Ghost, Substack and beehiiv sell the same outcome — a paid newsletter — through three charging machines. Substack takes 10% of every paid subscription payment and charges no monthly fee. Ghost(Pro) and beehiiv charge a flat monthly plan and take 0%. The question is at what size the 10% share overtakes a flat plan — and what self-hosting Ghost costs.
The scenario
Every number here runs on one scenario: $8.00 a month per paid subscriber, 5% of the list paying, monthly payments on a US card, flat plans billed annually. Lists of 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 give 50, 500 and 2,500 paid subscribers and annual gross of $4,800, $48,000 and $240,000.
What Ghost(Pro) charges
Ghost(Pro) is the managed hosting service for Ghost, and its pricing page states "No payment fees — upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime." At 1,000 members: Starter $18 a month, $180 a year; Publisher $35 a month, $348 a year; Business $239 a month, $2,388 a year. The page shows Publisher at $29 and Business at $199 on annual billing.
Publisher is the plan that matters: the page lists "Paid subscriptions" under Publisher, not Starter. Starter gives a website, a free custom domain and an email newsletter for 1,000 members and 1 staff user. Publisher adds 3 staff users, custom themes and advanced analytics.
Prices rise with member count: Publisher costs $348 a year at 1,000 members, $1,056 at 10,000 and $2,496 at 50,000. Business costs $2,388 a year from 1,000 to 10,000 members, then $3,996 at 50,000. Starter covers 1,000 members only; above that the page disables it. Annual billing saves $36 a year on Starter, $72 on Publisher and $480 on Business.
Source: ghost.org/pricing, 2026-11-14.
What Substack charges
Substack charges nothing to publish and nothing for free subscribers. Its help centre states: "Publishing on Substack is free, no matter how many subscribers you have. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges its own payment processing fees. Readers pay the price the writer sets." The fee table lists five charges: Substack's fee is 10% of each subscription payment; Stripe card processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment; Stripe Billing is 0.7%; local payment methods are set by Stripe and vary by country; a custom domain is a one-time $50.
The 10% fee scales with revenue, not list size: a free list of any size costs $0. Stripe's fees sit on top of the 10% in the same payment, so the true deduction is all three rates plus $0.30.
Source: support.substack.com, updated October 29, 2026. Reproduction: the page returns HTTP 403.
What beehiiv charges
Beehiiv shows four plans at 1,000 subscribers: Free $0, Lite $49 a month on yearly billing, Pro $95 a month on yearly billing, and Enterprise custom. Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends and API access. Lite covers up to 100,000 subscribers and adds paid subscriptions at 0%, ad monetization, automations and A/B testing. Pro covers up to 250,000 and adds branding removal, webinars and coaching, advanced analytics, AI credits, webhooks and 24/7 priority support.
Paid subscriptions appear under Lite, not Free, so a publication that charges readers starts at $49 a month on yearly billing, $588 a year. Pro costs $95 a month on yearly billing, $1,140 a year, or $552 a year more than Lite. Beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription and digital product revenue. Its FAQ states: "No. beehiiv takes 0% of your paid subscription and digital product revenue. You keep what you earn, minus Stripe's standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction." Yearly billing saves up to 20% against month to month. Prices rise with subscriber count, so this guide uses the published 1,000-subscriber prices and the 10,000- and 50,000-subscriber beehiiv totals below are floors, not quotes.
Source: beehiiv.com/pricing, read 2026-11-14.
The per-payment arithmetic
All three platforms route card payments through Stripe, so Stripe's fees are the common floor. On one $8.00 monthly payment from a US card:
Over a year one paid subscriber produces $96.00. On Substack the fees are $1.388 times 12, $16.656, and the writer keeps $79.344. On Ghost or beehiiv the Stripe fees are $0.588 times 12, $7.056, and the writer keeps $88.944. The $9.60 gap is Substack's 10% of $96.00.
Annual cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 subscribers
At 1,000 subscribers, 50 pay, 600 payments, $4,800 gross. Substack takes 600 times $1.388, $832.80, keeping $3,967.20. The Stripe-only routes share 600 times $0.588, $352.80, so beehiiv Lite totals $940.80, Publisher $700.80 and self-hosted Ghost $1,216.80.
