Newsletter and publishing platforms · Verified · By Joonas Rotko
Ghost
Desk research
From Starter, billed annually
$15/mo
$18/mo billed monthly
beehiiv
Desk research
From Lite, billed annually
$49/mo
$59/mo billed monthly
vs
Quick answer
Ghost is the pick once you charge readers. It wins two of the three scenarios below. At 5,000 subscribers with paid subscriptions and your own domain, Ghost Publisher costs $75/month billed monthly, while beehiiv Lite costs $109/month billed monthly. At 10,000 subscribers and five publications, Ghost Business and beehiiv Pro cost exactly the same, $239/month billed monthly, and Ghost takes it on more staff seats and a slower price climb as the list grows. beehiiv wins the free start: its Free plan costs nothing up to 2,500 subscribers, while Ghost has no permanent free tier, only a 14-day trial. beehiiv Free has no paid subscriptions and no custom domain, though. Both charge 0% on paid subscriptions, so the fee isn't what separates them. Prices verified 14 Oct 2026.
Across the three setups below: Ghost in 2 of 3 scenarios.
Which one fits you?
Solo creator starting a newsletter, free so far
beehiiv
My pick
$0/mobilled annually
beehiiv's Free plan costs nothing up to 2,500 subscribers, so there's nothing to pay while your list is small. Ghost has no permanent free tier at all, just a 14-day trial, then its cheapest plan runs $18/month billed monthly.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you want your own domain from day one, or full ownership of your site's theme and code. Ghost includes a custom domain on every plan; beehiiv Free has no custom domain and no paid subscriptions.
Creator or small business charging readers, list past the free tier
Ghost
My pick
$63/mobilled annually
Ghost Publisher costs $75/month billed monthly, or $63/month billed annually, and includes paid subscriptions and a custom domain. beehiiv Lite, its cheapest plan with paid subscriptions and a custom domain, costs $109/month billed monthly, or $95/month billed annually, at 5,000 subscribers. Ghost is cheaper on both billing bases.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you want built-in automations. beehiiv Lite includes them with a cap on live automations, and Ghost doesn't market automations at all.
Ghost Business costs $239/month billed monthly, or $199/month billed annually, at 10,000 subscribers, with 10 newsletters and 15 staff seats. beehiiv Pro costs the same, $239/month billed monthly, or $199/month billed annually, with 10 publications and 10 seats. beehiiv Lite is cheaper but stops at 3 publications and 2 seats, so five clients and three people need Pro.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
The two cost exactly the same at 10,000 subscribers, on both billing bases. Ghost wins on what comes next: Business includes 15 staff seats to beehiiv Pro's 10, and it is the cheaper of the two at every published price step above 10,000 members, monthly and yearly.
Skip it if you want unlimited automations or a Send API, or expect a list past 100,000 members. beehiiv Pro includes both features and goes up to 250,000 subscribers.
beehiiv lets you build a list for nothing before deciding to pay, but charging readers or using your own domain needs Lite. Ghost bills you once the trial ends, regardless of list size.
Ghost
None; a 14-day trial only
beehiiv
Free up to 2,500 subscribers, with no paid subscriptions and no custom domain
Platform fee on paid subscriptions
Neither takes a cut, so the fee itself isn't the deciding factor here. The flat plan price is what actually differs.
Ghost
0%, Stripe connects to your own account
beehiiv
0% on every plan with paid subscriptions (Lite and up)
How the price grows with your list
Ghost is cheaper at 5,000 subscribers on both billing bases. At 10,000 subscribers with five publications, Ghost Business and beehiiv Pro cost the same, and Business stays the cheaper of the two at every published step above that.
Ghost
Starter covers 1,000 members at one price. Publisher and Business step up with member count up to 100,000, and Business holds one price all the way to 10,000 members.
beehiiv
Lite and Pro step up with subscriber count, with a published price at every step on both billing bases. Lite stops at 100,000 subscribers and Pro at 250,000; above that it's Enterprise, priced by sales.
