# Ghost vs Substack vs beehiiv for creators building owned audiences: which owned media platform do people actually stick with long-term?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">As someone who’s been a creator, I've been comparing Ghost, Substack, and beehiiv for the specific goal of building an audience you actually own. I guess the more interesting question is which creators stay on once the novelty wears off. All three live in the <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/owned-media">Owned Media category</a> on G2, but they pull in different directions on control, cost, and growth, which is usually what decides whether someone sticks around.</p><ul>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/ghost/reviews"><strong>Ghost</strong></a><strong>:</strong> The pick for people who want maximum ownership. It's open source, can be self-hosted for free, and takes no cut of subscription revenue, with a clean editor and built-in membership and newsletter. The trade-off reviewers name is that deeper customization needs technical comfort (Handlebars/JS), and there's no mobile app.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/beehiiv/reviews"><strong>beehiiv</strong></a><strong>:</strong> The growth-and-monetization end, publishing plus website plus an ad network that auto-matches sponsors, referral tools, and strong analytics in one place. Reviewers love the all-in-one setup, but consistently flag that paid plans get expensive and design customization is limited.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/substack/reviews"><strong>Substack</strong></a><strong>:</strong> The lowest-friction start, no upfront cost, and built-in discovery through Notes and cross-writer recommendations. The long-term catch reviewers raise is the flat 10% fee on earnings that never scales down, plus limited design control. </li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">From what I've seen in the review patterns: Substack to start fast, beehiiv to grow and monetize, Ghost to own the whole stack. For those of you who've been on one for a year or more, what made you stay or leave, and did fees, customization limits, or portability end up being the deciding factor?</p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 13 days ago
- Author title: Marketing
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;The fee thing with Substack doesn&#39;t sting at first but it really adds up once you&#39;re making actual money. 10% forever is a weird deal to lock yourself into when beehiiv or Ghost let you keep more as you grow, even if the setup takes a bit more effort upfront.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 8 days ago
- Author title: SEO Content Specialist





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