Beehiiv is raising prices for the first time in years, and creators who moved there to escape Substack's revenue cut are pushing back. Under the new structure, the midrange Scale plan is renamed Lite and costs at least $10 more per month depending on subscriber count. For up to 10,000 subscribers, Lite jumps from $109 to $139 per month, while the Pro plan, formerly Max, rises from $219 to $239. Accounts with fewer than 2,500 subscribers remain free.
CEO Tyler Denk says the increase lets the company "continue investing in our core platform experience." Beehiiv has differentiated itself with built-in ad network, website personalization, podcast creation tools, and a recently launched community feature. Denk notes this is only the second pricing update in the platform's nearly five-year history.
Some creators are reconsidering. Freelance journalist Tim Stevens, who switched earlier this year, says sponsor choices and ad rates have "tanked" and calls the 25% fee hike another blow. NFL news site operator Matt Lombardo is frustrated that Beehiiv is raising prices before adding video podcasts or podcast ads. Extra Points creator Matt Brown still calls Beehiiv a "steal" compared with Substack, but says that isn't true for many publishers, especially those without subscription revenue or based outside the US.