beehiiv vs. Medium

No, not directly. The challenge is that Medium doesn't let you export follower emails. You can announce your move on Medium, link to your beehiiv signup page, and encourage followers to subscribe directly. Many writers run both platforms during transition.

Yes. Export your Medium content, then import or republish on beehiiv. Your articles become web posts and can be sent as newsletters to your subscriber list.

You'll trade algorithm-dependent reach for owned audience growth. beehiiv offers referral programs, a recommendation network, and Paid recommendations. Tools that grow your list predictably instead of depending on Medium's algorithm.

Setting up beehiiv takes minutes. Rebuilding your subscriber base takes longer since Medium doesn't provide email exports, but every new subscriber you gain is truly yours.

No, not immediately. Most writers keep Medium active during transition, using it to direct existing followers to their beehiiv newsletter. Once your beehiiv list is established, it's your call.

Medium charges $5/month or $50/year for readers to access paywalled content. beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers, with paid plans starting at $49 per month. You're paying for business infrastructure, not reader access.

Yes, completely. Export your full subscriber list at any time as a CSV file. On Medium, you can't access follower email addresses at all.

Medium pays writers through its Partner Program based on member read time. Earnings are unpredictable and algorithm-dependent. beehiiv offers paid subscriptions you control (0% platform fees), an integrated ad network, and sponsorship tools.

Yes. You can use custom domains for both email sending and web hosting on all beehiiv plans. Medium offers custom domains for profiles and publications with a membership, but your content still lives within Medium's ecosystem.

Yes. Built-in referral programs, a recommendation network for cross-promotion, Paid recommendations for paid subscriber acquisition, and optimized subscribe forms. Medium's discovery is purely algorithmic.

beehiiv web posts are fully SEO-optimized and live on your custom domain. You build search authority for your brand, not for Medium.com.

beehiiv integrates with no-code like Zapier, and also offers webhooks and a full API. Medium offers limited integrations, primarily for cross-posting.

Sign up for free, set up your publication, and start building your owned audience immediately.

Medium exports imported emails and subscriber emails collected before April 2025. Newer on-platform subscriber emails cannot be exported. Followers are not the same as email subscribers. beehiiv lets you export the list you collected there.