beehiiv and Substack both let you write a newsletter, grow a list and charge for it if you want to. The core difference is how they make money. Substack is free to use and keeps a share of paid subscriptions. beehiiv charges a monthly plan for its business tools and takes no share. For a business owner, that one difference shapes most of the choice.
Facts below come from the beehiiv pricing page and Substack's help page on cost, as of October 2026. Prices are in US dollars.
The short verdict
- Pick Substack if you want to start writing today at no cost, you want your posts in its reader app, and you may or may not charge later.
- Pick beehiiv if the newsletter is part of your business: you want automations, your own branding, and no share taken from paid subscriptions.
What each one costs
Substack:
- Publishing is free, whatever the size of your list.
- If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment.
- Stripe charges its own fees on top. For US cards, Substack lists 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment, and 0.7% for recurring billing.
- A custom domain is optional, for a one-time $50.
beehiiv, priced for 1,000 subscribers:
- Free: $0, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited email sends, 1 team seat.
- Lite: $59 a month billed monthly, or $49 a month billed yearly. Up to 100,000 subscribers, paid subscriptions, automations and A/B testing, 2 seats.
- Pro: $109 a month billed monthly, or $95 a month billed yearly. Up to 250,000 subscribers, removes beehiiv branding, advanced analytics, 10 seats.
beehiiv says it takes 0% of paid subscription revenue. Stripe's standard fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction still applies. beehiiv says yearly billing saves up to 20%.
A quick way to compare the fees
Stripe fees apply on both, so set them aside. Then compare Substack's 10% with the beehiiv plan you would need.
- If your paid newsletter earns $300 a month, Substack keeps $30. beehiiv Lite costs $59 billed monthly. Substack costs less.
- If it earns $1,000 a month, Substack keeps $100. beehiiv Lite still costs $59. beehiiv costs less.
Run the same sum with your own numbers. If you never plan to charge readers, this does not matter, and both free plans are open to you.
The differences that matter
Your brand
Substack publications also appear in the Substack app, which has its own feed of posts and notes. Your newsletter sits next to other writers there. beehiiv's plans include a website and landing pages, and Pro removes beehiiv branding. If the newsletter sits next to a service business, a page that looks like your own brand may matter more to you.
Automations
beehiiv lists automations from the Lite plan. That lets you send a welcome email or a short series to new subscribers without doing it by hand. If automated emails matter to you, check Substack's help pages for what it supports before you choose it.
Owning your list
Your list is the part of a newsletter you most want to keep. Substack lets you export your subscribers as a CSV. Names are not included in that file. beehiiv includes API and integrations on every plan. Before you start on either one, check how you would take your list with you.
Readers who pay in an app
Substack says subscriptions bought in its iOS app may cost readers more, to cover Apple's fees. You can choose whether to raise in-app prices. Substack's 10% is based on your web price.
How to decide
- Decide if you will charge readers in the next year. If not, compare the free plans only.
- If you will charge, estimate your monthly paid revenue and run the fee sum above.
- List the automations you need, such as a welcome email for every new subscriber.
- Decide how much your own branding matters next to your website and services.
- Write and send one real issue on each platform's free plan before you commit.
The platform matters less than what you send. For the writing itself, see how to write a newsletter, and to grow the list, how to build an email list.
If you are also weighing Medium, see Substack vs Medium. For tools built more for email marketing, see Kit vs MailerLite.