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Best Place for Newsletter Growth: Substack vs. Ghost vs. beehiiv
Grow Your Newsletter With the Best Platform
Iwona Abraham
March 13th, 2025
So you’ve found your publishing niche and produced content that’s ready to be executed but don’t know where to publish it?
There are so many email marketing and paid content platforms out there that it can be paralyzing.
All you know is that you’re a content creator who is ready and excited to publish, and that’s all you need to know because we’ve laid out for you a comprehensive guide of Substack vs. Ghost vs. beehiiv.
We’ll outline the differences, strengths, and drawbacks of each platform. Monetization and budget are probably a high priority on your list, so don’t worry. We’ll go over the numbers, too.
Let’s dive into all the details, so you can get back to what you love -- producing content!
Why Trust Us?
As a content editor, I started working with beehiiv about a year ago because of how beehiiv empowers creators to build thriving newsletters. With a background in technical writing, I leveraged my knowledge of SEO strategies and optimization to pivot into B2B and D2C content, helping brands like beehiiv maximize their reach and engagement.
Table of Contents
Substack vs. Ghost vs. beehiiv: Overview of Platforms
What Is Substack?
The Substack platform is designed for independent writers and creators to build paid newsletters and have direct relationships with their audience.
You may have heard of Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale -- yeah, she’s on Substack. Its simplicity and ease of use mean anyone with a desire to create content can make it happen.
Look at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA legend who uses Substack to express his opinions and viewpoints on a multitude of topics.
What Is Ghost?
Ghost is an open-source platform, so you can have custom, self-hosted solutions.
It hands the reins over to creators who want complete control over their content, websites, and monetization.
What Is beehiiv?
beehiiv is an all-encompassing platform designed specifically with creators in mind. Its platform stands out because of its advanced tools for email marketing, growth features for scaling your audience, and fast-track monetization strategies.
beehiiv recently launched the beehiiv Media Collective to promote independent media. The digital era we live in has decreased people’s trust of mass media and increased fights between traditional newsrooms and independent journalists for traffic and ad dollars.
Other platforms may offer a space for journalists and independent creators to have a voice but leave you to figure out growth and support.
It’s not only crucial to have a voice, but you need your back covered. The beehiiv Media Collective is advantageous in offering financial reinforcement, legal protection, operational support, and business growth assistance.
Key Differences Between Substack, Ghost, and beehiiv
Now that we’ve had a general overview of the three platforms, let’s deep dive into their differences. We’ll cover the following features of each:
Monetization model and revenue streams
Audience engagement and community-building
Subscription fees and platform charges
Customization and design flexibility
Analytics and growth tools
Monetization Models and Revenue Streams
Substack
Substack offers monetization through subscriptions to newsletters. Writers can choose whether they want the subscription to their newsletter to be free or paid. If paid, they can select one of three pricing tiers: monthly, annual, and founding member.
Ghost
Ghost has a few monetization options from which you can choose based on your audience and goals. It offers full control over paid subscriptions to newsletters, which gives your readers access to exclusive content.
You can also use Google AdSense Ads to earn money every time a reader clicks on an ad. Another way is through affiliate marketing, where you receive a commission whenever someone clicks on the affiliate link.
beehiiv
beehiiv has both free and paid newsletter subscriptions.
There are a few ways to generate revenue. One of them is the Ad Network, which attracts sponsors and advertisers for you, simplifying monetizing your newsletter with ad placements.
The beehiiv Partner Program allows you to earn commissions when readers click on your affiliate link to make a purchase.
Boosts is an easy way to earn money -- you just look through beehiiv’s library of newsletters, add them as a “boost,” and that’s it!
Audience Engagement and Community Building
Regardless of which platform you choose, you should prioritize audience engagement and community-building.
Digital newsletters provide a unique opportunity to nurture a deeper connection with your subscribers. This increases audience loyalty, production of more relevant content, higher open rates, and conversions.