Running more than one newsletter
Both reach the same number of newsletters under one login on their multi-publication plans. Ghost Business includes more staff seats; beehiiv Pro goes up to a larger list.
Ghost
1 to 10 newsletters per account, by plan
beehiiv
1 on Free, 3 on Lite, 10 on Pro
What will Ghost or beehiiv cost for your setup?
The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.
Uses 10,000 of 100,000 subscribers, 5 of 10 publications.
On monthly billing: $2,868 a year.
On annual billing: $2,388 a year.
Above 10 publications: nothing published fits.
beehiiv
Uses 10,000 of 250,000 subscribers, 5 of 10 publications.
On monthly billing: $2,868 a year.
On annual billing: $2,388 a year.
Above 10 publications: nothing published fits.
How I calculated this
For each tool I price every current plan plus the add-ons a setup needs, from the vendor's published prices only, and take the cheapest. Monthly and annual billing are priced separately. When a limit or price isn't published, the tool shows as not fitting instead of a guess.
Solo creator starting a newsletter, free so far: One writer, list still under 1,000, not charging readers yet. Sized to land inside every tool's free or entry tier so the comparison stays inside verified pricing.
Creator or small business charging readers, list past the free tier: A list past most free ceilings (beehiiv's Launch caps at 2,500), monetizing with paid subscriptions on its own domain.
Agency running several client newsletters: Five client publications under one account, each monetized on its own domain, three people with access.
Ghost vs beehiiv side by side
I compare newsletter platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier subscriber ceiling before you must pay anything; Platform fee on paid subscriptions, on top of any monthly price; Number of separate publications/newsletters allowed per account; Team seats included; Custom domain: included or an extra one-time/recurring fee; Automations and growth tools (referrals, ad network, A/B testing).
Ghost and beehiiv compared on the main buying criteria
Criterion
Ghost
beehiiv
Real cost per list size, both billing bases
Starter $18/mo monthly. Publisher $75/month billed monthly at 5,000 members. Business $239/mo monthly, $199/mo annually
Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Lite from $59/month billed monthly at its entry band, and $109/month billed monthly at 5,000 subscribers. Pro $239/month billed monthly at 10,000 subscribers.
Free-tier subscriber ceiling before you must pay anything
No permanent free tier; the 14-day trial is the only free period
2,500 subscribers on Free
Platform fee on paid subscriptions
0%; Stripe connects directly to your own account
0%, on every plan that allows paid subscriptions (Lite and up)
Number of separate publications/newsletters allowed per account
1 to 10, by plan
1 on Free, 3 on Lite, 10 on Pro
Team seats included
1 on Starter up to 15 on Business
1 on Free, 2 on Lite, 10 on Pro
All details, including automation and AI workflows
All compared details for Ghost and beehiiv
Criterion
Ghost
beehiiv
Custom domain: included or an extra fee
Included, with a free first-year .link domain on every plan
Not on Free; included from Lite up
Automations and growth tools
Not the focus; discovery comes from Ghost's own SEO and existing audience
None on Free; capped live automations on Lite, unlimited on Pro
Real cost per list size, both billing bases (full detail)
Starter: $18/month billed monthly, or $15/month billed annually. Publisher: $35/month billed monthly, or $29/month billed annually, at its entry band. Business: $239/month billed monthly, or $199/month billed annually, up to 10,000 members. Custom: contact sales.
Free: up to 2,500 subscribers. Lite: $59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually, at its entry band, rising to $109/month billed monthly, or $95/month billed annually, at 5,000 subscribers. Pro: $109/month billed monthly, or $95/month billed annually, at its entry band, and $239/month billed monthly, or $199/month billed annually, at 10,000 subscribers. Enterprise: contact sales.
How each platform bills
Ghost publishes a monthly and a yearly price for every self-serve plan. Publisher and Business step up with member count; over 100,000 members goes to Ghost's sales team.
beehiiv prices Lite and Pro by subscriber count in steps, with a monthly and a yearly price at each step. Lite goes up to 100,000 subscribers and Pro up to 250,000. Larger lists go to Enterprise.
