Beehiiv vs ConvertKit: Choosing the Right Newsletter Platform for You
Newsletters are essential for creators, so let’s put beehiiv vs ConvertKit to see which option is better.
These 2 are some of the best platforms you can use with a free plan and powerful tools.
I even say that you can use them from the beginner phase until the Pro stage, where you make a full-time income with your content.
So, let’s see how these Substack alternatives help creators.
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beehiiv vs ConvertKit summary
- Content creation: 7.4
- Customization: 6.9
- Growth tools & SEO: 8.4
- Management: 10
- Monetization: 6.9
- Overall score (blog+ newsletter): 8.4
- Content creation: 8.1
- Customization: 7.2
- Growth tools & SEO: 5.5
- Management: 7.4
- Monetization: 8.5
- Overall score (blog+ newsletter): 6.6
Beehiiv and ConvertKit are 2 great tools for newsletters that don’t have many flaws.
The main similarities between ConvertKit and beehiiv are that they both have a free plan, are easy to use, and allow creators to monetize their content with memberships and Ads.
The main differences are that beehiiv is a more complete tool because it can be used as a blog and is cheaper. While ConvertKit has a better writing experience, is more customizable, and allows the selling of digital products.
Beehiiv is the better option if you have a big subscriber base (more than 10,000 subs) and want to have a blog and newsletter in the same place.
On the other hand, ConvertKit is better for creators that already have a blog using Ghost or WordPress or are just starting their journey.
beehiiv summary
Beehiiv is a hybrid platform that combines newsletters with blogging. This means you can use it to publish different content in the same place.
Beehiiv is a hosted no-code solution for creators that want to focus on writing without having to deal with technical configuration.
They launched in July 2021 with a team of former Morning Brew employees, and their development has impressed me a lot in their short existence.
Beehiiv's strong points:
- Nothing to install;
- You can do everything without code;
- 0% memberships fees;
- Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers;
- Works as blog + newsletter;
- Lots of email analytics available;
- Amazing newsletter design customization;
- Allows multiple newsletters in the same account;
- Referral program for newsletters;
- Integrations with other tools;
- Offers and trials for membership.
Beehiiv's limitations:
- Limited website customization options;
- Custom domain only on paid plans;
- No code injection (CSS and JavaScript) to the site.
ConvertKit summary
ConvertKit is one of the best newsletter tools for creators — and it’s not hard to see why.
ConvertKit is one tool that feels like they have everything and comes wrapped in a shiny package: a good free plan, pretty templates, and lots of advanced tools for Pros!
ConvertKit strong points:
- Free to use up to 1,000 subscribers;
- Automated email sequences;
- Integrations (example, Zapier);
- Easy to sell digital products (as a one-time or recurring subscription);
- Lots of analytics tools (including click tracking and subscriber engagement score);
- Good email deliverability;
- Low fees (0.6% + payment processing fees);
- Email segmentation (send emails based on tags);
- Landing pages builder;
- Form builder (to embed on other CMS and website builders);
- Referral program;
- Team members;
- Custom domain.
ConvertKit limitations:
- Pricing based on subscribers puts pressure to monetize the newsletter;
- The newsletter public archive is extremely limited;
- You need a standalone website to get discovered and grow the newsletter because ConvertKit doesn't have a hybrid model with a blog included.
Detailed comparison: beehiiv vs ConvertKit
Now you will find a detailed comparison of beehiiv and ConvertKit across 6 categories I consider essential for a creator.
This way, you can make a well-informed decision after knowing their strong and weak spots.
Starting and managing an account
Here I'm looking at how easy it is to start and create posts on each platform.
How easy is it to start using beehiiv?
Beehiiv is super easy to start an account.
It takes 2 minutes.
Enter your publication name, sender name, tags, and desired subdomain URL.
Simple as that.
The dashboard is simple. It's easy to find drafts and published posts or start creating new ones.
Like Ghost CMS, beehiiv has 3 options for publishing: (1) publish on the site, (2) send by email and publish on the site, (3) or just send by email.
This flexibility is good for keeping your newsletter intimate or posting it on the internet to get more attention.
Beehiiv is a hybrid platform (newsletter + blog) for non-technical users. Making everything as easy as possible.
How easy is it to start using ConvertKit?
It’s a breeze to create an account with ConvertKit.
You’d get there in seconds; sign up for free, then decide if you want to migrate from a previous tool, and enter your business name and goals.
And that’s it. You just created yourConvertKit account, congratulations!
Now, you can start to compose or send your first email.
Using ConvertKit feels like child’s play: simple, not only in starting an account but with how easy it is to find and use things.
