beehiiv vs Substack (2026): Which Is Better for Newsletter Writers?
beehiiv vs Substack for newsletters in 2026: free publishing vs Free/Lite/Pro, 10% take vs 0%, growth tools—cited to official pages.
beehiiv and Substack both help you publish a newsletter, host a website, and charge for paid subscriptions—but they price and grow audiences differently. Substack is free to publish at any list size and takes 10% of each paid subscription payment (plus Stripe fees). beehiiv uses named plans (Free, Lite, Pro, Enterprise) with a monthly fee that rises with subscriber count, and its FAQ says it takes 0% of paid subscription and digital product revenue (you still pay Stripe).
This comparison is based on each vendor’s official pricing page, help docs, and product pages, checked on October 1, 2026. Prices are in USD and change often, so confirm on beehiiv’s pricing page and Substack’s cost FAQ before you commit.
How we researched this: We haven’t tested beehiiv or Substack hands-on for this article. Everything below comes from each vendor’s official documentation and public product pages. The screenshots are captures of beehiiv’s public pricing page, not of our own accounts.
About our links: beehiiv links on this page are affiliate links (/go/beehiiv). Substack is linked directly; we don’t earn a commission from Substack. Where we mention Kit as an alternative, that link is also affiliate (/go/kit). Our recommendations would be the same either way.
Quick picks
- Choose Substack if discovery on a built-in network matters most—recommendations, Notes, the Substack app, and related growth tools are core to how Substack markets itself, and publishing stays $0 until you earn from paid subscriptions.
- Choose beehiiv if you want a publication toolkit with 0% platform take on paid subs—especially once paid revenue is high enough that Substack’s 10% exceeds beehiiv’s plan fee—plus Lite/Pro features like the ad network, automations, and (on Pro) remove beehiiv branding.
- Already on Substack and thinking of moving? Read How to migrate from Substack to beehiiv.
- Want the largest free email plan and creator automations? Also compare Kit (Free up to 10,000 subscribers) in our Kit vs beehiiv guide.
Try beehiiv free · See Substack pricing FAQ
At a glance
| beehiiv | Substack | |
|---|---|---|
| Free publishing model | Free plan: $0, up to 2,500 subscribers | Free to publish at any subscriber count |
| Paid plan model | Lite / Pro (priced by list size) + Enterprise | No monthly platform fee; 10% of each paid subscription payment |
| Platform take on paid subscriptions | 0% (FAQ); Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 still applies | 10% + Stripe card 2.9% + $0.30 + Stripe Billing 0.7% on recurring (US card example in FAQ) |
| Cheapest paid plan (1,000 subs) | Lite: $59/mo monthly, or $49/mo on yearly billing | $0 platform fee until you charge readers |
| Email sends | Unlimited on every plan (FAQ) | Included with publishing (no send cap stated in the cost FAQ) |
| Website | Website builder listed on all plans; custom domains on Lite+ (feature table) | Publication website / profile; optional custom domain listed as a one-time $50 fee in the cost FAQ |
| Recommendations / discovery | Recommendation network on all plans (feature table) | Recommendations, Notes, app discovery, referrals (features page + help docs) |
| Automations | Welcome email on Free; live custom automations up to 10 on Lite, unlimited on Pro (feature table) | Drip campaigns / lifecycle sequences listed on the features page |
| Ad network | Ad network on Lite+ (feature table) | Not presented as a built-in ad network on the cost/features pages we checked |
| Remove platform branding | Pro and Enterprise only | N/A (Substack-branded network product) |
| Best for | Publication stack + keep more of paid revenue at scale | $0 platform fee + on-platform discovery |
| Affiliate note | We earn on beehiiv referrals | No Substack affiliate on this site — linked directly |
Sources: beehiiv pricing, Substack: How much does Substack cost?, Substack features, Substack recommendations help.
Cost comparison: Substack’s 10% vs beehiiv’s plan fee
This is the decision most paid-newsletter writers care about.
What Substack charges creators
Substack’s help article (updated recently; captured October 1, 2026) states:
- Publishing is free, no matter how many subscribers you have.