Free tier / trial
No permanent free tier; a 14-day trial, card validated upfront but not charged unless you pick a plan.
Free is permanent, up to 2,500 subscribers. Lite and Pro come with a free trial and no credit card; beehiiv doesn't publish the trial length.
Publications per account
1 (Starter) to 10 (Business), unlimited on Custom
1 (Free), 3 (Lite), 10 (Pro), custom on Enterprise
Member/subscriber cap per plan
1,000 on Starter, 100,000 on Publisher and Business, unlimited on Custom
2,500 on Free, 100,000 on Lite, 250,000 on Pro, custom on Enterprise
Team seats
1 (Starter) to 15 (Business), unlimited on Custom
1 (Free), 2 (Lite), 10 (Pro), unlimited on Enterprise
Paid subscriptions
Not on Starter; included from Publisher up
Not on Free; included from Lite up
Platform fee
0%; only Stripe's own processing fees apply
0% on every plan with paid subscriptions. Stripe's standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction applies; beehiiv takes 0%.
Custom domain
Included; a free first-year .link domain on every plan, bring-your-own domain also standard
Not on Free; included from Lite up
Who should pick Ghost, and who should pick beehiiv?
Ghost
Desk research
Best for creators and small businesses monetizing a list
Best for agencies managing multiple client newsletters
Ghost(Pro) is a paid platform from the start ($18/month billed monthly), with no revenue share on paid subscriptions (0%) since it connects your own Stripe account directly. It suits a writer who wants full ownership of a self-branded publication and is willing to pay a flat fee for it, rather than a percentage of what readers pay.
Best for: Publishers who want a fully-owned, ad-free site with zero revenue share and don't mind paying a monthly fee from day one that rises with member count.
Strengths
0% platform fee on paid subscriptions, same as beehiiv and better than Substack's cut.
A 14-day trial on every plan before you pay anything.
Open-source, so a self-hosted version exists outside Ghost(Pro) for anyone willing to run their own server.
Limits
No permanent free plan on Ghost(Pro): the trial ends and a paid plan starts.
Starter has no paid subscriptions at all; that needs Publisher ($35/month billed monthly) or above.
Starter stops at 1,000 members, and Publisher's price rises with each member band up to 100,000.
Skip it if you want to start free before committing to a paid plan.
beehiiv is a newsletter platform with a free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, but that plan is a starter kit: no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations. Lite, from $59/month billed monthly, adds all three, and beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue on top of Stripe's fees. It suits a creator who wants to grow and charge readers without running their own site.
Best for: Creators who want growth and monetization tools beyond a plain newsletter, and expect to pay for Lite once they charge readers or want their own domain.
Strengths
A permanent free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, enough to test the editor and grow a first list.
0% take rate on paid subscriptions on every paid plan; only Stripe's processing fee applies.
Lite ($59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually) already includes paid subscriptions, a custom domain, automations and 3 publications.
Limits
Free stops at 2,500 subscribers, 1 seat and 1 publication, with no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations.
Lite includes 2 seats and caps live automations; a team of three or unlimited automations means Pro, from $109/month billed monthly.
Lite and Pro are priced by subscriber count, so the entry price only covers the smallest list band and the bill rises in steps as the list grows.
Skip it if you want to charge readers or use your own domain without paying anything; beehiiv's Free plan allows neither, so Substack's free model fits better.
Pick it if you want a genuinely free-forever platform with no subscriber cap at all, on the one plan there is, and don't mind Substack's percentage cut once you start charging readers.
Pick it if you want a general email-marketing/CRM platform instead of a publishing-first tool. It's the category default people know, but cheaper, more newsletter-focused alternatives exist if that's your only use case.
Outside this category: General email-marketing/CRM tool, not a publishing platform: no native site, no paid-subscription-first monetization model.
Neither platform offers a one-click import from the other. beehiiv publishes its own import tools for several platforms, including Ghost, but doesn't specifically document a Ghost import path. Ghost publishes its own import tools too; moving into Ghost from beehiiv means re-importing subscribers and rebuilding the site theme by hand, since Ghost's value is a fully owned, self-styled site rather than a beehiiv-style template.