Each platform fosters audience engagement in different ways. Let’s see which one resonates with you!
Substack
Substack enables direct email communication by allowing writers to put out newsletters with commenting features. So instead of a monologue, you can have a two-way conversation.
Readers can comment or ask questions about the writer’s content, which gives the writer insight into their readers’ needs and wants.
We’re mindlessly scrolling on our phones all the time, but Substack manages to transform their platform from mindless to engaged by encouraging readers to actively comment, like, and interact with the creators.
Ghost
The cool thing about Ghost is that it’s an open-source platform, meaning you can build fully customized membership websites.
Rather than trying to get a large audience with varied interests, you can focus on a certain niche. This simplifies audience engagement because you know the type of readers you attract and can tailor your content to meet their needs.
Ghost gives you the ability to control your revenue without having to rely on other brands and ads, so you control what your audience sees. If done wisely, you can tailor your website to build trust and rapport with your audience.
beehiiv
beehiiv is specifically designed for newsletter creators and understands the challenges of publishing and marketing. It employs many strategies to build audience engagement, like segmentation, polls, surveys, and 3D analytics.
Audience engagement thrives when it’s personalized and one-on-one so that you can recognize and respond to their needs.
But how are you supposed to have one-on-one engagement when you have an audience of more than 10,000 or even just more than 1000?
Tyler Denk, cofounder of beehiiv, recognized the challenge of maintaining intimate conversation with a large audience base.
Denk said in an interview with Splice Media, “One of the hardest problems for a ton of businesses is scaling ‘exclusivity’ or ‘intimacy.’” This is why beehiiv created 1-click polls to simplify collecting information on your audience, enabling you to synthesize the results and use them in your next newsletter, further building audience engagement.
beehiiv knows how to grow email lists and leverage email marketing. Their cross promotion system allows you to access their expansive network of the world’s top newsletters and share them with your audience, creating a synergistic relationship between you and other trusted newsletters because you know what your audience likes and have their trust.
Subscription Fees and Platform Charges
Now that we’ve covered what each platform is and how they engage their audience, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: price.
Finding a platform is a balancing act between what features they offer and a price you can afford.
Substack
If you choose to publish your content on Substack, keep in mind that they take a hefty 10% of each transaction on paid subscriptions.
There’s also a payment processing fee through Stripe of 2.9% + 0.30 per transaction fee as well as a billing fee of 0.7% for recurring subscriptions.
Ghost
Ghost has four tiers that vary in the amount of subscribers you can have and what features they offer.
Ghost’s “Starter” plan is for 1000 subscribers and $19/month, and you only get 1 staff user and 18 free official themes. The rest of their plans can be for up to 400K subscribers, with the price varying depending on how large your audience is.
Say you have 10,000 subscribers. You can see below what the price would be for the remaining three plans.
*The monthly price is the first number listed, and the yearly price broken down into months is listed second.
A cool thing about Ghost is they charge a 0% transaction fee because the site is directly connected to Stripe, but you’ll still have to pay Stripe’s own processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30.
beehiiv
beehiiv has four tiers, with the first plan, “Launch,” being completely free for up to 2500 subscribers. This is advantageous if you want to test the platform with a high subscriber limit.
You still get features like audience segmentation, API access, the recommendation network, and campaign analytics.
Once you’ve dipped your toes into the beehiiv world of advanced analytics and audience ownership, you’ll want to increase the size of your subscribers.
Here are the prices and features for up to 10,000 subscribers.
*The monthly price is the first number listed, and the yearly price broken down into months is listed second.
While beehiiv doesn’t charge transaction fees, its payment partner Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
If you’re a creator or media organization that is committed to owning your brand experience, beehiiv’s Enterprise plan is perfect for you. The plan includes all the features of the Max plan and includes concierge onboarding, a designated account manager, dedicated IP addresses, and unlimited subscribers.
Talk to beehiiv’s sales team if the Enterprise plan fits your needs.
