signed up via that ad end up engaging with your newsletter. That should help you identify which growth tactics are worth investing more in, and which you might want to stop doing,” reveals Dan Oshinsky, who is the founder of Inbox Collective.
4. Migration for Free
Is your newsletter on another platform? If yes, Beehiiv helps you move the entire setup, along with your email list, over to theirs—for free.
In addition, for up to 2,500 subscribers, Beehiiv is absolutely free.
Below, you can take a look at an exhaustive analysis of Beehiiv.
(The tables are based on insights from Dan Oshinsky’s ESP reviews.)
On the face of it, Beehiiv seems like the best platform for newsletters.
But, let’s see next how Substack stacks up against Beehiiv. Keep reading!
Substack
To begin with, Substack is wildly popular. In fact, Margaret Atwood, George Saunders, Salman Rushdie, and Mehdi Hasan are on Substack.
“…As novelists embrace Substack, they’re leveraging their brands not just into a new platform, but a new distribution model: consistent points of contact, delivered into readers’ inboxes at a regular frequency, with the added intimacy of a discursive, freewheeling comments section,” points out Adrienne Westenfeld, Books & Fiction Editor at Esquire.
You might not be a novelist, nor have a personal halo behind your hair. So then, is Substack right for you? It could be IF:
- You want to sell a paid subscription to your readers
- You’re looking for a no-sweat publishing experience
- You want to run a podcast alongside the newsletter
- You don’t want to monetize the newsletter, but need a space to write freely, hit Publish—and yes, keep on doing that
If that sounds like you, Substack may just be your thing. Let’s take a look at some of the standout features of Substack.
1. Easy-to-use Editor
Substack’s editor is as straightforward as Beehiiv, if not more so. It’s totally, almost movingly, writer-oriented. You can also add audio content, like a snippet, from your latest podcast episode. Additionally, if you want to divide content availability for free and paid subscribers, you can decide the exact cut-off point, and Substack will take care of the rest.
Once again, as in Beehiive so in Substack, the template library isn’t vast. If your design requirements are minimal, Substack fills the bill.
2. No Monthly or Annual Fees
You can send as many newsletters as you like to as many readers. There are no monthly or annual subscription fees to use the platform.
3. No Website Needed
Don’t have a website of your own? No problem. You can still establish your presence online through Substack.
You can buy a custom domain for a one-time $50.
This is crucial for cementing your online identity. So whenever someone visits the domain, they’ll see your publication as a standalone website. And whenever you write and post something, it will be published on the custom domain, and at the same time get sent as an email to your newsletter subscribers. Readers can comment on your stories, and if you know your SEO, you can also optimize the content for greater visibility.
4. Publisher-friendly Features
Substack is increasingly seeking to be perceived as a publishing platform, not just a newsletter tool.
As a result, they’ve been rolling out a string of publisher-focused features:
- You can set up more than one newsletter under a single publication.
- You can embed lead magnets into your newsletter
- Through their chat feature, readers can directly engage with you
- You can create free trials for new subscribers
- You can sell group subscriptions. This enables orgs and companies to buy multiple subscriptions for their members all at once.
Two years ago, Substack also launched Notes for writers to post short-form content and share ideas among themselves and their readers.
Below, you can take a look at an exhaustive analysis of Substack.
Finally, in terms of pricing, here’s how the Beehiiv vs Substack comparison stacks up against each other.
Newsletter Design: Beehiiv vs Substack
As already stated with respect to design, Beehiiv and Substack are suitable only if your design requirements are modest. Neither of the tools offer a lot of design flexibility. Beehiiv’s template library is pretty basic. And Substack doesn’t offer templates.
Obviously, since both platforms focus on the written word.
And writers shouldn’t have to worry about design and coding if they get to make just enough visual tweaks and get away with it.
So both Beehiiv and Substack prioritize simplicity. For writers and for their readers.
However, if you’re not a content creator per se, and your requirements are pretty sophisticated, neither of these tools are fit for you.
For example, consider the following newsletter from Outside Local Run.
The newsletter is exclusively for marketing and sales purposes. The focus is on persuading the subscribers to make a purchase.
In fact, the local temperature listing also indicates geo-localization.
So, the designer has had to create multiple such templates to cater to the different regions where the business is or its products are available.
Similarly, have a look at Arsenal’s newsletter below. Here is email design at its best. Brand-optimized. With powerful CTA buttons.
In light of all this, consider the following questions:
- Are you a B2B or B2C business that wants to leverage newsletters?
- Do you want templates designed as per automated flows?
- Are you looking for multi-column design to showcase products?
- Might you want interactive elements in your newsletter?
- Do your brand assets call for highly-customized newsletter templates?
- Would you like to experiment with animated GIFs?
If your answer to these questions is a yes, you may have to look beyond Substack and Beehiiv.
For Beehiiv and Substack alternatives for newsletters, you can explore platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Curated, and Omnisend.
But, keep in mind that those who are platform-trained have an edge over those who want to use any platform as an adjunct. So even if you have the best platform for newsletters, you need to learn to milk it, too.
Enter Email Mavlers!
Need a newsletter designed and coded to spec? Let’s talk about it!
At Email Mavlers, each template we deliver is meticulously hand-coded with clean, well-documented markup to make future customization effortless. We rigorously test every template across major email clients—implementing fallbacks for limited-support environments—to ensure broad compatibility. Fully responsive by design, our emails adapt smoothly across devices and browsers, from desktop to mobile. Every template is custom-built to be editable, reusable, and perfectly integrated with your marketing platform for a seamless workflow.
As of now, we offer design and development across these ESPs:
We’re already expanding to more ESPs. Your first order is on us. Get in touch today!
Susmit Panda - Content writer
