beehiiv vs Substack: The Break-Even, With the Plan Fee Included

beehiiv against Substack is the comparison readers search for most: 590 searches a month in the United States, more than four times any other beehiiv comparison. Both platforms want the same customer, a writer who will one day charge readers, and they charge that writer in opposite ways. Substack takes a share of revenue and no plan fee. beehiiv takes no share and charges a plan fee.

That makes the comparison unusually easy to settle with arithmetic. This page does that, using Substack's own pages for Substack and beehiiv's for beehiiv, both read on 9 October 2026.

The short answer

If you will have fewer than about a hundred paying readers at $5 a month on a list under 1,000, Substack is cheaper. Above that, beehiiv is cheaper, and the gap grows with every paid subscriber. The exact break-even depends on your list size, your price and your billing period; the table below gives it for the common cases.

Cost is not the only difference. Substack brings a reader network that sends new subscribers; beehiiv brings an ad network, a website builder, a podcast host and more control over design and data. Which matters more depends on whether your problem is finding readers or keeping revenue.

## How each one charges

Substack. "Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees." ^[18]. Its about page puts the same deal another way: "Substack is free to start and free to leave", and "90% goes to you. The rest powers the platform that supports your work." ^[38]. There is no plan to buy.

beehiiv. "beehiiv takes zero revenue share, so you keep 100% of your subscription earnings" ^[17], but paid subscriptions require a paid plan. Lite is $59 a month billed monthly or $588 a year at up to 1,000 subscribers, and the price rises with the size of the whole list, free readers included ^[3].

Both pass on card processing. beehiiv names it: Stripe's 2.9% plus $0.30 per charge ^[17].

The vendor's calculator, and what it leaves out

beehiiv's comparison page carries a calculator whose worked example is 2,000 paying readers at $5 a month. Its conclusion: "You earn $11,652 / year more with beehiiv" ^[16]. The arithmetic is correct as far as it goes: Substack's 10% of $120,000 is $12,000, and the figure adjusts for card fees on the smaller Substack balance.

What it does not include is the beehiiv plan. Substack has no plan fee; beehiiv has one, and the paid readers alone put this example on the 2,500 tier at least. With Lite annual at that tier, $828, subtracted, beehiiv is about $10,824 a year ahead. That is still a decisive result. It simply needs the plan fee in it to be a fair one.

## The break-even, by list size

Ten per cent of a $5 monthly subscription is $6 a year. Divide the annual plan price by $6 and you have the number of paying readers at which the two platforms cost the same.

Whole list (free + paid)	Lite annual	Break-even at $5/month	At $10/month
Up to 1,000	$588	98 paying	49 paying
Up to 2,500	$828	138	69
Up to 5,000	$1,140	190	95
Up to 10,000	$1,428	238	119
Up to 25,000	$2,028	338	169
Up to 50,000	$2,988	498	249

Our arithmetic on the vendor's published prices and Substack's stated share. On monthly billing, use twelve times the monthly price: at 1,000 subscribers that is $708, and the break-even at $5 is 118 paying readers.

The table shows something the calculator does not: the break-even depends on the free list as much as on the paid one. A writer with 40,000 free readers and 300 paying ones sits on the 50,000 tier and needs 498 paying readers at $5 to beat Substack. A writer with 900 free readers and the same 300 paying ones is far past the break-even.

Three newsletters, worked through

A new paid newsletter. 700 free readers, 60 paying $6 a month. Gross: $4,320 a year. Substack keeps $432. beehiiv Lite annual at the 1,000 tier is $588. Substack is $156 cheaper.

An established niche newsletter. 3,500 free readers, 400 paying $8 a month: 3,900 in total, the 5,000 tier. Gross: $38,400. Substack keeps $3,840. Lite annual is $1,140. beehiiv is $2,700 cheaper.

A large free newsletter starting to charge. 45,000 free readers, 250 paying $5 a month: the 50,000 tier. Gross: $15,000. Substack keeps $1,500. Lite annual is $2,988. Substack is $1,488 cheaper, even though this newsletter is ten times larger than the second.

Our arithmetic. Stripe fees are left out because they apply on both platforms.

## A newsletter that grows: the answer changes over time

Break-even tables describe one moment. A real newsletter moves through several tiers, and the answer can flip more than once. Take a newsletter that starts with 500 readers, adds 150 a month, and converts 5% of its list to paid at $6 a month.

