What’s the best platform for newsletter writers?

Hey honeys and hustlers,

In the past 100 years, technology has evolved so much. Human behavior has not. We crave connection and thrive in community. I’ve been building community in large part through this newsletter, and I switched newsletter platforms over the Thanksgiving holiday to beehiiv. I wanted to share my decision-making process with you, in case you’re hoping to start or grow your own newsletter. Substack was a wonderful platform for my first year of newsletter writing and online community building. The Substack ecosystem is beautiful, vibrant, and special; it was tough for me to decide to leave the platform. For free on Substack you get a recommendations network, paid subscriptions, a decent website landing page, unlimited publications and subscribers, surveys and polls, private audio and video publishing, and an integrated social network that makes finding other writers to recommend easier. So why did I leave?

Opportunities for Growth

My goal was to reach 500 subscribers in my first year of the newsletter. We hit that goal (yay!), but with growth comes responsibility. How can I create the best possible onboarding experience for new subscribers? I want people to feel like they’re being welcomed into a space, not just subscribing to another newsletter. Substack doesn’t have any sort of email automation, doesn’t have an open API for embedding different types of forms on other websites, and doesn’t accept HTML code. It’s great for publishing, but not so great for growth outside of the Substack ecosystem (aka Substack notes, referrals, and recommendations network).

Monetization

I didn’t start a newsletter to make money exclusively, but writing twice a week is a lot of work. It takes time to carefully craft ideas, decide which ideas are worth pursuing, and create a valuable article that I would actually want to read, let alone share with others. Substack allows you to have paid subscribers, but with their 10% cut and Stripe’s 3% cut, you’re giving up 13% of everything you bring in. I’m no mathematician, but a 13% cut just doesn’t feel sustainable for anyone with 25 or more paying subscribers. You’d be better off paying for a subscription with Kit, beehiiv, Ghost, or any other platform that allows you to have paying subscribers. And paid subscriptions are only one way to make money with a newsletter.

Sure, you can have brand partners advertising in your Substack newsletter, but Substack isn’t lifting a finger to help you find them. Sure, you can invite writers to Substack, but Substack doesn’t have an affiliate program to incentivize you to do so. Sure, you can find recommendation partners using Substack’s social feed, but if you want to target certain newsletter audiences for paid promotion or vice versa, have fun individually negotiating all those deals. And don’t get me started on having any functionality for publishing your writing in a book/e-book or selling digital products. It feels like Substack was ahead of the pack for a while and then just….stopped.

Features that Matter

While Substack sees a lot of benefits from offering a free newsletter writing platform to writers and readers, it feels like they think they’ve done enough. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to ship new features. And I mean any features. I would love to see a better analytics dashboard, better website functionality, or even the ability to have more than one subscription tier. Nothing crazy, the basics. But they don’t have a transparent product roadmap and seemingly struggle with transparency in general. I could continue complaining about all the things Substack doesn’t have…..or, I could just seek out a platform that did. I looked heavily at Kit, Ghost, and beehiiv and came to this final conclusion:

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the best email marketing engine for people who want to make money. If you’re selling digital products, courses, or want complicated email funnels that integrate with like every online platform known to man, this is the place for you.

• Ghost is the best open publishing site for people who care about owning their work and their corner of the internet. If you want the most website functionality and more options for paid subscribers, this is the place for you.

• beehiiv is a better Substack, in every way. beehiiv has far better analytics, better deliverability, an ad network, a boosts network, API access, email automation options, and ships new features like they’re running out of style. They bought Typedream over the summer, so I’m excited to see what website customization options will be available soon so I can take this community to the next level. Now that I know how to market my newsletter and I’m ready to grow and scale this community, I think beehiiv is the best home.

Yes, I am on a paid plan because I wanted to keep my paid subscribers, but if I knew what I know now when I started writing, I probably wouldn’t have turned on paid subscriptions for the first year. And not just because it was a pain moving them over (though that was a whole ordeal). In the first year, I was still validating my audience, building a writing habit, and I had no idea what I could offer paid subscribers that would be sustainable and that they’d actually want. In which case, their free plan would’ve been a great place to start.

If you found me on Substack and you’re still here, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you stick around. I’ll still hang out on Substack notes from time to time. My email will still get in your inbox the same way it would if it was on Substack. Far more people read my newsletter through email than through the Substack platform or app, and I’m sure the same is true for you if you have a newsletter. The hosting platform doesn’t matter as much as the things you’re publishing, so press publish on something that matters, consistently.

If you want to take beehiiv for a spin, clicking the link gives you a 30-day trial of their paid plan, and 20% off your first 3 months should you decide to upgrade. Their free plan allows you to have up to 2,500 subscribers and you can start your recommendations network, so that’s an option as well. Happy writing! ✍🏾

If this article has been helpful or valuable, consider sharing it on social media or with someone who would enjoy it! Your genuine recommendation is the best way to grow this community.

🚀 Community Spotlight

// If you're ready to grow your podcast and influence without drowning in extra work, The Podcast Space's newsletter is your go-to resource. Founded by Ana Xavier, an Award-Winning Podcast Consultant and Marketer (not to mention overall incredible human being), the newsletter delivers ethical, actionable, and practical strategies to help you double your growth while staying true to your values. From boosting visibility to amplifying your influence, each newsletter is packed with insights to make your podcast thrive. Don’t miss out—subscribe now and start seeing results!

// Job searching is a soul-sucking affair. And trying to find jobs in the creator economy can be even harder. Luckily, Creator’s List by Kristian Paljasma has you covered. Each week, he sends a curated round-up of creator jobs directly to your inbox. Sign up to find your next role!

// I recently had a great brainstorming session with Emily Holland of Wild Poppy Creative. They have two incredible things I think you should know about: their Brand Partnerships Accelerator starting in January, and their free community for podcasters. I can’t recommend them enough!

If you made it this far and you haven’t subscribed yet…well, I’d love to have you join us. However you create, I want to support you in doing more of what you’re passionate about.

Please Hustle Responsibly,

🤙🏾✨

Say hi on Linkedin or YouTube

If you’d like to engage with this community, here are a few ways you can do that:

Forwarded this article? Your friends have good taste. Sign up here.

Join the Creator Database. The best place to connect with the incredible folks in this community. View and join the database here.

Advertise with us. Get your brand in front of 600+ creators, founders, and marketers by sponsoring a YouTube video, podcast episode, or this newsletter. Reach out at [email protected].