Home › Guides › Substack to beehiiv migration

Ad disclosure: we earn a commission if you sign up through links marked (paid link), at no extra cost to you. Rankings are by cost only. Details

Substack to beehiiv migration: steps, paid subscribers and cost before/after

Last verified 20 Oct 2026 against official pricing pages · published 20 Oct 2026

Prices change often. Every price here was checked against the platform's official pricing page on the date shown, but plans, promos and taxes vary. Always confirm on the official site before you buy or switch. Not financial advice.

beehiiv has an official importer for Substack posts and subscribers, including paid subscribers, who keep their price and saved card. The paid step is the one that needs care: copy your Stripe customers to a new Stripe account, map products to beehiiv tiers, then stop billing on Substack so nobody is charged twice. The steps below follow beehiiv's help article (updated June 22, 2026; checked 2026-10-20). Menu names change, so keep the official article open while you work.

First: will it cost you more or less?

Substack keeps 10% of paid revenue; beehiiv takes 0% but paid subscriptions need Lite. Monthly totals with 5% of the list paying $8:

Subscribers (5% pay $8)	Substack	beehiiv
1,000	$69.40 (Free + 10% of paid revenue)	$88.40 (Lite)
2,500	$173.50 (Free + 10% of paid revenue)	$152.50 (Lite)
5,000	$347 (Free + 10% of paid revenue)	$256 (Lite)
10,000	$694 (Free + 10% of paid revenue)	$433 (Lite)
25,000	$1,735 (Free + 10% of paid revenue)	$934 (Lite)

Per month, monthly billing. Paid totals = plan + platform cut + Stripe card fees (2.9% + $0.30 per payment, estimate) + Stripe's 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments where confirmed (beehiiv, MailerLite, Ghost, Buttondown, Substack, AWeber and Flodesk); not added for GetResponse (not confirmed); Kit's 3.5% + $0.30 is all-in. How we model fees.

beehiiv Lite wins once 10% of your paid revenue exceeds the plan price: $590/mo at 1,000, $790/mo at 2,500, $1,090/mo at 5,000, $1,390/mo at 10,000, $1,990/mo at 25,000 on monthly billing. Free newsletter? Substack costs $0 at any size, beehiiv $0 up to 2,500 subscribers and $109/mo just above, so move for the features, not the price. Details: Is beehiiv worth it?

Calculate your exact switching cost →

See beehiiv plans (paid link)

Paid (affiliate) link: we earn a commission if you sign up through it, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our numbers or rankings. Disclosure.

Before you start

Pick the plan. Paid subscriptions, custom domains and automations start on Lite.
Create a default template in beehiiv and tick "Set as default post style". After import, styling can only be changed post by post.
Paid newsletter: connect a new Stripe account to beehiiv (Stripe should detect your Substack-connected account and offer to pre-fill your details) and create paid tiers that mirror your Substack tiers. Do both before importing paid posts, or paywalled posts import fully visible.

Step 1: import your posts

Free posts: copy your Substack URL, then in beehiiv go to Settings → Content Import → Start Import → Substack → Free content, paste the URL and finish. Usually 5–10 minutes.
Free and paid posts: in Substack, Dashboard → Settings → Import/Export → New export and download the zip (Safari: turn off "Open 'safe' files after downloading"). In beehiiv's Content Import choose Free content and Paywalled content, paste the URL and upload the zip.
Paywall positions don't carry over: imported paid posts are fully gated. Add a Paywall block where you want a free preview.

Step 2: import free subscribers

In Substack, export a CSV of all subscribers (Subscribers → menu on the right).
Optional clean-up: keep Email, Name, Start date, Subscriber country, Subscription source (free) and Activity; rename Start date → subscription_date, Subscriber country → subscriber_country ("Country" is reserved), Subscription source (free) → utm_source, Activity → Substack Activity Rating.
In beehiiv: Settings → Subscribers Import → New Subscribers Import → Upload a CSV file, confirm everyone opted in, and map the columns.
Protect deliverability: beehiiv recommends excluding subscribers with an Activity Rating of 0 (no recent opens) for the first 2–4 weeks.
Signup dates default to the import date; beehiiv support can add the original dates afterwards.

