The math at different stages

The cheapest answer changes with subscriber count and revenue.

Stage 1: zero subscribers, building a list

Cheapest: Substack. Zero fixed cost, just start writing. The revenue share is irrelevant when revenue is zero.

Beehiiv’s Free plan is also viable here — you can grow up to 2,500 free subscribers without paying. But to actually charge for subscriptions, you’ll need a paid Beehiiv tier. So Beehiiv is “free to start growing the list, paid before monetizing.”

Stage 2: small paid list (under 100 paid subscribers at $5/mo)

At 100 paid subs × $5/mo = $500/mo revenue:

  • Substack: $50/mo platform cut + Stripe fees (~$15/mo) = ~$65/mo
  • Beehiiv Lite tier: $49/mo billed annually (at 1,000 total subscribers) + Stripe fees (~$15/mo) = ~$64/mo
  • Kit Creator tier: $33/mo billed annually (at low subscriber count) + Stripe fees ($15/mo) = ~$48/mo

At this scale, Kit starts beating Substack on absolute cost, and Beehiiv is roughly even.

Stage 3: meaningful paid list (1,000+ paid subscribers)

The crossover where Substack becomes structurally expensive:

  • 1,000 paid × $5/mo = $5,000/mo revenue
  • Substack takes $500/mo
  • Beehiiv Lite or Pro tier: priced by total list size (Lite starts at $49/mo billed annually at 1,000 subscribers), with no revenue share
  • Kit Creator: scales with list size, often cheaper than Substack’s 10% even at higher tiers

By 1,000+ paid subs, the Substack revenue share is dramatically more expensive than flat-fee alternatives.

What you give up by going cheapest

Substack’s lower-cost-at-zero comes with structural trade-offs:

  • 10% revenue share at scale
  • Limited automation (no behavioral segmentation, no tag-based workflows)
  • Default brand presence is Substack-on-substack.com (unless you pay for custom domain)
  • Migration is possible but content reformatting takes effort

For most solo founders:

  1. Start on Substack if you have no list and no revenue — zero risk, instant publishing.
  2. Migrate to Beehiiv or Kit when monthly revenue exceeds ~$200 (where Substack’s cut starts to outweigh flat-fee alternatives).
  3. Pick Beehiiv if growth and sponsorships matter most. Pick Kit if you’re selling courses or products alongside the newsletter.

For current pricing on each, see Beehiiv and Kit.