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beehiiv vs Substack: free either way, until you start earning
While your newsletter is free, these two are closer than anyone admits. The day you charge readers, they stop being comparable at all.
Substack
The short answer
Free newsletter, under 2,500 subscribers? Nearly a coin toss. Both cost nothing. Take beehiiv if you want a custom domain and your own website; take Substack if you want zero setup and the bigger discovery network.
Over 2,500 subscribers and still free? Substack — it has no subscriber limit, and beehiiv starts charging.
Charging readers, earning under ~$430/month? Substack. Its 10% costs you less than beehiiv's $43/month plan.
Charging readers, earning over ~$430/month? beehiiv. Its 0% take rate overtakes the 10%, and keeps pulling away.
Side by side
| beehiiv | Substack | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes — 2,500 subscribers | Yes — unlimited |
| Email sends | Unlimited, even free | Unlimited |
| Custom domain | Free plan | Yes |
| Cut of paid subs | 0% (Scale and above) | 10%, plus card fees |
| Cost to sell subscriptions | $43/mo (Scale) | $0 fixed |
| Automations | Scale and above | None at all |
| Discovery network | Yes, free | Yes — larger |
| Ad network | Yes — sponsors matched to you | No |
| Remove platform branding | Max plan — $96/mo | Not possible |
| Website + podcast hosting | Included, free plan | Basic |
| Design control | Moderate | Minimal |
| Export subscribers | Yes | Yes |
beehiiv prices at its entry subscriber tier, billed annually, and rise as your list grows. Both verified against the vendors' own pages on 16 September 2026.
While you're free, they're close
This is the part most comparisons get wrong by treating beehiiv as obviously more "professional". At zero revenue the real differences are narrow:
- beehiiv gives you more platform. A custom domain, a website and podcast hosting, all on the free plan. Your newsletter can look like a publication rather than a page on someone else's site.
- Substack gives you more readers. Its discovery network is the largest in the category, and for a writer starting from nothing that's the scarce resource. beehiiv has one too, and it works — Substack's is simply bigger.
- Neither gives you automations. beehiiv's free plan has none at all; Substack has none on any plan. If you need a welcome sequence, MailerLite solves this for $10.80 and neither of these does.
The one hard line: beehiiv's free plan stops at 2,500 subscribers, Substack's never stops. If you're running a free newsletter with no plans to charge, Substack is cheaper forever and beehiiv eventually isn't.
The day you charge, they diverge
Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue — and per its own page, that's before card processing, charged separately. beehiiv takes 0%, but selling subscriptions requires the Scale plan at $43/month.
Fixed fee against percentage gives one crossover: $43 ÷ 0.10 = $430/month of subscription revenue.
- $200/month revenue — Substack $20, beehiiv $43. Substack wins by $23/month.
- $430/month — both $43. Dead heat.
- $1,000/month — Substack $100, beehiiv $43. beehiiv wins by $57/month.
- $3,000/month — Substack $300, beehiiv $43. beehiiv wins by $3,084/year.
Worth noting for completeness, since it cuts against the tool we earn from: Ghost's crossover against Substack is $290, not $430 — because Ghost's equivalent plan is $29, not $43. If the only thing you care about is keeping the largest share of subscription revenue, Ghost beats beehiiv on pure arithmetic, and Ghost pays us nothing.
What beehiiv gives you for the extra $14 that Ghost doesn't: the ad network, the referral programme, automations, and a discovery network. Whether those are worth it depends on whether sponsorship is part of your plan.
The $96 asterisk
One beehiiv limitation deserves its own heading because it surprises people: removing beehiiv's branding from your emails requires the Max plan at $96/month — two tiers up, not the $43 Scale plan.
Most competitors drop their branding on the cheapest paid tier. If looking independent matters to you, beehiiv's real price is $96, not $43, and that changes the comparison completely. Substack, for what it's worth, doesn't let you remove its branding at any price — so this is a point where neither is good, rather than one where Substack wins.
Questions we get asked
Can I move from Substack to beehiiv?
Yes — Substack exports subscribers including paying ones, and beehiiv imports them. As with any migration, paying subscribers may need to re-authorise payment, and your Substack URLs and their search rankings don't come with you. beehiiv actively courts Substack migrations, so expect help with the process.
Which grows a new newsletter faster?
Honestly, Substack, on network size alone. Both have recommendation systems, both work, and Substack's has more publications in it. If you're starting from zero with no existing audience, that advantage is real and it's the main reason to choose Substack despite the 10%.
What if I want sponsorship rather than paid subscriptions?
Then beehiiv, clearly. Its ad network matches sponsors to newsletters and is the most developed in the category — Substack has no equivalent. You'll need the Scale plan at $43 to access it, but if sponsorship is your revenue model, that's the point of the platform.
You earn from beehiiv. Should I discount your recommendation?
Discount it appropriately, yes — that's the correct instinct. The specific things to check on this page: we say Substack is free forever while beehiiv's free plan caps at 2,500; we say Substack wins on discovery; we say Substack is cheaper below $430/month; and we point out that Ghost beats beehiiv on the same arithmetic while paying us nothing. If those are the conclusions a biased page reaches, the bias isn't doing much work.
The verdict
Free newsletter? Substack, unless you specifically want a custom domain and your own website — in which case beehiiv, up to 2,500 subscribers.
Selling subscriptions? Substack below ~$430/month of revenue, beehiiv above it. And if subscription revenue is the whole plan and you don't need an ad network, look at Ghost, which crosses over at $290.
Selling sponsorship? beehiiv, without hesitation. The ad network is the reason it exists and Substack has nothing like it.
The thing that makes this decision low-stakes: both export your subscriber list. You're choosing where to start, not where to stay.
Pricing read from each vendor's own page on 16 September 2026, in USD. Substack's 10% and the "keep 90% less credit card fees" wording come from its own creator page; beehiiv prices are at its entry subscriber tier. Under our methodology this comparison is at the "researched, not tested" level. Found something out of date? Tell us.
Read more: beehiiv review · Ghost vs Substack · Best email marketing software for creators (2026)