Customization and Design Flexibility
Substack
Substack’s newsletters are of a clean and minimalist nature. There are limited design options unless you’re comfortable with coding to customize CSS and HTML. However, you can still change fonts and colors in accordance with your branding.
Ghost
Ghost offers full website customization with an open-source structure. There is a variety of free and paid themes, but you can also create your own theme.
You could also customize your content types with custom metadata and organize your content with tags and categories.
Ghost allows for integrations with email marketing platforms, payment systems (like Stripe), and analytics tools. They also allow you to embed content like videos, audio, and images.
beehiiv
beehiiv provides a good mix of customization and design flexibility for newsletters and email templates. There are pre-built themes, customizable layouts, customizable landing pages, segmentation for email personalization, and more.
beehiiv also recently acquired Typedream, an AI-powered website builder. It has a drag-and-drop editor for sections, headers, animations, widgets, and more. It also gives you the ability to design multiple landing pages for optimized performance and different welcome flows.
Analytics and Growth Tools
Pros and Cons of Substack, Ghost, and beehiiv
There are pros and cons to everything in life, and newsletter platforms are no exception. Weigh them out to determine which platform best addresses your needs and goals.
Pros and Cons of Substack
Pros
Simplicity: It’s user-friendly, so technical skills are not required.
Easy Monetization: You simply choose the paid subscription option that you’d like and decide what type of content will be free and what will be “exclusive.” Payment processing occurs internally with Substack.
Direct Audience Relationships: No one can take your email list from you. If you choose to leave Substack, you can take your email list with you, thus taking those relationships with you.
Cons
Limited Design Flexibility: The downside to Substack’s simplicity is the limited customization for branding and layout choices.
Limited Reliance on Email: It lacks email automation (including segmentation) and basic analytics, so there are no A/B testing or other deep engagement tracking tools, and it has less email design customization.
Lack of Built-in Growth Tools: The creator is responsible for driving subscribers to their site.
Pros and Cons of Ghost
Pros
Content-Focused: Its clean and minimal writing interface cuts out distractions to help you focus on what is most important -- your content. The interface is also intuitive, allowing you to invest time in publishing content.
Full Control Over Content and Monetization: While Substack controls pricing and takes 10% of your revenue, Ghost allows you to set your own pricing without any revenue share. You also own your content and can customize design and themes.
Flexibility To Build Member Sites: This makes Ghost a great choice for newsletters because if people like your content, they can subscribe and opt in for more exclusive content on your website.
Self-Hosting: Rather than using Ghost’s server, you can run the platform on your own. Translation: you have full control over your site regarding things like themes and settings and increased customization options.
Con
Steeper Learning Curve for Non-Technical Users: Ghost is an open-source platform, making web developers rejoice and the rest of us non-coding nerds cry. Just kidding, we can still use Ghost, but learning to use the platform will require a lot more of our time and energy.
Pros and Cons of beehiiv
Pros
Advanced Marketing Tools: Optimize your content by tracking metrics with 3D analytics, understanding your audience with segmentation, and making informed decisions with A/B testing.
Newsletter Growth Capabilities: beehiiv’s Referral Program, Recommendations, and Boosts are just a few ways for creators to expand their audience.
Ease of Monetization: Typically, creators have to go out and find brands that align with them and reach out to see if they would be willing to advertise in their newsletter. beehiiv’s Ad Network does all that for you!
Con
Steeper Learning Curve: beehiiv is a creator-centered platform, as echoed by marketermilk, but as such, it has a steeper learning curve for those new to email marketing.
Use Cases for Substack, Ghost, and beehiiv
Let’s zoom out from all the details and connect the platforms’ offerings with the type of person they’re curated for.
If your stance is, “I just want to focus on putting my content out into the world and not get caught up with all the technical details,” Substack is for you!
Substack is ideal for independent writers, journalists, and creators looking to monetize through paid newsletters with minimal setup.
