Email newsletters have made a serious comeback in recent years, and for website owners, marketers and content creators, building an email list is one of the smartest ways to develop an audience without relying entirely on Google or social media.
Two platforms that have attracted plenty of attention are Substack and Beehiiv. Both offer free plans, newsletter publishing tools and ways to grow an audience, but they take rather different approaches.
Having used both platforms myself, I have some fairly strong opinions about their strengths and weaknesses.
I’ve been using Beehiiv for some time and genuinely like much of what it offers. However, I’ve also found it can be difficult to set up, frustrating when designing newsletters and increasingly expensive as subscriber numbers grow.
More recently, I started a new newsletter on Substack, and I have to say, I’ve been extremely impressed.
So, if you’re planning to launch an email newsletter, or considering switching platforms, which one should you choose?
Beehiiv: Powerful, But Not Always Easy to Use
Beehiiv has positioned itself as much more than a basic newsletter service. It’s designed for publishers who want to build, grow and eventually make money from an email audience.
There is plenty to like about it.
You can create newsletters, manage subscribers, build landing pages, monitor email performance and use tools designed to help increase your readership.
For established publishers and marketing teams, these features can be particularly useful.
However, my biggest complaint about Beehiiv is that it isn’t always the easiest platform to work with.
Setting up a newsletter can involve more work than you might expect, particularly if you want to customise its appearance or connect everything to an existing website.
Creating emails can also be fiddly.
If you’re happy with a straightforward text-based newsletter, it’s generally fine. But once you start adding images, different content blocks, columns and more detailed layouts, the editing process can become frustrating.
I’ve often found myself spending longer than I’d like adjusting the design of an email when I’d rather be concentrating on the content.
For a platform aimed at content creators, that’s not ideal.
Beehiiv Pricing: Subscriber Growth Comes at a Cost
Another issue I’ve encountered with Beehiiv is its pricing.
The free plan is generous enough to get started, allowing up to 2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends.
However, once your mailing list grows beyond that limit, you’ll need to move to a paid plan.
Following its October 2026 pricing update, Beehiiv’s Lite plan starts at $49 per month when billed annually, or $59 on monthly billing. Prices increase as your subscriber numbers rise.
For a newsletter bringing in advertising revenue or paid subscriptions, this might be perfectly reasonable.
But what about someone running a free newsletter alongside their website?
Perhaps you’ve built a list of 5,000 or 10,000 subscribers and simply want to send them a weekly roundup of your latest articles.
Suddenly, you’re facing a monthly bill just to maintain contact with an audience you’ve spent years building.
That can be difficult to justify, particularly for smaller websites and independent publishers.
Substack: A Much Simpler Experience
My recent experience with Substack has been quite different.
I launched a new newsletter on the platform and was genuinely surprised by how straightforward everything felt.
The setup process was quick, the interface was clear and, most importantly, creating and publishing content felt natural.
Rather than spending time adjusting numerous settings or struggling with email layouts, I could simply write my content, add images and publish.
It feels much closer to writing a blog post than building an email marketing campaign.
For someone who regularly creates website content, that’s a huge advantage.
Substack also publishes your newsletter as an article on your own Substack site, giving readers another way to find and read your content.
There are limitations, of course. If you want highly customised HTML emails, detailed marketing layouts or complex automated campaigns, Substack probably isn’t going to replace a dedicated email marketing platform.
But for editorial newsletters, personal publications and content-led websites, its simplicity is a real selling point.
Substack vs Beehiiv: 10 Pros and Cons
- Free Plan: Substack allows unlimited free subscribers. Beehiiv’s free plan is limited to 2,500.
- Ease of Use: Substack is easier to set up, while Beehiiv takes more time to learn.
- Newsletter Design: Beehiiv offers more design options, but Substack is simpler to use.
- Monthly Costs: Substack is free for regular newsletters. Beehiiv charges as your subscriber list grows.
- Paid Subscriptions: Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue. Beehiiv charges no platform percentage.
- Email Automation: Beehiiv offers more advanced automation tools than Substack.
- Audience Growth: Both platforms offer tools to help attract new subscribers.
- Analytics: Beehiiv provides more detailed email statistics and subscriber data.
- Advertising: Beehiiv has better built-in advertising and sponsorship tools.
- Best For: Substack is ideal for writers and bloggers, while Beehiiv suits businesses and marketers needing more features.
Substack’s Biggest Advantage: Free Means Free
Perhaps the most attractive feature of Substack is its pricing model.
Unlike Beehiiv, Substack doesn’t charge you based on the number of free subscribers you have.
You could have 500 subscribers, 5,000 subscribers or 50,000 subscribers and continue publishing newsletters without paying a monthly platform fee.
There are no charges for sending regular newsletters either.
Substack makes its money when publishers introduce paid subscriptions. At that point, the platform takes 10% of subscription revenue, with additional payment processing fees charged by Stripe.
For publishers running free newsletters, that’s an incredibly attractive arrangement.
It also means you don’t have to worry about your growing email list creating an increasingly large monthly expense.
Where Beehiiv Still Has the Advantage
Despite my enthusiasm for Substack, I wouldn’t suggest Beehiiv is the wrong choice for everyone.
In fact, Beehiiv offers several features that make it a better option for certain businesses.
Its email automation tools, audience data, advertising options and subscriber management features are better suited to businesses running more detailed email marketing campaigns.
There’s also an important financial difference.
While Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue, Beehiiv takes no platform percentage from paid subscriptions, although payment processing charges still apply.
For a publisher earning significant subscription income, paying Beehiiv’s monthly fees could actually work out cheaper.
Beehiiv also gives marketers more control over how they build and manage their newsletters.
The trade-off is a platform that can require more time, patience and money.
Substack vs Beehiiv: Which Would I Recommend?
After using both services, my preference for a new, free newsletter would currently be Substack.
It’s easy to set up, pleasant to write with and removes one of the biggest concerns facing new publishers: ongoing costs.
For bloggers, independent website owners, writers and small businesses wanting to keep in touch with their readers, I think it’s an excellent starting point.
Beehiiv remains a strong option for businesses that need more detailed marketing tools, automation and ways to earn revenue from their audiences.
Ultimately, the decision comes down to what you’re trying to achieve.
If your main goal is to write a good newsletter, build an audience and send emails without worrying about subscriber limits, Substack gets my vote.
If you’re building a larger email marketing operation with advanced tools and commercial plans, Beehiiv deserves serious consideration.
And if you’re creating your very first newsletter, my advice would be simple: give Substack a try before committing to a monthly subscription elsewhere.
You might find, as I did, that it offers pretty much everything you need without costing you a penny.