- If you enable paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment.
- Stripe charges separately: for US cards, 2.9% + $0.30 per payment, plus a Stripe Billing fee of 0.7% on recurring payments (as of July 2024, per the article).
- An optional custom domain is listed as a one-time $50 fee.
So Substack’s platform cost scales with paid revenue, not with free-list size.
What beehiiv charges creators
beehiiv’s pricing page (October 1, 2026) shows four plans: Free, Lite, Pro, and Enterprise. The FAQ states beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription and digital product revenue, and that you pay Stripe’s standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Yearly billing is described as saving up to 20% versus month to month.
Free is $0 forever (no credit card), with a subscriber cap of up to 2,500. Paid subscriptions and the ad network are not on Free (feature table); Lite is the first plan that lists paid subscriptions and ad network.
Subscriber-slider prices we stepped on the public page:
Yearly billing (price shown as $/mo)
| Subscribers | beehiiv Lite | beehiiv Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $49/mo | $95/mo |
| 2,500 | $69/mo | $129/mo |
| 5,000 | $95/mo | $169/mo |
| 10,000 | $119/mo | $199/mo |
| 25,000 | $169/mo | $299/mo |
| 50,000 | $249/mo | $399/mo |
| 100,000 | $399/mo | $599/mo |
Monthly billing
| Subscribers | beehiiv Lite | beehiiv Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $59/mo | $109/mo |
| 2,500 | $79/mo | $149/mo |
| 5,000 | $109/mo | $199/mo |
| 10,000 | $139/mo | $239/mo |
| 25,000 | $199/mo | $349/mo |
| 50,000 | $299/mo | $469/mo |
| 100,000 | $469/mo | $699/mo |
Plan limits on the comparison table: Free up to 2,500 subscribers, Lite up to 100,000, Pro up to 250,000, Enterprise custom. At very large slider steps, Lite can show as unavailable while Pro remains priced—confirm on the live slider.
Rough break-even math (platform fee only)
Ignore Stripe for a moment (both sides pay Stripe). Compare Substack’s 10% to beehiiv Lite’s monthly fee:
| Your paid subscription revenue / month | Substack’s 10% | beehiiv Lite at 1,000 total subs (monthly billing) |
|---|---|---|
| $300 | $30 | $59 |
| $590 | $59 | $59 |
| $1,000 | $100 | $59 |
| $2,000 | $200 | $59 |
At about $590/month in paid revenue, Substack’s 10% roughly matches beehiiv Lite’s $59/month at the 1,000-subscriber monthly price. Above that, the flat Lite fee can cost less than Substack’s cut—if your total subscriber count (free + paid) still fits that Lite price tier. beehiiv prices by total subscribers, so redo the math when your free list is large.
On yearly Lite billing at 1,000 subscribers ($49/mo), the break-even versus 10% is about $490/month in paid revenue.
Features for solo newsletter writers
Free plans and getting started
Substack: free publishing with no subscriber cap in the cost FAQ. You can grow a free list without a platform subscription. You only start paying Substack’s 10% when paid subscriptions are enabled and readers pay.
beehiiv Free: $0, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, recommendation network, website builder, and limited digital products (feature table lists 1 product on Free). Missing on Free (per the feature table): paid subscriptions, ad network, custom domains, live custom automations beyond the welcome-email style basics, A/B testing, and referral program.
Practical takeaway: Substack’s free runway is longer if you stay free or lightly paid. beehiiv’s Free plan is a full publication starter kit with a hard 2,500 cap before you need Lite.
Websites and branding
beehiiv markets newsletter + website + podcast + community + digital products across plans. Custom domains appear on Lite and above in the October 1 feature table (Free shows “—” for custom domains). Remove beehiiv branding is Pro+.
Substack gives every publication a home on the Substack network and supports a publication website/profile; the cost FAQ lists an optional custom domain for a one-time $50. Substack is inherently a branded network product (app, Notes, recommendations).
