Head-to-head · August 2026 snapshot

Substack vs Beehiiv

Substack leads on preference; Beehiiv owns the feature and value questions. Substack's edge comes almost entirely from authority framing: it wins the singular-choice question and earns first-pick status at 39% versus Beehiiv's 18%, driven by Claude and ChatGPT both scoring it higher. Beehiiv counters by winning on best overall, feature-led, and budget queries, and is the only brand Gemini favors, which explains why Beehiiv is actually named in more answers despite sitting a half-point behind on total visibility score. The gap between these two is thin enough that a shift in how Gemini weights recommendations could flip the overall ranking.

	Substack	Beehiiv
Visibility Score	59	59
Rank in category	#1	#2
Mention rate	64%	69%
#1 pick rate	39%	18%
Avg. position when named	1.7	2.5

Who each model prefers

ChatGPT

Substack

Beehiiv

Claude

Substack

Beehiiv

Gemini

Substack

Beehiiv

The models split: ChatGPT prefers Substack, Claude prefers Substack, Gemini prefers Beehiiv.

The shape of the fight

Each axis is one of the 8 measured buyer questions; the further out, the more of that question's answers name the brand. Hover an axis for the raw counts. Single-axis gaps ride on 9 answers each, so read the overall shape, not one spike.

SubstackBeehiiv

The fight, question by question

Mentions out of 9 answers per question. Click any question for the full transcripts.

Question	Substack	Beehiiv	Edge
Best overallWhat's the best platform for a company blog and newsletter?	8	9	Beehiiv
Use-case fitWe want to launch a paid newsletter with a clean reading experience. What should we use?	9	9	even
Top tools in 2026What are the top newsletter and publishing platforms in 2026?	9	9	even
Startup & small teamWhich newsletter platform is best for a creator just starting out?	9	9	even
Enterprise pickWhich publishing platform should a large enterprise standardize on, considering security, compliance, and scale?	0	0	even
Feature-led askI want my own domain, SEO control, and subscriber management. What do you recommend?	2	7	Beehiiv
If you could pick oneIf you could only pick one publishing platform, which one and why?	9	1	Substack
Budget & alternativesWhat's the best alternative to the big newsletter platforms?	0	6	Beehiiv

Open this matchup in the compare tool → · Substack brand report · Beehiiv brand report

Measured from 72 fresh answers collected from the models' production APIs in August 2026; rankings change monthly. Neither brand can pay to appear here or to move the numbers. Full recipe on the methodology page.