How to Migrate from Substack to beehiiv (Quick & Easy Guide)

Are you on Substack and thinking about migrating to beehiiv?

Or, maybe you’re about to launch your first newsletter and wondering which platform to choose.

Don’t worry, you’ve made the right choice and have come to the right place!

beehiiv’s all-in-one platform gives you a user-friendly interface, a variety of growth tools, and access to different income streams to make your newsletter a success.

In this article, we’ll break down the exact steps you need to take to migrate over from Substack to beehiiv. And… It only takes a few minutes.

Let’s begin!

What Is the Difference Between beehiiv and Substack?

The primary difference between beehiiv and Substack is that Substack centers its offering around its premium subscription model. Their goal is to offer product features and pricing that align with offering paid newsletter tiers to subscribers.

This goal is centered around their pricing model: Free + 10% cut of premium revenue.

So, you can use Substack for free. But, once you start offering premium newsletter subscriptions to your audience, they charge 10% of your revenue. This means if you’re bringing in $5,000 per month in paid revenue, you’ll be charged $500 per month.

On the other hand, beehiiv isn’t just built for premium subscriptions. beehiiv offers a variety of features that are centered around customization, personalization, and growth so publishers can create their own path to achieve a successful, profitable newsletter.

beehiiv gives newsletter publishers a suite of growth tools for those just starting out and those who are in the process of scaling. While Substack charges 10% for all premium subscription revenue, beehiiv offers this feature for free. beehiiv also includes the beehiiv Ad Network, which allows creators to match up with relevant sponsors, offering another revenue stream for creators.

Here are a few ways beehiiv compares and contrasts with Substack.

Features: beehiiv vs. Substack

How Do I Migrate From Substack To beehiiv?

Migrating from Substack to beehiiv is a simple process. First, head over to Subsatck and log in to your account.

1. Export Your Subscribers from Substack

Once you’re logged in, head over to your Substack dashboard.

Next, click on the “Subscribers” tab. It will bring up your complete list of everyone subscribed to your Substack account. Once there, click on "Subscribers."

On the far left column, select all the subscribers you want to export, then click “Export.” This will let you download a CSV file containing all of your Substack subscriber data.

Next, you can choose what Subscriber data you want to export. You can select all custom fields by choosing “All columns,” or if you only want to export certain data, click on “Only the selected columns.” Then, click the orange “Export” button.

Once the CSV export file is ready, click “Download last export.” A .csv file of your Substack subscribers will then be downloaded to your computer.

2. Clean Your CSV File

Once you’ve got your subscriber CSV file from Substack, it’s important to make sure the data is accurate. Before heading over to beehiiv, head to Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or Apple Pages.

Once you’ve uploaded your CSV, do a quick check of the data in the file. Your columns, rows, or fields may have some inaccuracies or distortions. Scan the subscriber information and manually fix anything necessary. This ensures your data transfers smoothly from Substack to beehiiv so there aren’t any subscriber errors or inaccuracies.

Once you’re in beehiiv, the platform lets you create custom subscriber fields for your subscribers. This is so you can mark down any relevant information you have stored about your readers.

Once you’ve scanned (and potentially edited) your document, turn it back into a CSV file. In Google Sheets, you can do this by selecting File>Download>Comma Separated Values (.csv).

3. Import Your Subscriber CSV File Into beehiiv

Finally, it’s time to import your Substack subscribers into your beehiiv account. You’ll do this by uploading your CSV into beehiiv.

Head over to beehiiv and log in to your account. Once you’re inside your beehiiv Dashboard, navigate over to “Audience” on the left and click on “Subscribers.”

Once you’re on your “Subscribers” page, click “Import Subscribers” in the top right.

This will take you over to your Admin>Publication>Import Subscribers page. To begin the import process, click “Start New Import.”

Here, you’ll have the option to upload a CSV or manually insert email addresses. Select “Upload a CSV file” and click “Begin Import.”

Under “Upload Email List CSV,” click “Choose File” and find your CSV file of your Substack subscribers in your downloads. You also have the option of sending a welcome email to your imported subscribers if you’d like (you can edit your welcome email here).

Next, click “Import Subscribers.” You will be asked to confirm the import. Click “Import.”

Next, choose which data fields you’d like to carry over from Substack to beehiiv. Then, click “Import.”