What would change my pick?
Ghost adding a genuine permanent free tier would remove beehiiv's main advantage for someone not yet monetizing.
beehiiv allowing paid subscriptions or a custom domain on Free would make it a real option for the monetizing scenario without paying anything.
A price change on either side would break the tie at 10,000 subscribers with five publications, where Ghost Business and beehiiv Pro cost the same today.
Ghost vs beehiiv: questions people ask
Is beehiiv free?
Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers on the Free plan, but Free has no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations. Lite adds all three; at 5,000 subscribers it costs $109/month billed monthly, or $95/month billed annually.
Does Ghost have a free plan?
No. Ghost(Pro) gives you a 14-day trial, card validated upfront but not charged unless you pick a plan, and then bills you regardless of list size. Its cheapest plan is $18/month billed monthly.
Does Ghost or beehiiv take a cut of my subscription revenue?
Neither does. Ghost's platform fee is 0%, with your own Stripe account connected directly. beehiiv's platform fee is also 0% on every plan that allows paid subscriptions, which starts at Lite. The fee isn't what separates these two. The plan price and the free tier are.
Which is cheaper, Ghost or beehiiv?
It depends on list size. At 1,000 subscribers beehiiv is cheaper because its Free plan costs nothing up to 2,500 subscribers. At 5,000 subscribers with paid subscriptions, Ghost Publisher costs $75/month billed monthly and beehiiv Lite costs $109/month billed monthly. At 10,000 subscribers and five publications, Ghost Business and beehiiv Pro both cost $239/month billed monthly, and above 10,000 members Ghost Business is the cheaper of the two at every published step.
Can I run multiple newsletters on either platform?
Yes on both, on paid plans. Ghost allows 1 newsletter on Starter, 3 on Publisher and 10 on Business. beehiiv allows 1 publication on Free, 3 on Lite and 10 on Pro.
Does beehiiv have automations?
Not on Free. Lite includes automations with a cap on how many run at once, and Pro removes the cap. Ghost doesn't market automations at all; it leans on its own SEO and your existing audience instead.
Can I use a custom domain on Ghost or beehiiv?
Yes on both, but not on beehiiv's free tier. Ghost includes a custom domain on every plan and also throws in a free first-year .link domain. beehiiv includes it from Lite up; the Free plan has no custom domain.
How I verified this
Every price and limit here comes from the vendors' own pages, last checked . Ghost: desk research. beehiiv: desk research.
Sources and changelog
43 facts from 6 source pages, oldest checked 14 Oct 2026.
: beehiiv replaced its Launch, Scale and Max plans with Free, Lite and Pro. The free plan no longer includes a custom domain, and paid subscriptions now start on Lite. At 10,000 subscribers with five publications, beehiiv Pro now costs exactly the same as Ghost Business, so the agency scenario moves from beehiiv to Ghost on staff seats and a cheaper price as the list grows. The overall pick changes from beehiiv to Ghost, which now wins two of the three scenarios; beehiiv keeps the free start.
: Overall pick changed from Ghost to beehiiv. beehiiv wins two of the three scenarios (a solo creator, and a multi-publication account at 10,000 subscribers), while Ghost keeps the 5,000-subscriber monetizing scenario and the case for owning your site. No prices or scenario results changed.
: beehiiv pricing now covers lists up to 100,000 subscribers on both billing bases. At 5,000 subscribers Ghost stays cheaper. At 10,000 subscribers with five publications, beehiiv Max is now cheaper than Ghost Business, so the agency scenario pick moves from Ghost to beehiiv.
: New page, built for the newsletter-platforms category rollout. beehiiv's price past its 1,000-subscriber entry band (its own stated figure) is excluded from every computed cost row and flagged wherever it applies. Ghost's Starter-plan annual price isn't confirmed, since the toggle is JS-rendered and not shown as a static price, so it is excluded from computed rows too.
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