Step 3: move paid subscribers

In beehiiv: Settings → Subscribers Import → Import paid subscriptions from Stripe → Start a New Migration.
In Stripe, switch to the Substack-connected account → Customers → Copy → Copy all customers; paste the beehiiv Stripe account ID and confirm.
In the beehiiv-connected Stripe account, accept the transfer. Stripe allows up to three days; beehiiv says most finish in 5–15 minutes.
Back in beehiiv, paste the Substack-connected Stripe account ID, then create a restricted API key in that account (Developers → API keys → Create restricted key → "Providing this key to another website"; name beehiiv, URL beehiiv.com) and paste it in. Stripe shows the key only once.
Map each Substack product to a beehiiv tier (legacy or discounted prices can go to an existing tier or a new one; either way subscribers keep their Substack price), check the preview (2–10 minutes, downloadable as CSV) and start the import.

Step 4: stop Substack billing (don't skip this)

beehiiv says you must pause or cancel paid subscriptions in Substack after the import, or readers are charged twice. Most publishers pause: Substack Dashboard → Settings → Payments → Pause subscription billing → Pause indefinitely. To cancel instead, contact Substack support and make sure no refunds are issued. Then, in the beehiiv-connected Stripe account, turn on failed-payment and expiring-card emails (Revenue recovery → Emails); both are off on new accounts.

Comped, gift and iOS subscribers

They aren't in Stripe, so the import skips them. Give comped and gift readers Complimentary access in beehiiv for the time they have left (use the Expiration date column in the Substack export). iOS (App Store) subscribers must cancel in the App Store themselves; beehiiv suggests emailing them a discount link to re-subscribe on the web near the end of their paid period.

Podcast

Import the episode archive into beehiiv after your last Substack episode, then redirect the feed in Substack (Settings → Podcasts → Danger Zone → Redirect RSS feed) to your beehiiv RSS URL.

What doesn't migrate

According to beehiiv: video and podcast-type posts, paywall positions, photo galleries, comments and category structure. Code blocks arrive as plain text.

After the move

Point your custom domain at beehiiv (Lite or higher). beehiiv uses the same /p/post-name paths, so old links keep working without manual redirects.
Set up beehiiv's Top 4 Recommendations to replace Substack's recommendation traffic, and verify the site in Google Search Console.

Sources: beehiiv: How to migrate from Substack to beehiiv, beehiiv: troubleshooting paid subscriptions, Substack fees, beehiiv pricing (checked 2026-10-20).

FAQ

Do paid subscribers have to re-enter their card?

No. beehiiv's process copies your customers and their payment details from your Substack-connected Stripe account to the new beehiiv-connected Stripe account, then recreates the subscriptions at the same price.

Can I migrate on beehiiv Free?

You can import posts and free subscribers (up to 2,500). Paid subscriptions and tiers need Lite or Pro.

How long does the migration take?

beehiiv says content imports usually take 5–10 minutes, the Stripe customer copy usually 5–15 minutes (Stripe allows up to three days), and the paid-subscription preview 2–10 minutes. Plan a day so you can check everything before pausing Substack billing.

Will readers be charged twice?

Only if you skip the last step. beehiiv says you must pause or cancel paid subscriptions in Substack after the import to prevent double billing.

Will my old post links break?

Not if you move your custom domain: beehiiv uses the same /p/post-name URL pattern as Substack. Links on a substack.com address stay with Substack.

Comparisons: beehiiv vs Substack · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers

Get notified when newsletter platform prices change

Platforms change prices and limits with little notice. We check every official pricing page each week. What you get →

An email when a tracked platform changes a price, free-plan limit or fee, with before/after numbers
One monthly cost report across 18 platforms
Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime

Recently flagged: Kit: 25% off the first year of Pro on annual billing (limited-time offer) (20 Oct 2026) · beehiiv renames plans and raises prices (Scale → Lite, Max → Pro) (1 Oct 2026)