Substack vs Beehiiv for a Markdown workflow
If you write in Markdown and you are choosing between these two on that basis alone, Beehiiv is the easier fit. It parses a plain Markdown paste into native blocks, including GFM tables, which Substack destroys. Both were tested with the identical fixture on 2026-08-24. This compares Markdown handling only, which is one input into a platform choice and not the whole decision.
| Question | Substack | Beehiiv |
|---|---|---|
| Reads pasted Markdown | No. Raw paste produced 102 paragraphs and zero structure. | Yes. Plain paste produced native headings, lists, code, and tables. |
| Best handoff | Rich HTML clipboard | Cleaned plain Markdown |
| GFM tables | Destroyed. Rich paste removed every table element and no native table control was visible. | Kept. The editor built native tables from pasted Markdown. |
| Footnotes | Native Footnote control works, but nothing on the clipboard maps to it. | Native Footnotes component works, but nothing on the clipboard maps to it. |
| Math | Native LaTeX block exists and rendered in preview. | No math or LaTeX control was visible anywhere in the menu. |
| Remote images | Imported and rewritten to Substack storage. | Imported to Beehiiv storage, but alt text retention is unconfirmed. |
| Raw HTML | Details behavior removed; visible text kept. | Escaped to literal markup on paste, but a native HTML snippet control works. |
| Email preview tested | No. No email was sent. | Yes. Desktop and mobile email previews were inspected. |
Who each one suits
Choose Beehiiv if your drafts are structured
Tables, code blocks, and heavily nested lists survive a plain paste. You still rebuild footnotes by hand and you have no math control at all, but the routine work of moving an article across is materially shorter.
Substack is workable if your drafts are prose
Headings, emphasis, links, quotes, dividers, and nested lists all survive a rich paste, which covers most essays. The friction appears exactly when a draft contains a table, a footnote, or a formula, and it appears every single time.
What this comparison does not decide
- Pricing, deliverability, audience growth tools, and payouts are outside these tests.
- Neither test sent an email, so inbox rendering is unverified on both sides.
- Both editors change. These results describe 2026-08-24 and carry that date wherever they appear.
Prepare a draft for either
- Markdown to Substack, and the full record from 2026-08-24
- Markdown to Beehiiv, and the full record from 2026-08-24
- All five destinations compared