At 10,000 subscribers, 500 pay, 6,000 payments, $48,000 gross. Substack takes 6,000 times $1.388, $8,328.00, keeping $39,672.00. The Stripe-only routes share 6,000 times $0.588, $3,528.00, so beehiiv Lite totals $4,116.00, Publisher $4,584.00 and self-hosted Ghost $4,392.00. Substack's 10% fee alone is $4,800.00, 4.5455 times Publisher's $1,056.00 plan.
At 50,000 subscribers, 2,500 pay, 30,000 payments, $240,000 gross. Substack takes 30,000 times $1.388, $41,640.00, keeping $198,360.00. The Stripe-only routes share 30,000 times $0.588, $17,640.00, so beehiiv Lite totals $18,228.00, Publisher $20,136.00 and self-hosted Ghost $18,504.00. Substack's 10% fee alone is $24,000.00, 9.6154 times Publisher's $2,496.00 plan. The gap between Substack and the cheapest flat route is $23,412.00 a year — $41,640.00 minus $18,228.00.
| List | Route | Plan | Stripe | Total | Keeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | Substack | $0 | $832.80 | $832.80 | $3,967.20 |
| 1,000 | beehiiv Lite | $588.00 | $352.80 | $940.80 | $3,859.20 |
| 1,000 | Ghost(Pro) Publisher | $348.00 | $352.80 | $700.80 | $4,099.20 |
| 1,000 | Ghost self-hosted | $864.00 | $352.80 | $1,216.80 | $3,583.20 |
| 10,000 | Substack | $0 | $8,328.00 | $8,328.00 | $39,672.00 |
| 10,000 | beehiiv Lite | $588.00 | $3,528.00 | $4,116.00 | $43,884.00 |
| 10,000 | Ghost(Pro) Publisher | $1,056.00 | $3,528.00 | $4,584.00 | $43,416.00 |
| 10,000 | Ghost self-hosted | $864.00 | $3,528.00 | $4,392.00 | $43,608.00 |
| 50,000 | Substack | $0 | $41,640.00 | $41,640.00 | $198,360.00 |
| 50,000 | beehiiv Lite | $588.00 | $17,640.00 | $18,228.00 | $221,772.00 |
| 50,000 | Ghost(Pro) Publisher | $2,496.00 | $17,640.00 | $20,136.00 | $219,864.00 |
| 50,000 | Ghost self-hosted | $864.00 | $17,640.00 | $18,504.00 | $221,496.00 |
Two caveats: the beehiiv totals at 10,000 and 50,000 are floors — the published price is the 1,000-subscriber price and the page reprices as the list grows. Even tripled, beehiiv's price at 50,000 gives $19,404.00 — still less than half of Substack's $41,640.00. The self-hosted totals carry the opposite caution: the docs price email delivery "from $15" a month, and the operator's maintenance time is not in the table.
Break-even points
The break-even count is where Substack's 10% fee equals the flat plan's annual price — Stripe's fees are identical on both sides and cancel out. Annual gross per paid subscriber is $96.00, so the 10% fee is $9.60 per paid subscriber per year.
A writer passes Publisher's $348 plan at 37 paid subscribers, beehiiv Lite's $588 plan at 62, and the self-hosted stack at 90. At 5% conversion that means lists of 740, 1,240 and 1,800 total. The fee only looks cheap while the paid count is under 37 — $296.00 of monthly gross revenue at $8.00 a month.
The decision table
| Question | Substack | Ghost(Pro) Publisher | beehiiv Lite | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan fee | $0 | $29 a month, annual billing ($348 a year) | $49 a month, yearly billing ($588 a year) | All three pages |
| Platform fee | 10% of each payment | 0% | 0% | All three pages |
| Paid subscriptions | Yes | Yes, from Publisher | Yes, from Lite | All three pages |
| Free / entry plan | Free at any list size | Starter $18 a month, 1,000 members, no paid subscriptions | Free $0 to 2,500 subscribers, no paid subscriptions | All three pages |
| Plan price rises when | Never | $1,056 at 10,000; $2,496 at 50,000 | Repriced with list size | Ghost data; beehiiv page |
| Self-hosting | None | Yes, from $72 a month | None | Ghost docs |
Who each platform is for
Substack is for a writer with fewer than 37 paid subscribers who values zero upfront cost. It is not for a writer with more than 62 paid subscribers, where the 10% fee passes beehiiv Lite's $588 plan.