This simplicity is also visible onConvertKit’s navigation bar. Here, they ensure that all the features you need are conveniently organized without overwhelming you.
Here's how ConvertKit organizes its menu:
- Grow: Here, you can access subscriber data, landing pages, and forms.
- Send: This is where you can set up email series, send a newsletter, and create email templates.
- Automate: Visual automation builder, integrations, rules, and RSS.
- Earn: From paid newsletters to selling digital courses, you can monetize your skills directly with ConvertKit.
- Learn: Where you can check the latest product updates, community, and even access ConvertKit’s Creator University for educational support.
Winner for category starting and managing an account
Beehiiv wins in this category by a tiny, tiny margin.
Don’t get me wrong, ConvertKit is doing pretty good here, and they have an incredible onboarding process. But beehiiv is a step above because they allow you to import newsletters you have previously sent using another tool.
Beehiiv is super easy to start an account, manage the content, subscribers and give permissions to your team.
I don’t see flaws in beehiiv for creating an account.
If you don’t want to import newsletter content into ConvertKit, they will both be easy for you.
I’d even go further by saying that as long as you know how to use the internet, you can use either beehiiv or ConvertKit without breaking a sweat.
Creating and writing
Now, I'll explore the process of creating content with each tool.
Editor features and writing experience on beehiiv
Beehiiv's editor layout is modern and works well.
The editor is clean, and you can focus on writing without problems.
Clicking on the plus icon from within the editor gives you access to things like:
- Text formatting;
- Polls;
- Recommend other newsletters;
- Put a paywall in the post;
- Embed images;
- Create a button.
On the right sidebar, you can find all the other customization options for the post, including SEO settings, post-delivery type, and preview.
However, I have some criticism about the editor.
My biggest complaint comes from the half-backed "HTML snippet" on the editor.
Embedding code opens the door to several options, but on beehiiv, you can't embed scripts or CSS, only HTML.
This is annoying and limiting to advanced users because they can't use JavaScript, which is one of the biggest advantages of this feature.
Editor features and writing experience on ConvertKit
The writing experience in ConvertKit is pretty good.
The editor looks clean: the contents are on the left, and settings are on the right (to customize font size, colors, etc.).
When you start creating a newsletter, you can start with a blank page or use one of the templates available, which makes the newsletter prettier and saves time with formatting.
But better than an editor that looks clean is one that works well and doesn’t limit you from creating content. So, let me tell you that you are in good hands with ConvertKit.
Here are some of the main content blocks you can find on the editor:
- Text formatting;
- Files;
- Layouts;
- Image gallery;
- Products;
- Countdown times;
- HTML blocks.
If I have to point out a weakness here, I’ll mention that the HTML block doesn’t work as intended. I tried embedding a table with images and text from another tool using the HTML block, but the formatting was wrong and didn’t look like it should (the same HTML worked on Ghost CMS, for example).
Winner for category creating and writing
The winner of this category is ConvertKit by a very small margin.
See, when it comes to writing and creating, these tools look good, are simple to use, and have ‘everything one wants. But while beehiiv is very good, ConvertKit outshines its younger competitor because it allows HTML blocks on the free plan.
Now you might wonder, why is this a deciding factor?
HTML blocks allow advanced creators to put content on the newsletter that otherwise might not be possible.
However, the HTML block is only half-baked on both ConvertKit and beehiiv, but at least on ConvertKit, you can use it on the free plan.
Customization
Next comes customization and design.
Customization on beehiiv
Beehiiv is polarizing when it comes to customization.
On the newsletter side, they have more customization options than top-notch email service providers.
Beehiiv is one most customizable platform for newsletters I know without writing code.
You can customize everything about the aspect of your newsletter in minutes. That's fascinating!
The problems happen when we talk about customizing the website aspect.
You can only pick from their default layouts. This means you can't buy themes or build one from scratch.
At this point, there are only 2 options, and I don't like how they look.
You can change the fonts, select colors for the buttons, and decide between light or dark modes. And that's it.
Your site will look like a cookie-cutter template similar to Substack.
Customization on ConvertKit
When it comes to customization, ConvertKit has the right buttons for you.
For starters, CovertKit’s newsletter layout is fully customizable. You can tinker with the font color, size, background, and even the styles of the buttons.
Even customizing landing pages and forms are really easy.
On top of that, they have many design options for newsletters, landing pages, and forms. This can save you hours with ConvertKit’s default options or simply get inspired by them.
And if all these aren’t wow enough, ConvertKit also has content snippets which are blocks of content that you can reuse for as long as you like, speeding up your content creation process.
