Newsletter Creators Abandon Substack's 10% Cut for Flat-Fee Rivals

High-profile creators including Sean Highkin and Matt Brown have left Substack for Ghost and Beehiiv, citing punishing costs at scale. Substack takes 10 percent of revenue; Brown's 71,000-subscriber newsletter saves $22,000 yearly on a flat-fee platform. As technical switching costs fall, Substack's advantage erodes—subscribers no longer locked into its model.