Substack vs beehiiv: the real cost of a paid newsletter (2026)
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links (marked "sponsored"). We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Rankings are pure cost math. Details.
Substack is free to publish but keeps 10% of paid-subscription revenue. beehiiv charges a flat monthly plan and takes 0% of paid subscriptions. Which is cheaper depends on your revenue, not your list size.
Short answer
- Free newsletter, no revenue: Substack is $0 at any size; beehiiv is free only up to 2,500 subscribers.
- Paid newsletter: beehiiv Lite is cheaper once MRR passes Lite's price ÷ 0.107, about $1,299 MRR at 10k subscribers and $1,860 at 25k.
- At scale: with $25,000 MRR, Substack costs $4,150/mo vs $1,944 on beehiiv Lite (16.6% vs 7.8% of MRR).
- Ads: beehiiv has a built-in Ad Network (Lite+). We did not verify an equivalent on Substack this edition.
- Leaving: Substack exports a subscriber CSV but not full names; beehiiv imports Substack lists and keeps Substack's post URL structure.
Monthly list price by list size
| Subscribers | Substack platform fee | beehiiv Free | beehiiv Lite | beehiiv Pro | Break-even MRR vs Lite* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $0 | Free | $59 | $109 | $551 |
| 2,500 | $0 | Free | $79 | $149 | $738 |
| 5,000 | $0 | — | $109 | $199 | $1,019 |
| 10,000 | $0 | — | $139 | $239 | $1,299 |
| 25,000 | $0 | — | $199 | $349 | $1,860 |
| 50,000 | $0 | — | $299 | $469 | $2,794 |
| 100,000 | $0 | — | $469 | $699 | $4,383 |
Monthly billing, USD. *MRR above which beehiiv Lite costs less than Substack: Lite price ÷ 0.107 (Substack 10% + 0.7% Stripe Billing). If Stripe Billing's 0.7% also applies on beehiiv (unconfirmed), divide by 0.10 instead.
Fees on paid subscriptions
| Substack | beehiiv | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform take | 10% of each subscription payment | 0% (Lite/Pro) |
| Card processing | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ (US cards) | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Recurring billing | Stripe Billing 0.7% | Not confirmed |
| Other | Custom domain $50 one-time | Custom domains on Lite+ |
All-in cost for a paid newsletter
US cards, monthly billing, VAT excluded. Same scenarios as the full report.
8,000 subs · 200 paying × $8 = $1,600 MRR
| Option | Platform fee | Fees | Total/mo | % of MRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv Lite | $139.00 | $106.40 | $245.40 | 15.3% |
| Substack | $0.00 | $277.60 | $277.60 | 17.4% |
| beehiiv Pro | $239.00 | $106.40 | $345.40 | 21.6% |
Cheapest of these: beehiiv Lite.
25,000 subs · 750 paying × $10 = $7,500 MRR
| Option | Platform fee | Fees | Total/mo | % of MRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv Lite | $199.00 | $442.50 | $641.50 | 8.6% |
| beehiiv Pro | $349.00 | $442.50 | $791.50 | 10.6% |
| Substack | $0.00 | $1,245.00 | $1,245.00 | 16.6% |
Cheapest of these: beehiiv Lite.
100,000 subs · 2,500 paying × $10 = $25,000 MRR
| Option | Platform fee | Fees | Total/mo | % of MRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv Lite | $469.00 | $1,475.00 | $1,944.00 | 7.8% |
| beehiiv Pro | $699.00 | $1,475.00 | $2,174.00 | 8.7% |
| Substack | $0.00 | $4,150.00 | $4,150.00 | 16.6% |
Cheapest of these: beehiiv Lite.
Try them
- Visit beehiiv [AFFILIATE LINK]
- Visit Substack (no affiliate link)
Features and fit
| Substack | beehiiv | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free at any size | Up to 2,500 subs |
| Paid subscriptions | Yes | Lite+ |
| Automations | Welcome emails; sequences reported (3rd-party) | Lite 10 / Pro unlimited |
| Ad network | n.v. | beehiiv Ad Network (Lite+) |
| Export | Subscriber CSV; full names not exportable | Data exports, all plans |
| Data location | US-established; US and other countries | USA (AWS US regions) |
| EU DPA | Annex in Publisher Agreement (SCCs) | DPA with SCCs; 15 days' notice of new sub-processors |
| Migration into beehiiv | — | Substack URL structure carries over; Stripe subscribers move in place |
n.v. = not verified this edition.
Get the full picture
The full report covers every tier up to 500k subscribers, annual pricing, MailerLite (cheapest at most sizes), the EU/GDPR deep-dive, AI/agent readiness and migration risk, plus a JSON dataset.
Get the full report (from $39) 4-way free comparisonSources (retrieved 14 Oct 2026): kit.com/pricing (tier data from kit.com's pricing code), Kit Free plan, beehiiv.com/pricing, beehiiv Ad Network, Substack fees, beehiiv Trust Center, Kit DPA, Substack privacy. Full source register in the JSON summary.