Comparison — from the record, 2026-08-26
beehiiv vs Substack: 0% of something, or 10% of everything
OUR PICK
Our pick: beehiiv — from the moment your newsletter makes real money. Before that moment, Substack's free tier is genuinely unbeatable, and we say so plainly below.
beehiiv takes 0% of your paid-subscription revenue — you pay the platform fee and Stripe's processing, nothing else. Substack takes 10% of every transaction, forever, on top of Stripe. At beehiiv's recorded Scale price ($517/year on annual billing at the 1,000-subscriber position), the maths flips to beehiiv once paid subscriptions pass roughly $430 a month — and keeps widening as you grow.
The other way: Pick Substack if you're pre-revenue or discovery is the point. Publishing is free at any list size — their own support page says 'no matter how many subscribers you have' — and the Substack app and network recommend you to readers in a way a standalone newsletter has to earn elsewhere. 10% of nothing is nothing; that deal is real until you start charging.
Try beehiiv free → Not convinced? The full case is below ↓
How to read this page: every number below was read from the vendor’s own public pricing page on the date shown, and the pages are re-checked daily. Currencies differ because that is what each vendor showed an EU visitor. Some links on this page are affiliate links — if you subscribe through one we earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Per
our method, that never changes a number or a verdict. Source links always point to the vendor’s plain page.
The two pricing pages, side by side
beehiiv — USD, read 2026-08-26
| Plan | Price | Contacts | What the page says |
|---|
| Launch | Free | up to 2,500 | Newsletters, website and podcast, campaign analytics; no ad network or paid recommendations |
| Scale | $49/mo ($43 annual) | from 1,000 (scales) | Ad network, recommendations, paid subscriptions at 0% take rate, beehiiv AI, API (excl. Send API) |
| Max | $109/mo ($96 annual) | from 1,000 (scales) | Removes beehiiv branding, sponsorship storefront, teams (3 seats), priority human support |
| Enterprise | Custom | 100K+ | Custom volume, demo required |
Source: https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing · read 2026-08-26 (UTC) · Paid prices shown at the up-to-1,000-subscriber slider position and rise with subscriber count. Annual billing saves ~12% (Scale $517/yr, Max $1,151/yr); the annual per-month rates are shown alongside.
Try beehiiv free →
Substack — USD, read 2026-08-26
| Plan | Price | Contacts | What the page says |
|---|
| Publishing | Free | unlimited | Free at any subscriber count — 'no matter how many subscribers you have', their words |
| Paid subscriptions | Custom | unlimited | Substack takes 10% of each transaction, plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction and a 0.7% recurring-billing fee |
Source: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost · read 2026-08-26 (UTC) · Substack has no subscription plans — it charges a revenue share. Figures read from Substack's own support article 'How much does Substack cost?' (their page, read 2026-08-26).
What the record says
Most comparisons on this site put two subscription ladders side by side. This one can't: Substack has no plans at all. Their support page prices the whole product in one sentence — publishing is free at any subscriber count, and if you enable paid subscriptions, Substack takes 10% of each transaction, plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and a 0.7% recurring-billing fee. beehiiv is the opposite shape: a conventional software subscription (free Launch tier to 2,500 subscribers, Scale from $43–49/month at the 1,000-subscriber slider position) that takes 0% of your paid-subscription revenue — a comparison their own pricing page aims squarely at Substack's 10%.
Free against free, Substack wins on depth: unlimited subscribers for $0 against beehiiv's 2,500-subscriber Launch cap. If you never plan to charge readers, and you don't need a custom website or beehiiv's growth tooling, the pure send-a-newsletter-for-free deal is Substack's. That is not a small thing, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.
The moment money enters, the shapes cross. Call your paid-subscription revenue R: Substack's cut is 0.10 × R every year, forever. beehiiv's recorded cost is flat — $517/year at the 1,000-subscriber annual rate, rising with list size on a scale we've only partially recorded. Set them equal and the crossover at that recorded price sits near $5,200 a year, about $430 a month, in paid subscriptions. Below it, Substack is cheaper. Above it, every additional dollar hands Substack ten cents that beehiiv would have left on your side. A newsletter earning $30,000 a year pays Substack $3,000 annually; on beehiiv's recorded pricing that money buys the platform five times over. Both sides scale with your size, so re-run the arithmetic at your own numbers — but the shape of the conclusion doesn't move.
Beyond the fee maths, the two sell different superpowers. beehiiv's paid tiers bundle the monetization rails — an ad network, paid recommendations, a referral program — plus a website and deeper analytics: infrastructure for a newsletter that intends to be a business. Substack's superpower is the network itself: the app, Notes, and recommendations between publications drive genuine discovery, and for many writers that reach is worth more than the 10% costs. Fees are what we can verify daily; reach you'll have to judge for yourself.
Beyond the price tag
Monetization rails
beehiiv builds the business kit in: ad network, paid recommendations, referral program, and 0% take on subscriptions (Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 still applies — same processor both sides). Substack keeps it to paid subscriptions and takes its 10% — but setup is genuinely one-click.
Discovery & network
Substack's app, Notes and cross-publication recommendations are a real acquisition channel — the strongest argument for the 10%. beehiiv counters with its own recommendations network and paid Boosts, but there is no reader-facing app ecosystem of Substack's scale.
Ownership & portability
Both let you export your subscriber list and leave. beehiiv adds a custom website, API access and custom domains on paid tiers; Substack publications live primarily on substack.com's rails.
Questions people actually search
Is Substack really free?
For publishing, yes — their support article says publishing is free 'no matter how many subscribers you have.' Fees begin only when you enable paid subscriptions: 10% to Substack plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and a 0.7% recurring-billing fee.
What does beehiiv actually cost?
Free to 2,500 subscribers on Launch. Scale was $49/month ($43 on annual billing, $517/year) at the 1,000-subscriber slider position when we read the page — it rises with list size. beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue.
Where exactly is the crossover?
At the recorded prices: when your paid subscriptions pass roughly $5,200 a year (~$430/month), beehiiv's flat cost beats Substack's 10% — at higher revenue or larger recorded tiers the exact line moves, so run it at your own numbers. Pre-revenue, Substack costs nothing and beehiiv is free only to 2,500 subscribers.
Can I move between them later?
Yes — both export subscriber lists, and each publishes a migration guide targeting the other. The practical cost of switching is your paid subscribers re-entering card details where payment rails differ, so the earlier you pick for the business you intend to build, the cheaper the decision.
THE VERDICT, ONE MORE TIME
Our pick: beehiiv — from the moment your newsletter makes real money. Before that moment, Substack's free tier is genuinely unbeatable, and we say so plainly below.
beehiiv takes 0% of your paid-subscription revenue — you pay the platform fee and Stripe's processing, nothing else. Substack takes 10% of every transaction, forever, on top of Stripe. At beehiiv's recorded Scale price ($517/year on annual billing at the 1,000-subscriber position), the maths flips to beehiiv once paid subscriptions pass roughly $430 a month — and keeps widening as you grow.
Try beehiiv free →
We verified beehiiv's prices on their pricing page and Substack's fee structure on Substack's own support article (dates shown above). Feature descriptions summarize what each vendor's own materials emphasize; we have not run a hands-on test. The method →
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