Newsletter Ledgerbeehiiv vs Substack: which costs less at your size
Substack costs nothing until you charge readers, then keeps 10% of every subscription. beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers for a free newsletter, but selling subscriptions needs its Lite plan, which takes 0% of revenue. For a paid newsletter in our example, Substack is cheaper at 1,000 subscribers and beehiiv is cheaper from 2,500 up, and the gap widens as the list grows. Prices checked .
Quick answer
- Free newsletter: Substack is $0 at every size. beehiiv is $0 up to 2,500 subscribers, then needs a paid plan.
- Paid newsletter, small list: at about 1,000 subscribers Substack's 10% is still less than beehiiv Lite's plan price.
- Paid newsletter, 2,500 and up: beehiiv costs less, and at 50,000 subscribers it costs about half as much as Substack in our example.
Monthly cost side by side
| Subscribers | beehiiv, free newsletter | Substack, free newsletter | beehiiv, paid newsletter | Substack, paid newsletter | Cheaper (paid) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $0.00 Free | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $75.60 Lite | $66.60 Substack (no plan fee) | Substack |
| 2,500 | $0.00 Free | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $135.50 Lite | $166.50 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
| 5,000 | $95.00 Lite | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $228.00 Lite | $333.00 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
| 10,000 | $119.00 Lite | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $385.00 Lite | $666.00 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
| 25,000 | $169.00 Lite | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $834.00 Lite | $1,665.00 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
| 50,000 | $249.00 Lite | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $1,579.00 Lite | $3,330.00 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
| 100,000 | $399.00 Lite | $0.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $3,059.00 Lite | $6,660.00 Substack (no plan fee) | beehiiv |
Per month, US dollars, plans billed yearly where the platform offers it, otherwise month-to-month. "Free newsletter" is the plan price only. "Paid newsletter" assumes 5% of the list pays $8/month and includes the plan, the platform's fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per charge. "Same" means within $1. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the vendor's own page. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
Disclosure: links to platforms go through /go/ redirects. Some are affiliate links (currently beehiiv and Systeme.io): if you sign up and pay, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. That never changes the numbers or the order of results. Full disclosure.
Visit beehiiv (opens in a new tab) · Visit Substack (opens in a new tab)
What each charges, from their own pages
beehiiv
- Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, without paid subscriptions.
- Lite is the cheapest plan that sells subscriptions, priced by list size.
- Takes 0% of paid subscription revenue; you pay only Stripe.
- Lite includes the referral program and the ad network, up to 10 live automations and one paid tier.
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Substack
- Free to publish at any list size: there is no plan price.
- Keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, on top of Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per card charge. Its help center also lists Stripe Billing at 0.7% of recurring payments.
- A custom domain is an optional one-time $50.
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Moving paid subscribers from Substack
beehiiv can take over existing paid subscriptions by transferring Substack's Stripe customers to the Stripe account connected to beehiiv. Official migration guide. More detail in Substack alternatives.
Who each suits, on cost
beehiiv
Paid newsletters past a few thousand subscribers, and writers who want a referral program and ad network built in.
Substack
Free newsletters of any size, and small paid newsletters where 10% of revenue is still less than a plan price.
Questions
Is beehiiv cheaper than Substack?
For a free newsletter, no: Substack is $0 at every size, while beehiiv charges above 2,500 subscribers. For a paid newsletter with 5% of readers paying $8/month, beehiiv is cheaper from about 2,500 subscribers, because it takes 0% of revenue while Substack keeps 10%.
Can I move paid subscribers from Substack to beehiiv?
Yes. beehiiv's migration guide explains transferring the Stripe customers from Substack to the Stripe account connected to beehiiv, so readers keep paying without signing up again.
We have not used either product as a publisher; this page compares published prices and plan limits only. See the methodology.