Beehiiv vs Substack in 2026: Which Newsletter Platform Is Better?

Beehiiv and Substack are the two most discussed newsletter platforms for creators who want to monetise their writing. They have fundamentally different business models that make the comparison more interesting than a simple feature comparison.

The business model difference

Substack is free to start and takes 10% of your paid subscription revenue permanently. Beehiiv charges a monthly fee starting at $42 per month for the Scale plan and takes 0% of your revenue. At low revenue, Substack costs less. At higher revenue, Beehiiv costs less. The crossover point where Beehiiv becomes cheaper is approximately $420 per month in paid subscription revenue. If you are earning more than that from your newsletter, Beehiiv is cheaper in absolute terms.

Writing experience

Both have good writing experiences. Substack editor is slightly simpler and faster to get started with. Beehiiv editor handles long-form content and multimedia better. For writers producing daily quick posts, Substack is marginally faster. For writers producing weekly long-form issues, Beehiiv is more capable.

Audience growth tools

Beehiiv has significantly better growth tools. The referral programme, recommendations network, and Boosts have no equivalent in Substack. Substack relies primarily on network effects within its own ecosystem and cross-promotion between Substack writers. Beehiiv growth tools work regardless of platform ecosystem.

Monetisation options

Both support paid subscriptions as the primary monetisation model. Beehiiv additionally supports an ad network where advertisers pay to appear in your newsletter, and Boosts where other newsletters pay you to recommend them to your subscribers. Substack focuses almost exclusively on paid subscriptions as the monetisation model.

Discovery and audience

Substack has a larger existing reader base who discover content through the Substack app and reader. For writers who want platform-native discovery, Substack has an advantage. Beehiiv does not have an equivalent reader application or discovery layer. Growth on Beehiiv depends more on your own acquisition efforts and the tools they provide.

The honest recommendation

Choose Substack if: you are just starting out and want zero upfront cost, you write primarily for the Substack reader ecosystem, or you value simplicity above all else. Choose Beehiiv if: you are earning or expect to earn more than $420 per month from subscriptions, you want the ad network and referral programme, or you are building a newsletter business with multiple revenue streams.