With ConvertKit, it’s possible to make your creative imaginations into reality and make them pretty!
Winner for category customization
ConvertKit is the winner when it comes to customization.
ConvertKit has plenty of templates available for the newsletter, landing pages, and forms. And they look very pretty and usable out of the box! And if you don’t like it, just use the easy editor to customize everything.
Don’t get me wrong, Beehiiv’s newsletter customization is second to none, but their website customization still has a lot of room to improve, and improvement it needs! So, in this category, beehiiv is like a person with only a good leg: not ideal.
And this is why ConvertKit wins when it comes to customization.
Pricing
Now comes the cost of each tool.
How much does beehiiv cost?
Beehiiv prices are reasonable with a generous free plan. And they don't take a percentage of your revenue!
Most free plans are capped at 1,000 subscribers, but beehiiv allows up to 2,500 subs in the free plan.
But to enable custom domains and paid memberships, you'll have to upgrade to one of their paid plans.
I'm not a fan of the custom domain being associated with a paid plan because small newsletters won't be able to afford it.
This is a case of winning on one side with a generous free plan and losing on the SEO side unless you upgrade.
Beehiiv's "Grow" plan starts at $42/month and gives team members and the API access.
The "Scale" plan ($84/month) unlocks multiple newsletters and the referral program.
For anyone that makes significant money with their newsletter, beehiiv is a good deal. Plain and simple.
They have great tools and don't take a revenue cut.
This alone makes it cheaper than a platform like Substack when you earn more than $5,000 per year.
On top of that, beehiiv has many features that, if you use other platforms, you would probably spend a lot more.
I'm talking about paying separately for a blog, newsletter, and referral program.
How much does ConvertKit cost?
The downside of ConvertKit is that the more subscribers you get, the more you get billed asConvertKit has tiered pricing.
In general, this pricing strategy is helpful for beginners because it allows them to pay a small fee for the tool.
In ConvertKit’s case, they have a free plan for up to 1000 subscribers that helps creators begin their journeys.
But as your following grows, so will your bill.
Paid plans start at $9/ month for 300 subscribers and grow until it becomes quite expensive.
To put it into perspective, ConvertKit’s prices escalate more than other competitors with better blogging capabilities.
Yes, blogging isn’t really the heart and soul of ConvertKit. And yes, they’re introducing blogging elements to follow the market trend. But what they have is pretty primitive at this point for blogging.
There are other tools you can use for a newsletter and blog out there, like MailerLite or Ghost CMS, which are also great and wouldn’t cost more.
Winner for category pricing
Beehiiv is the obvious winner when it comes to pricing!
It’s hard to find another newsletter tool that allows 2,500 subscribers on their free plan.
I know that beehiiv has limited the features of their free plan. Still, if you compare that to ConvertKit’s pricing chart with the same number of subs, I promise you, you would hardly care at all.
On top of that, beehiiv offers only 2 paid plans that don’t escalate through the roof when you get more subscribers.
Here are the numbers:
- beehiiv cheaper paid plan: $42/ month (billed annually) - allows up to 10,000 subscribers. After that, it's $84/ month;
- ConvertKit cheaper paid plan for 10,000 subscribers costs: $100/ month.
As these numbers show, it's much cheaper to use beehiiv.
Monetization
Now, I'll analyze the options to make money with each platform.
Monetization options on beehiiv
It's possible to monetize on beehiiv with paid memberships and ads from their native ad network.
Memberships are probably the bread and butter of many creators.
It's a dead simple process: connect a Stripe account, select the price, and subscribers pay to access the content.
Beehiiv also has membership tiers. Making it possible to offer different perks to readers.
I like these tiers because more engaged readers can contribute more.
Their ad network makes it easy for creators to work with advertisers and get paid directly on the platform.
This is great because it removes the need to go and find a sponsor in other places, which is time-consuming and tiring for the creator.
But if you prefer to work with sponsors outside of the ad network, you can embed the sponsored content into the post.
However, I advise you to use a sponsored tag to avoid problems with Google.
Monetization options on ConvertKit
The “Earn” tab in ConvertKit reveals all the ways you can monetize your content:
- Paid newsletter;
- Selling digital products
- Sponsorships (via ConvertKit Sponsor Network, aka CKSN).
The common knowledge is that most creators make the bulk of their revenue via paid subscriptions and sponsorships.
In this sense, ConvertKit allows you to maximize your earnings because you can easily create a paid newsletter. And if you are approved to the CKSN, you’ll have an easy path to finding sponsors.
When it comes to digital products, you can sell on ConvertKit here a shortlist of ideas: newsletters, digital courses, e-books, coaching, and consultations.