Month	Whole list	Paying readers	Gross a year	Substack's 10%	Lite annual	Cheaper
0	500	25	$1,800	$180	$588	Substack by $408
6	1,400	70	$5,040	$504	$828	Substack by $324
12	2,300	115	$8,280	$828	$828	Level
18	3,200	160	$11,520	$1,152	$1,140	Lite by $12
24	4,100	205	$14,760	$1,476	$1,140	Lite by $336

Our arithmetic on the vendor's published tiers ^[3] and Substack's stated share ^[18].

The table hides one twist. At 2,400 readers beehiiv is $36 cheaper; at 2,600 the list crosses into the 5,000 tier, Lite annual rises to $1,140, and Substack is cheaper again until the list reaches about 3,170. A tier boundary can hand the advantage back for a few months. For this newsletter, beehiiv becomes permanently cheaper at about 3,200 readers, and every paid reader after that widens the gap.

The practical lesson is to time the move. Moving from Substack at month 6 costs $324 a year more than staying; moving at month 18 costs nothing; moving at month 24 saves money from the first day.

Card fees: the cost both platforms share

Stripe's fee is the same on both platforms, but its size depends on how you price. On a $5 monthly subscription, 2.9% plus $0.30 is $0.445 a charge, or 8.9% of the payment. On a $50 annual subscription it is $1.75, or 3.5%. Our arithmetic on the fee beehiiv publishes ^[17].

That gap matters more than the choice of platform for many small newsletters. A writer with 200 readers paying $5 a month loses $1,068 a year to card fees. If half of them switch to a $50 annual plan, card fees fall by about $359 a year. Both beehiiv and Substack let you offer annual plans; beehiiv also offers coupons, promo codes and, on Pro, paid trials ^[3].

## Ad income: what beehiiv adds on top

beehiiv's Ad Network pays per thousand unique opens or per click, at rates set by each advertiser. The vendor's own illustration: "For example, with a $5 CPM, you'll earn $5 for every 1,000 unique opens you deliver in a single send." ^[11].

Worked example. A list of 10,000 with a 45% open rate delivers about 4,500 unique opens a send. At a $5 CPM, that is $22.50 a send, or about $1,170 a year on a weekly schedule if every issue carries an ad. That would cover Lite annual at the 10,000 tier, $1,428, most of the way. Our arithmetic on the vendor's illustrative rate, not a promised one; actual offers vary and "Is the expected payout a guaranteed amount?" is a question the vendor answers with caution ^[11].

Ad payouts arrive on the 20th of the following month, through Stripe Express only ^[11]. The Substack pages we read describe no equivalent ad network; we make no claim either way about Substack's other programmes.

What Substack's network is worth

Substack's strongest argument is not price. Its about page says "More than half of new subscribers come from Substack's built-in network" ^[38] and describes discovery through recommendations, notes and collaborations. It also claims "5 million paid subscriptions and counting" across the platform ^[38]. We have not verified either figure; they are the vendor's.

beehiiv's answer is its own recommendation network, free on every plan, plus paid recommendations where one newsletter pays another for verified subscribers, at a 20% fee ^[13]. beehiiv's comparison page frames the trade as discovery against margin: "Substack works if you have not started monetizing and want its built-in network to send you readers." ^[16]. That is a fair summary from the side that benefits from it.

What beehiiv adds that Substack does not

From beehiiv's published feature table ^[3]:

• An ad network that pays per open or per click, monthly on the 20th ^[11].
• A sponsorship storefront to sell your own ad placements (Pro).
• A website builder with custom pages, redirects and analytics.
• Automations: ten live on Lite, unlimited on Pro, triggered by sign-ups, purchases, tags and more ^[35].
• Podcast hosting with dynamic ad insertion from Lite.
• Multiple publications: three on Lite, ten on Pro, billed as one list.
• Custom domains on paid plans.

These matter more to a newsletter run as a business than to a writer's personal letter.

What Substack offers that beehiiv does not

• No plan fee at any size. A large free list costs nothing to host on Substack.
• A reader network and app built around discovery. beehiiv has no native app; its community app is a Progressive Web App ^[24].
• No tier decisions. "No platform fees, no tiers, no contracts" is Substack's own line ^[38].