Recommendations and discovery
Both platforms document recommendation-style growth:
- beehiiv: recommendation network on all plans; paid recommendations and referral program on Lite+ (feature table).
- Substack: creator recommendations (subscribe flow, homepage, digests), plus Notes, app feeds, leaderboards, and referrals on the features page and recommendations help article.
We are not repeating Substack’s marketing percentages about how much growth comes from the network—those are product claims, not something we independently verified. Treat “network discovery” as a real product difference, and judge results on your own niche.
Automations and email tooling
beehiiv lists a welcome email on Free; live custom automations capped at 10 on Lite and unlimited on Pro, with richer triggers (signed up, tags, segments, surveys, etc.) on Lite+. A/B testing and publish-to-segments start on Lite.
Substack’s features page documents drip campaigns tied to subscriber lifecycle events (new free/paid sub, founding upgrade, churn) with delays between emails. It is oriented around publication lifecycle more than a full visual marketing-automation builder.
If you need deep tagging, funnels, and sequences, also look at Kit—its Creator plan is built around that workflow (see Kit vs Mailchimp).
Monetization beyond subscriptions
- beehiiv Lite+: paid subscriptions (0% take), ad network / programmatic ads, paid recommendations, coupons; Pro adds group subscriptions, paid trials, and sponsorship storefront (feature table). Digital products: Free allows 1, Lite 3, Pro unlimited; FAQ says 0% commission on product revenue as well.
- Substack: paid subscriptions, trials, gifting, group plans, and Apple in-app purchases are covered on the features/cost pages. There is no beehiiv-style “ad network” row in the sources we checked; monetization is centered on reader payments (and related Substack tools).
When Substack wins
Based on official docs checked October 1, 2026:
- You want $0 platform fees while you build a free (or small paid) list
- On-platform discovery (recommendations, Notes, app) is a primary growth bet
- Your paid revenue is still low enough that 10% < beehiiv’s Lite/Pro fee at your list size
- You like writing inside Substack’s network culture and don’t mind the Substack-branded experience
- You want optional custom domain as a one-time $50 rather than a higher SaaS tier for domains
When beehiiv wins
- You expect meaningful paid subscription revenue, where 0% take + a flat plan fee beats a perpetual 10%
- You want ad network inventory and related monetization switches documented on Lite+
- You want a standalone publication website stack (website builder, podcast, community, digital products) under one vendor
- You need automations, A/B testing, and referral tools that unlock on Lite/Pro
- You’re ready to leave Substack and can follow a documented migration path (migrate Substack → beehiiv)
Which should you pick?
| Your situation | Better fit (based on documented features and pricing) |
|---|---|
| Starting free, want network discovery, no SaaS bill | Substack |
| Under 2,500 subscribers, want a beehiiv-style site, not charging yet | beehiiv Free |
| Charging readers and paid revenue is climbing past ~$500–$600/mo | Run the break-even; often beehiiv Lite |
| Need remove-branding, unlimited automations, advanced monetization | beehiiv Pro |
| Want largest free email list + creator sequences | Compare Kit as well |
| Already on Substack, want 0% take + beehiiv tools | beehiiv; see the migration guide |
What we’ll add after hands-on testing
Once we’ve used both platforms on real publications, we can update this comparison with:
- Screenshots of both editors, recommendation UIs, and analytics from those accounts
- How long a basic welcome / drip setup takes on each
- Notes from running beehiiv’s Substack importer end-to-end
Until then, treat this as a pricing-and-feature map from official sources—not a performance review.
Sources
All checked October 1, 2026.
- beehiiv: Pricing (Free / Lite / Pro / Enterprise cards, subscriber slider, feature comparison table, FAQ — including 0% take and Stripe 2.9% + $0.30)
- Substack: How much does Substack cost? (free publishing; 10%; Stripe fees; optional custom domain $50)
- Substack: Features (recommendations, Notes, drips, podcasts, payments overview)
- Substack: How can I recommend other publications on Substack?
- Related AudienceBench guides: Migrate Substack to beehiiv, Kit vs beehiiv, beehiiv pricing explained, Best newsletter platform for beginners