Ghost(Pro) Publisher is for an operator who wants a website, newsletter and paid memberships under one brand at 0% platform fees, with a plan that rises from $348 a year at 1,000 members to $2,496 at 50,000. It is not for an operator who will not pay before the first reader pays, or who needs a built-in discovery network. Starter is not a monetization plan: $180 a year, 1,000 members, no paid subscriptions.
Beehiiv Lite is for a creator who wants paid subscriptions at 0% for $588 a year. It is not for a creator who needs the brand removed — that requires Pro at $1,140 a year — or more than 3 publications, 2 team seats or 100,000 subscribers.
Self-hosted Ghost is for a technical operator who wants full control of server, database and code and accepts manual installs, updates, maintenance and SSL for the docs' $72-a-month stack. It is not for an operator who cannot do server maintenance.
The self-hosting leg
Base hosting costs from $15 a month on Ghost(Pro) and from $10 self-hosted. The CDN and WAF, email delivery, analytics, backups and image editor are included on Ghost(Pro) and cost from $20, $15, $10, $5 and $12 a month self-hosted. The self-hosted "from" prices add to $10 + $20 + $15 + $10 + $5 + $12 = $72 a month, or $864 a year.
At 1,000 subscribers the self-hosted route keeps $3,583.20 against Publisher's $4,099.20 — $516.00 a year less. At 50,000 it keeps $221,496.00 against Publisher's $219,864.00 — but only if the $72-a-month stack holds at that volume, which the docs' "from" prices do not promise, and before counting the operator's maintenance time. The docs agree: "For heavy users of Ghost, self-hosting generally works out to be more expensive vs Ghost(Pro), but for lightweight blogs it can be cheaper."
The supported stack is narrow: Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 or 26.04 (LTS), Node.js 22 or 24 (LTS), MySQL 8.0 or 8.4, NGINX, Systemd, at least 1GB of memory, and a non-root user.
Source: ghost.org/docs/hosting, 2026-11-14. Reproduction: the docs stylesheet returns HTTP 404.
Migration and friction costs
Switching platforms costs more than the new plan's first month. Leaving Substack or beehiiv costs the list export and re-creating paid tiers on the new platform. Leaving Ghost(Pro) for self-hosted Ghost costs the least — the publication, members and content stay in Ghost — but the most operationally. Ghost's pricing page states members can be imported and exported in CSV format. Sending reputation is the unpriced cost: a new sending domain starts cold. Migrate before the paid list grows.
Also read the beehiiv vs MailerLite vs Substack pricing and the ConvertKit vs beehiiv vs Substack pricing, and for automation the Klaviyo vs Mailchimp vs ConvertKit pricing. Before committing, run your own numbers with the Pricing Calculator.
Founder & CEO Insight — Enow A. Jovial
Execution checklist
- [x] Count paid subscribers and the total list separately — Substack charges on revenue, the others on list size.
- [x] Multiply the 10% fee at the paid count being built toward, not today's count.
- [x] Confirm the plan includes paid subscriptions: Publisher on Ghost(Pro), Lite on beehiiv.
- [x] Add Stripe's $0.588 per $8.00 payment to every route.
- [x] Check the member-count tier: Publisher costs $348 a year at 1,000 members and $2,496 at 50,000.
- [x] Budget the self-hosting stack at Ghost's "from" prices as a floor, plus maintenance time.
A free list costs nothing on Substack and $180 a year on Ghost(Pro) Starter. A paid list under 37 is cheapest on Substack. Above 62, a flat plan is cheapest, and at 2,500 paid subscribers the flat routes keep $21,504 to $23,412 more a year than Substack.