Substack vs Ghost vs Beehiiv: Which Newsletter Platform Keeps More of Your Revenue? (2026)

Question: For a paid newsletter, which keeps more of my money: Substack, Ghost, or Beehiiv?

Short answer: Substack is free to run but takes 10% of paid subscription revenue forever. Ghost(Pro) Publisher starts at $29/month billed yearly with a 0% platform fee, and Beehiiv Scale starts at $43/month billed yearly, also at 0%. Below roughly $300 to $500 a month in paid revenue, Substack is cheapest. Above that, the flat-fee platforms keep more, and the gap widens every month you grow.

Three platforms, three different bets on your money

The three most-recommended paid newsletter platforms in 2026 price themselves in three different ways, and that's the whole decision.

Substack bets that you'll start free and never leave, so it charges nothing up front and a percentage forever. Ghost bets that you're a publisher who wants to own the site as much as the list, so it charges a flat monthly fee that rises with your member count. Beehiiv bets that you're building a newsletter business with ads and referrals, so it charges a flat fee by subscriber count and layers growth tools on top.

None of those bets is wrong. Which one is right for you depends on two numbers: how much paid revenue you have today, and how large your free list is. This guide runs both. All prices were read from vendor pricing pages in July and August 2026; they change, so check the page before you commit.

What each platform actually is

Substack is a hosted newsletter and publication platform with a built-in reader network, notes, podcasts and video. It's free to use at any list size. On paid subscriptions, Substack takes 10% of revenue, and Stripe's processing fee (about 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) comes out on top. There's no plan to upgrade to and no way to reduce the percentage. Custom domains cost a one-time $50 fee. You get discovery from the network, which for many writers is the real reason to be there.

Ghost is an open-source publishing CMS with newsletters and memberships built into the same product. You can self-host it for free (Ghost's own docs estimate a realistic self-hosted setup at around $72/month once you add email delivery, CDN and backups) or use the managed Ghost(Pro). As of July 2026, Ghost(Pro) Starter is $15/month billed yearly ($18 monthly) for up to 1,000 members but no longer supports paid subscriptions. Publisher, the plan you need to charge readers, is $29/month billed yearly ($35 monthly) at 1,000 members and scales with your list, reaching about $88/month at 10,000 members. Platform fee on subscriptions is 0% on every plan.

Beehiiv is a newsletter-first platform built by former Morning Brew engineers, with a landing page builder, referral program, an ad network and recommendation network. As of July 2026, the Launch plan is free up to 2,500 subscribers but doesn't include paid subscriptions. Scale starts at $43/month billed yearly ($49 monthly) and unlocks monetisation; Max starts at $96/month billed yearly ($109 monthly) and removes Beehiiv branding. Prices step up by subscriber bracket: a list that just passed 2,500 subscribers lands at about $77/month on Scale billed yearly. Platform fee on paid subscriptions is 0%.

Side-by-side comparison

| | Substack | Ghost(Pro) | Beehiiv | |---|---|---|---| | Free tier | Yes, any list size | No (14-day trial) | Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers | | Cheapest plan with paid subscriptions | Free | Publisher, $29/mo yearly (Jul 2026) | Scale, $43/mo yearly (Jul 2026) | | Platform fee on paid revenue | 10% | 0% | 0% | | Stripe processing | ~2.9% + $0.30 | ~2.9% + $0.30 | ~2.9% + $0.30 | | Price scales with | Revenue | Member count (free + paid) | Subscriber count | | Custom domain | $50 one-time | Included | Included on free plan | | Website / CMS | Basic publication page | Full CMS, themes, pages | Landing pages + posts | | Discovery network | Strongest | None built in | Recommendation network + Boosts | | Ad monetisation | No | No | Ad network (Scale and up) | | Data export | Subscribers CSV, posts | Full JSON export | Subscribers CSV | | Open source / self-host | No | Yes | No |

The real question: what do you pay at each revenue level?

Percentage fees and flat fees cross over. Here's where, using Ghost Publisher and Beehiiv Scale at their entry brackets, yearly billing, and Substack's 10%. Stripe is left out because all three pay it.

$200/month in paid revenue (say 40 readers at $5). Substack takes $20/month, or $240/year. Ghost Publisher costs $348/year. Beehiiv Scale costs $516/year. Substack wins clearly.

$1,000/month in paid revenue. Substack takes $100/month, or $1,200/year. Ghost is still $348/year at up to 1,000 members. Beehiiv is $516/year up to its entry bracket. Both flat-fee platforms now save you $700 to $850 a year.

