Beehiiv
Newsletter platform built by ex-Morning Brew operators. 0% take rate on paid subscriptions — you pay a monthly fee instead.
Visit Beehiiv → Get your launch kit →About Beehiiv
Beehiiv is the most direct Substack alternative with a different commercial model — paid via monthly subscription based on subscriber count rather than a percentage of revenue. Scale plan starts at $49/month and unlocks paid subs, ad inventory, and the Boosts referral network.
Our take
Beehiiv is Substack built by former Morning Brew operators — same newsletter format, zero platform cut on subscription revenue, built-in ad network, and a much more professional growth toolkit (boosts, referral programs, A/B testing). The trade-off is an opinionated product and a $43-96/mo platform fee instead of a revenue share. Best for: newsletter operators who already have 500+ subscribers, know their audience, and want to keep 100% of subscription revenue while plugging into a real growth engine. Skip if: you're just starting out and aren't sure a newsletter is the right format — the monthly fee stings before you have paying readers.
Pros and cons
Pros
- 0% on subscription revenue — only Stripe processing applies
- Built-in ad network and Boosts referral market
- Excellent migration tools from Substack and other platforms
Cons
- Monthly cost starts at $49 before any revenue
- Limited to written content — no audio or video hosting
- Smaller network than Substack at this point
Full breakdown
- Platform fee
- from $49/mo · monthly subscription · 0% on revenue
- Payout speed
- weekly
- Minimum payout
- $0
- Countries supported
- Stripe-supported
- Email list export
- Full access
- Custom domain
- Yes (free)
- Community features
- Comments only