Two business models, two sets of incentives

The fee structures say something about each company's incentives. Substack's about page states it plainly: "Our entire business model depends on your success" ^[38]. It earns only when a writer earns, and earns more as the writer earns more. Its going-paid page adds a promise about independence: "Own all of your content and your subscriber list." ^[18].

beehiiv earns a plan fee whether or not the newsletter earns anything, plus 20% of paid recommendations ^[13] and whatever margin it keeps on the Ad Network, which it does not publish ^[11]. Its incentive is to keep you subscribed and to grow the advertising and recommendation marketplaces it runs.

Neither model is wrong. A writer who expects slow, uncertain revenue is better served by a partner paid only from results. A writer with reliable revenue is better served by a fixed fee that does not grow with success.

Moving from Substack to beehiiv

beehiiv publishes a migration guide for Substack ^[44]. Paid subscribers move through Stripe, and the vendor's comparison page says "Your readers won't be notified of the switch." ^[16]. Check three things before you move:

1. The whole list, free and paid, fits the tier you are buying; an over-limit import is held whole ^[9].
2. Your Stripe account is the one connected to the new publication.
3. Your welcome automation is published, so imported subscribers are enrolled ^[9].

Moving the other way

beehiiv exports posts and subscribers as CSV files from Settings, and download links last 24 hours ^[28]. Paid subscribers live in your own Stripe account on both platforms, which is what makes moving them possible in either direction.

The trial does not let you test paid subscriptions

A writer moving from Substack will want to test paid subscriptions first. The beehiiv trial does not allow it. Its list of features held back until you upgrade includes "Setting up paid subscriptions." ^[7]. Paid recommendations, custom domains and multiple publications are held back too ^[7].

What to do: use the 14-day trial to test the editor, website and automations with free readers; plan the paid migration for the first month of a paid plan, on monthly billing.

Paid recommendations, priced

Paid recommendations are beehiiv's answer to Substack's network. You set a price per verified subscriber; other newsletters recommend you and earn it. beehiiv keeps 20% ^[13]. The minimum to fund an offer is $20, and the balance must stay at ten times the cost per subscriber or the offer may pause ^[13].

Worked example. An offer at $2.00 per subscriber needs at least $20 to start and $20 in balance to stay live. Buying 500 verified subscribers costs $1,000, of which $200 is beehiiv's fee. If 3% of them later pay $6 a month, those 15 readers bring $1,080 a year. Our arithmetic; conversion rates vary widely.

Policies that differ

	Substack	beehiiv
Plan fee	None	From $49 a month billed annually
Revenue share	10%	0% on subscriptions; 20% on paid recommendations
Refund of plan fees	No plan fee to refund	"All sales are final upon subscription" [6]
Annual commitment	None	Optional; annual plans cannot pause [4]

Common mistakes in this comparison

1. Counting only paid readers. beehiiv's tier is set by the whole active list, free readers included ^[4].
2. Using the vendor's calculator as the answer. It omits the beehiiv plan fee ^[16].
3. Forgetting the trial limits. Paid subscriptions cannot be set up during beehiiv's trial ^[7].
4. Comparing annual beehiiv prices with no commitment on Substack. beehiiv's annual plans cannot be paused or refunded ^{[4] [6]}; price the monthly plan if you are unsure.
5. Ignoring card fees. At $5 a month, Stripe's fixed 30 cents is a larger cost than the platform choice for many small newsletters.

Questions to answer before you choose

1. How many paying readers will you have in twelve months? Under 100 on a small list favours Substack.
2. How large is the free list? It sets beehiiv's tier and moves the break-even.
3. Do you need discovery or control? Substack's network against beehiiv's website, design and ad network.
4. Will you sell ads? beehiiv's network and storefront add income Substack's model does not describe.
5. Can you commit monthly first? beehiiv's annual plans cannot pause and are not refunded.

## Our verdict

Substack is the better choice for a writer who is starting, wants readers more than revenue, and expects fewer than about a hundred paying readers in the first year. beehiiv is the better choice once paid revenue is real, and it becomes more clearly better the larger the paid share of the list. The vendor's headline understates Substack's case by leaving its own plan fee out; with the fee put back, beehiiv still wins comfortably for any newsletter with a few hundred paying readers.

Our composite score for beehiiv is 3.61. We have not scored Substack, which is outside our email category.