$5,000/month in paid revenue. Substack takes $500/month, or $6,000/year. By now your total list is probably past 1,000, so Ghost Publisher might be $50 to $88/month ($600 to $1,056/year) and Beehiiv Scale roughly $77 to $109/month ($924 to $1,308/year). Either way, you keep $4,500 to $5,400 more per year than on Substack.

The break-even sits around $300 to $500 a month in paid revenue, depending on which platform and bracket you'd land in. Below it, pay the percentage and enjoy the free ride. Above it, the percentage becomes the most expensive line in your business.

One thing the table hides: Ghost counts free members toward your plan bracket, and Beehiiv counts all active subscribers. A newsletter with 9,000 free readers and 300 paying ones pays Ghost's 10,000-member rate. Substack doesn't care how big the free list is. If your free-to-paid ratio is very high, that shifts the break-even upward.

Migration: what moves and what doesn't

All three let you export subscribers as CSV, so the list is never trapped. Paid subscriptions are the sticking point: Stripe customers can be transferred between platforms if the destination supports importing existing Stripe subscriptions (Ghost and Beehiiv both document this), but readers on Substack may need to re-enter payment details depending on how the migration is handled. Plan a week of overlap and expect a few percent of churn. Content moves as posts or JSON; Substack's reader network does not move at all.

When each platform is the better choice

Choose Substack if: 1. You have little or no paid revenue yet and want zero fixed cost while you find out whether readers will pay. 2. Discovery matters more than margin. Recommendations and Notes still bring new readers in a way the other two can't replicate. 3. You want podcasts, video and text in one place without stitching tools together.

Choose Ghost if: 1. You want a real website as well as a newsletter: pages, themes, tags, structured content, on your own domain, with nothing that says "Ghost" unless you want it to. 2. You value the exit. Open source means you can move from Ghost(Pro) to your own server, or back, without asking anyone. 3. Your paid revenue is past a few hundred dollars a month and your free list isn't enormous relative to it.

Choose Beehiiv if: 1. Your model is ads and sponsorships rather than (or alongside) paid subscriptions. The ad network is the reason most Beehiiv publishers are there. 2. You want built-in referral and recommendation growth loops without third-party tools. 3. Your list is under 2,500 and you want a free plan that includes a landing page and custom domain while you grow.

If you want all three of those things (a full CMS, 0% fees and newsletter segments) in one subscription, that's the category VeloCMS sits in; the compare page shows it next to Substack and Ghost, and the individual Substack, Ghost and Beehiiv comparisons cover the trade-offs in detail. If you'd rather run your own numbers first, the compare page is the place to start.

Frequently asked questions

Does Substack take a percentage of paid subscriptions?

Yes. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue on every plan, and Stripe's processing fee (about 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) applies on top. There's no paid tier that lowers the percentage. Free newsletters cost nothing to run.

How much does Ghost cost for a paid newsletter in 2026?

As of July 2026, the Ghost(Pro) Publisher plan starts at $29/month billed yearly ($35 monthly) at 1,000 members and scales with your list, to about $88/month at 10,000 members. Platform fee on subscription revenue is 0%. The cheaper Starter plan ($15/month yearly) no longer supports paid subscriptions.

How much does Beehiiv cost for a paid newsletter in 2026?

As of July 2026, paid subscriptions need Beehiiv's Scale plan, which starts at $43/month billed yearly ($49 monthly) and steps up by subscriber bracket, reaching about $77/month yearly once you pass 2,500 subscribers. Max, from $96/month yearly, removes Beehiiv branding. Platform fee on paid revenue is 0%.

At what revenue does Substack become more expensive than Ghost or Beehiiv?

Roughly $300 to $500 a month in paid subscription revenue. At $1,000/month, Substack's 10% costs $1,200/year versus about $348/year for Ghost Publisher or $516/year for Beehiiv Scale at their entry brackets. The gap grows with revenue.

Do free subscribers cost money on Ghost or Beehiiv?

Yes. Ghost prices Publisher and Business by total members, free and paid combined. Beehiiv prices Scale and Max by total active subscribers. A large free list pushes you into a higher bracket even if few readers pay. Substack charges nothing for free subscribers.

Can I move my paid subscribers from Substack to Ghost or Beehiiv?

Subscriber lists export as CSV from all three. Existing Stripe subscriptions can be imported into Ghost and Beehiiv, but the process depends on how the payments were set up on Substack, and some readers may need to re-enter card details. Expect some churn during the move and plan an overlap week.