Year-One Cost Calculator
Disclosure: this tool is free and requires no email — everything you enter stays in your browser (the math runs client-side; nothing you type is sent anywhere). The guides it links to contain affiliate links — if you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See the disclosure page for methodology.
Enter your numbers. The calculator uses the same verified pricing as our cost guide: Kit free to 10,000 subscribers with the paid tier at $33/mo billed yearly ($390/yr) in the 1,000-subscriber band; beehiiv Launch free to 2,500 with Scale from $49/mo (≈$588/yr); Substack $0 platform fee but 10% of paid revenue. September 2026 prices — re-verify on official pages before buying.
Model simplifications (stated, not hidden): Kit/beehiiv tiers price by subscriber band, so the calculator holds the 1,000-subscriber band entry price until your projected list exceeds it, then flags "price band changes — verify official pricing". Substack's cost is exactly 10% of paid revenue. Free-plan caps are prorated: if a cap is crossed mid-year, the model charges paid-tier price only for the months past the cap (e.g., beehiiv at 1,000 subs growing 250/mo crosses at month 6 → ~6 paid months ≈ $294, not a full year). Substack's cost is exactly 10% of paid revenue. No taxes or processor fees are modeled (Stripe etc. apply to paid revenue on all three).
Working through a decision? The full comparison and the decision tree explain the reasoning behind each number.