If you’re starting a newsletter for your candle business, two names come up first: beehiiv and Substack. Both are free to start, but they make their money in completely different ways — and for a maker selling candles (not selling subscriptions), that difference matters.
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The short answer
Pick beehiiv if your newsletter exists to sell candles and grow your business. Pick Substack if you mainly want to write and be discovered by readers inside a big network. Most candle makers fall in the first camp.
What each one costs
Substack is free to publish — unlimited subscribers, unlimited emails. It only charges you when you turn on paid subscriptions: 10% of subscription revenue, plus payment processing of about 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction (and a small recurring-billing fee on top). All in, roughly 13% of whatever you collect. If you never charge for content, you never pay.
beehiiv has a free Launch plan (up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends — no credit card required). Paid plans start at $49/month for Scale (about $43/month billed yearly) and $109/month for Max. The big difference: beehiiv takes 0% of anything you earn — paid subscriptions, digital products, sponsorships. You pay the flat plan price and keep the rest (minus standard payment processing).
What that means for a candle business
Here’s the thing most comparisons miss: candle makers don’t sell paid subscriptions. Your newsletter is free, and it makes money by selling candles, workshops, and digital guides. So Substack’s 10% cut never triggers — and beehiiv’s 0% take rate doesn’t save you anything either. The real comparison is features.
Where beehiiv wins for makers:
- Free website included. Your newsletter doubles as a simple site with your own domain — handy if you don’t have a full website yet.
- Built-in referral program. Reward subscribers who bring friends with early access to seasonal scents. Word of mouth, automated.
- Email automations (Scale plan): welcome sequences, abandoned-browse follow-ups, post-purchase thank-yous.
- Ad network (Scale plan): once your list grows, beehiiv can match you with sponsors — a second income stream most makers never consider.
- Sell digital products (Scale plan) with zero platform commission — your wick-testing guide, scent-blending worksheets, paid workshops.
Where Substack wins:
- Discovery. Substack’s network recommends your publication to readers already on Substack, and Notes works like a built-in social feed. If you want readers to find you, this is real.
- Simplicity. No plans, no tiers, no decisions. Free until you charge.
Where both fall short: neither replaces your shop. Your newsletter sends people to Etsy, Shopify, or your site to buy — the platform just has to get the email delivered and look like your brand.
The verdict
For a candle business using email to drive sales, beehiiv’s free plan covers everything you need to start — 2,500 subscribers is a big list for most makers — and its growth tools (referrals, automations, ad network) are built for exactly what you’re doing: turning readers into customers. Substack is the better pick only if your goal is building a reading audience rather than a customer list.
If you go with beehiiv, signing up through our link gets you a 14-day trial plus 20% off your first 3 months — and grab my free newsletter launch checklist to get your first three emails out the door in a weekend.
Pricing checked October 2026 against both companies’ official pricing pages. Prices change — verify before you commit.
Running a newsletter for your candle business already? Discuss this tutorial in the group — I’d love to hear which platform you picked and why.
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