It's worth being precise here, because "free" gets used loosely in newsletter marketing. On Substack, the following costs nothing, regardless of how many subscribers you have or how much you earn:
This genuinely free tier is one of Substack's biggest advantages over competitors, most of which gate custom domains, higher subscriber counts, or basic analytics behind a paid plan.
The moment you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack takes 10% of whatever your paying subscribers pay you. This is a flat percentage regardless of how much you earn — there's no tier where the cut goes down as your revenue scales, unlike some competitor platforms.
On top of Substack's cut, Stripe (the payment processor built into Substack) takes its own fee — typically around 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for most countries. This is separate from Substack's cut and isn't something Substack controls or profits from; it's the standard cost of accepting card payments anywhere online.
A creator earning $2,000/month in paid subscriptions typically nets around $1,720–$1,750 after both Substack's cut and Stripe's processing fees — roughly a combined 12-14% reduction from the sticker price subscribers pay.
Beehiiv takes the opposite approach: instead of a revenue cut, it charges a flat monthly subscription fee (starting around $42/month on its Scale plan) and takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue. This means the platforms cross over in cost-effectiveness at a specific revenue point.
| Monthly paid subscription revenue | Substack cost (10% + fees) | Beehiiv cost (flat fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $200 | ~$26 | ~$42 |
| $420 | ~$54 | ~$42 |
| $1,000 | ~$128 | ~$42 |
| $5,000 | ~$638 | ~$42–99 (higher tier) |
As the table shows, Substack is cheaper below roughly $420/month in subscription revenue, and Beehiiv becomes progressively cheaper above that as your revenue grows, since its fee doesn't scale with earnings.
Usually not on its own. The fee structure matters far less than Substack's built-in discovery network, which can be worth vastly more than the percentage difference if it's actively bringing you new subscribers. Most creators are better off choosing a platform based on discovery and audience fit first, and only factoring in fees once they're earning enough for the difference to matter in absolute dollars.
For a full side-by-side on discovery, analytics, and features — not just pricing — see our Substack vs Beehiiv comparison.
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