You can start a newsletter in minutes without the need for coding skills. Monetization is built-in and straightforward with a paywall setup.
You also have full control over your subscriber list and can directly interact with your audience through comment sections and discussion threads.
Ghost for Creators Who Want Full Control
If you’re savvy with code and get frustrated when platforms don’t give you full control over your website, Ghost could be right for you!
As an open-source platform, you have complete authority over your website, membership tiers, and content.
Ghost has built-in monetization; but, unlike Stack, they don’t take a cut of your revenue.
Ghost also has better analytics to give you stronger insights into your audience, so you can curate your content accordingly.
Do you love to produce content but are more focused on newsletter growth and email marketing?
beehiiv is best for creators who want growth-focused newsletters. Its infrastructure is built for mass email sending; and, with its higher-tiered plans, you can put out an unlimited number of emails.
The team at beehiiv has developed tools to promote growth, like their Referral Program and Recommendations.
Adam Beach of MyGolfSpy, which is basically Consumer Reports but for golf lovers, hit 200,000 subscribers after switching to beehiiv.
There are many cases of creators migrating from other platforms to beehiiv because of beehiiv’s advanced offerings. One such case is Michael Nadeau of The DeFi Report, who recently migrated from Substack to beehiiv.
Nadeau tried out Substack but his newsletter outgrew them. “[beehiiv is set up for somebody who’s running a serious business where Substack is a great tool for people to be independent publishers, but it’s more of a starter type of tool.”
The DeFi Report also migrated from Substack because of beehiiv’s API. This consolidates DeFi Report’s content into one place, making it highly navigatable and a better experience for readers.
Which Platform Is Best for You?
There are many factors to consider when choosing the platform that is right for you. You want to go with one that aligns with your needs, and a pretty big need for most people is financial.
It’s great if a platform can offer all the features that you want; but if the price is unreasonably high, the cost outweighs the benefit.
Choosing Based on Your Monetization Goals
Consider your monetization goals.
While Substack is great for simple paid subscriptions, Ghost offers maximum control over all aspects of monetization, and beehiiv is excellent for creators focused on scaling their email-based income.
Budget and Subscription Model Considerations
You not only want to consider money coming into your wallet but also money going out. Substack takes a cut of 10% of every transaction on paid subscriptions, as well as a payment processing fee and billing fee.
Ghost is self-hosting, so there are no transaction fees, only Stripe’s processing fees. You have flexibility in pricing based on what type of plan you choose -- Starter, Creator, Team, or Business.
beehiiv also doesn’t have transaction fees but has Stripe’s processing fees. beehiiv’s pricing tiers are more affordable than Ghost’s, in terms of all the features each plan offers.
If you’re hesitant, beehiiv’s “Launch” plan is a good starting point. It’s free for up to 2500 subscribers; and, if you like the features and want to explore even more, you could ramp up to a “Scale” or “Max” plan.
Substack vs. Ghost vs. beehiiv: Conclusion
These three platforms all have strong offerings, but it ultimately boils down to which platform fits your needs.
Substack is clean and simple with direct subscriptions -- perfect for the creator who wants to be free to create and not be bogged down with all the technical and marketing details of newsletter publishing.
Ghost seems to be on the other side of the spectrum, as an open-source and self-hosting platform. If you’re a creator with a coding background and want total control over your website, Ghost may be the choice for you.
beehiiv is in a league of its own in terms of newsletter growth and email marketing. It’s thoughtfully designed for newsletter creators and intuitive to use.
You also don’t need a coding background to take advantage of beehiiv’s campaigns and features like the Referral Program and Recommendation Network.
Migration from another platform to beehiiv may sound daunting but the team at beehiiv makes it effortless.
Take a peek at beehiiv’s plans. Sign up for a free trial or the “Launch” plan, which is free for up to 2500 subscribers. They’ll give you a great idea of beehiiv’s expertise in helping you publish your content!
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