Winner for category monetization
As hard as it may be to choose since I consider both to be gold standards for monetizing newsletters, ConvertKit takes the win in this one.
ConvertKit is the winner in monetization as they have many ways integrated into the platform for you to receive money from subscribers. Besides the usually paid newsletter memberships, it allows you to sell digital products and access their Sponsor Network.
Beehiiv is also very good for monetization as they focus on memberships and Ad Network, but unfortunately, it lacks the versatility to sell digital products. For this reason, ConvertKit takes this round.
SEO & Growing tools
Let's see how they compare SEO and other tools.
How good are beehiiv's SEO and other growing tools?
Beehiiv's main focus is on newsletters, but I have to praise their development and the effort they put into the website.
And they are good when we talk about SEO.
On beehiiv, you'll find essential SEO features like:
- Sitemaps;
- Robots.txt file;
- Custom meta descriptions;
- Schema markup;
Most hybrid tools focused on newsletters aren't this good.
This shows a willingness to improve, listen to users, and improve on competitor flaws.
So, I have to say I'm impressed with the things beehiiv did in their short existence, while some competitors have had the same flaws for years (cough Substack cough).
On top of that, beehiiv also allows access to their API, which you can use for integrations.
This opens the other to tools like Zapier and Make that you can use to integrate beehiiv with hundreds of other tools.
You'll be in good hands regarding SEO and integrations on beehiiv.
Beehiiv has newsletter recommendations where different publications can recommend each other and grow together. The excellent part is they allow people to subscribe with 1-click, making it frictionless.
How good are ConvertKit’s SEO and other growing tools?
SEO isn’t exactly ConvertKit’s strongest suit.
I mean, ConvertKit is a great platform for sending out newsletters, and for many years it never looked like developing blogging capabilities was on their plans.
As I write this, ConvertKit doesn’t have a proper public archive (aka, blogging capabilities) nor a good way for people to find your newsletter organically via search engines.
At this stage, ConvertKit can offer landing pages and subscription forms to put on other websites. This will help grow the newsletter by earning subscribers from your blog without needing 3rd-party tools.
On the other hand, when we look at ‘growth tools’, ConvertKit is in a very good position.
Here are the main tools that will help your ConvertKit newsletter grow:
- Email sequences;
- Subscriber tagging and segmentation;
- Integrations with several other tools;
- Newsletter referral program;
- A/B test for emails.
Winner for category SEO & Growing tools
Beehiiv is the clear winner in this category.
Beehiiv wins this category because it’s as good as ConverKit when we think about growth tools like email automation, referral programs, etc. But beehiiv has much more advanced blogging capabilities making it a platform with good SEO.
As I said, beehiiv is no typical newsletter tool as it works as a blog and a newsletter, all in the same place. This is similar to Substack, but if you put Beehiiv vs Substack, you’ll see they have a lot of differences.
On the other side, ConvertKit is very good when it comes to what I call ‘growth’, but search engine optimization is a problem for someone wanting to use CK for blogging.
I know ConvertKit is not meant for blogging. Here I am just stating the obvious and confirming that creators should not use CK for it.
So, beehiiv is the clear winner of this category.
Final Thoughts
ConvertKit and beehiiv are two of the best tools out there for newsletters.
They are easy to use and have free plans that beginners are looking for, but they also have advanced features that Pros want and desire to use!
However, it’s hard to level the playing field for this match-up because beehiiv is “more complete” than ConvertKit. I say this because beehiiv is a hybrid platform that works as a blog and a newsletter. While ConvertKit is “only” usable for newsletters.
As this comparison showed, beehiiv is easier to use, has better pricing, and is better for “growth” and SEO.
On the other hand, ConvertKit has a better writing experience, better customization, and more monetization options.
This means that if we just looked at the newsletter features, it would be essentially a tie. But beehiiv is winning the comparison when I look at all the features, including blogging capabilities.
And you will not make a mistake by using either of them for your newsletter.
So, creators with a blog and who want a new newsletter tool usually prefer ConvertKit. But if you have over 5,000 subscribers, beehiiv will be the much cheaper option just for a newsletter.
While creators that want to centralize the blog and newsletter in only one place tend to prefer beehiiv.
- Content creation: 7.4
- Customization: 6.9
- Growth tools & SEO: 8.4
- Management: 10
- Monetization: 6.9
- Overall score (blog+ newsletter): 8.4
- Content creation: 8.1
- Customization: 7.2
- Growth tools & SEO: 5.5
- Management: 7.4
- Monetization: 8.5
- Overall score (blog+ newsletter): 6.6
