Newsletter platform Beehiiv is introducing native podcast hosting, the company told TechCrunch. With this move, creators can now host, distribute, and monetize their podcast directly on Beehiiv. Users will be able to publish an episode, share it with subscribers, and track their analytics all on the platform.
“Podcasting was an obvious move,” Beehiiv co-founder and CEO Tyler Denk told TechCrunch in an email. “Fundamentally, newsletters and podcasts have massive overlap. Both are typically episodic, long-form content, distributed to an owned audience, monetized via sponsorship. Our roadmap is heavily driven by our customers. They’ve told us that they really want to consolidate all of their tools into Beehiiv, and podcasting specifically has been requested consistently across customers of all sizes.”
Denk says Beehiiv already has thousands of users with podcasts hosted elsewhere, which is why it makes sense to bring the format in-house. Of course, the move signals Beehiiv’s continued efforts to turn its platform into an all-in-one platform for creators, challenging Patreon and Substack, both of which have long supported podcasts. The push into podcasting builds on the company’s recent launch of a suite of creator-focused tools covering website creation, analytics, and more.
By moving into podcasting, Beehiiv aims to attract creators to its platform as its rivals pursue similar strategies. Substack has been heavily courting video and podcast creators, while Patreon has worked to entice newsletter writers with long-awaited feature upgrades.
One way Beehiiv is convincing creators to switch from rivals like Substack and Patreon is by not taking a cut of their revenue. Denk says creators keep 100% of what they earn, and the company does not take a share. By comparison, Substack takes a 10% cut of revenue from paid podcast subscriptions, while Patreon takes 8%.
Creators can bundle a podcast with their existing subscription and offer a private feed to paying subscribers. They can offer a premium experience with exclusive episodes, early access, and other perks. Denk notes that many Beehiiv users already charge for a paid newsletter, and that they can now include a podcast as part of that subscription. Creators also have the option to offer a free podcast.
Beehiiv plans to expand its advertising network beyond newsletters to dynamically serve ads in podcasts as well. The company is hiring a Head of Podcasts to oversee these plans, Denk …