After you’ve clicked “Import,” it may take a few minutes to process all of your subscribers into your beehiiv account. Once your import is complete, you can see the total amount of “Imported subscribers.”

Once your subscribers are imported, you can head back over to your beehiiv dashboard and click on Subscribers to see all your newly imported subscribers.

You’ll be able to see each subscriber’s email, when they subscribed, how they were acquired, whether they’re active or inactive, and whether or not they’re subscribed to a premium newsletter plan. You can click on their email to see more information, including any custom field data you carried over from Substack.

Congrats! Your Substack subscribers are now officially subscribed to your beehiiv newsletter. Next time you hit publish, these readers will receive your newsletter in their inboxes!

But… just wait. Your Substack to beehiiv migration isn’t over quite yet. Keep reading to finish the migration process.

How Do I Import Substack Posts Into beehiiv?

Did you know that you can also import your Substack posts over to beehiiv?

That’s right! That means none of your previously published Substack posts have to go to waste. They can live on as beehiiv posts from now on.

beehiiv allows you to automatically import content from Subsack, Revue, WordPress, and Mailchimp. That way, you don’t have to manually re-publish all of your posts–saving you days, if not weeks, depending on how many posts you’ve published.

Here’s how to import your Substack content into beehiiv. In your beehiiv Dashboard, you’ll find “Settings'' on the left side of your screen. Click that, then click “Publication.” From there, click “Import Content” and then “Get Started.”

Next, select “Substack” under “Where does your content live now?” Then, find your unique Substack URL, copy it, and paste it into the “Publication URL” field.

Do you offer premium content on your Substack account? You’ll have to head over to your Substack dashboard. Click “Settings” and “Export” to export your premium content. Then, upload your premium content CSV file in Step 2 here.

If you don’t offer any paid content on Substack hidden behind a paywall, then skip this step.

Finally, click “Import” in the bottom right of your screen. The import may take a few minutes. You can track the import process on this screen. It is still importing the data if the status says “pending.”

Once your import is complete, the status will turn green and say “complete.” Go back to your beehiiv Dashboard. Click on “Write” and then “Posts.”

You’ll see that all of your Substack posts have been imported over into your beehiiv account and are now live.

If you want to see the published posts, click on the three dots on the right side of a post and click “View Published.”

Woohoo! Your post is now live and lives on under your beehiiv domain!

Why Is beehiiv Better Than Substack?

One of the main reasons beehiiv has an edge up on Substack is that Substack is primarily centered around its paid subscription model.

It’s free to use Substack. But, once you offer paid subscriptions to your newsletter subscribers, Substack charges a 10% fee on your subscription revenue.

On the other hand, beehiiv offers a flat-rate pricing model with three tiers: Launch (free), Grow ($49/month), and Scale ($99/month). If you choose to offer a paid newsletter subscription to your subscribers, beehiiv doesn’t take a cut of your premium revenue.

So, getting started on both platforms is free.

But… even if you’re looking to offer paid subscriptions, beehiiv is the better choice.

For example, let’s say you have a list of 40,000 subscribers. You offer a premium newsletter for $10 per month and 1,000 of your subscribers sign up. That’s $10,000 per month in premium revenue.

With Substack, they’ll take a sizable $1,000 (per month) of your revenue. But, with beehiiv, you get to keep all of your premium revenue. Whether you make $1,000 per month with premium subscriptions or $10,000, we’ll only charge you a flat-price fee of $49-$99 per month.

Summary

Substack has been one of the top players in the online creator space for years. They have a respectable reputation and have dramatically accelerated the newsletter industry in the past decade.

However, when it comes to creating a newsletter that’s built for the end user, beehiiv is the better overall choice.

While Substack is only focused on getting users to create a paid subscription model (and charging a hefty fee to do so), beehiiv offers this model (for a flat rate) and so much more.

beehiiv leads the newsletter space when it comes to growth tools, customization, monetization, analytics, and segmentation. Plus, beehiiv offers a generous partner program–paying out 50% commissions for anyone who signs up to beehiiv through your link.

Thankfully, the process of migrating from Substack to beehiiv has never been easier. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you’ll be up and buzzing on beehiiv in just a few minutes.

Made by the same team that built and grew the Morning Brew newsletter to millions of subscribers, beehiiv is made for creators looking to grow. If you’re considering getting started on beehiiv, sign up for a free account today!