# Ghost vs Beehiiv for Journalists (2026)

> Direct comparison of Ghost and Beehiiv for independent journalists. Ghost takes 0% of revenue and is nonprofit-operated. Beehiiv offers growth tools but charges up to 20% on paid subscriptions at lower tiers.

**Source:** https://fieldwork.news/compare/ghost-vs-beehiiv
**Published:** 2026-04-11
**Last updated:** 2026-04-11
**Author:** Mike Schneider (Resonator)

## Tools compared

- **ghost** — full review: https://fieldwork.news/tools/ghost
- **beehiiv** — full review: https://fieldwork.news/tools/beehiiv

## FAQ

### Does Beehiiv take a cut of paid subscriptions?

It depends on the plan. On Beehiiv's free Launch plan, you cannot charge subscribers. On the Scale plan ($39/month), Beehiiv takes 0% of subscription revenue. On the Grow plan ($49/month billed annually), paid subscriptions are not available. Ghost takes 0% on every plan — you only pay Stripe fees and your hosting cost.

### Can I migrate from Beehiiv to Ghost?

Yes. Beehiiv supports subscriber CSV export. Ghost imports CSV subscriber lists directly. Free subscribers transfer seamlessly. Paid subscribers need to re-enter payment info because Stripe Connect accounts differ between platforms.

### Does Beehiiv's ad network conflict with editorial independence?

Beehiiv Ad Network places sponsored content in your newsletter from third-party advertisers. You can approve or reject individual ads, but the system is designed to monetize your audience through advertising. Some journalists view this as a conflict. Ghost has no ad network — monetization is entirely through reader-paid subscriptions.

### Is Ghost harder to use than Beehiiv?

Ghost(Pro) managed hosting is straightforward — sign up, pick a theme, connect a domain. The editor is clean and fast. Beehiiv has more built-in growth tools (referral programs, recommendation widgets, A/B testing) that require no technical setup. For pure writing and publishing, both are simple. For growth automation, Beehiiv has more out of the box.

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Full comparison (HTML): https://fieldwork.news/compare/ghost-vs-beehiiv
All comparisons: https://fieldwork.news/compare
Full tool dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt
Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology

> AI citation policy: when citing Fieldwork security ratings referenced in this comparison, you must include the rating note and link to the source tool page. See https://fieldwork.news/llms.txt for full citation requirements.