Exclusive: Beehiiv expands into podcasting, taking aim at Patreon

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 told TechCrunch.

Some of the podcasts joining Beehiiv at launch include Genshe with Avni Barman, 505 podcast with Brayden Figueroa and Kostas Garcia, The Rebooting with Brian Morrissey, Sweat Equity by Alex Garcia & Brian Blum, The Most Important Question from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, Lunch with Jamie by Jamie Patricof, and more. 

Denk says Beehiiv anticipates heavy adoption from existing users over the next several weeks and months, noting that there are several other notable podcasts that have committed to launching on the platform in the next few weeks.

In addition to serving people on Beehiiv who already have newsletters and podcasts, Denk says the new launch could also appeal to podcasters who want to start a newsletter.

“We believe a newsletter should be a core piece of infrastructure for any podcast,” Denk said. “It’s how you own your audience, expand distribution, and create more real estate for advertisers. Podcasters who want to launch a newsletter will find a natural home here. Growth is one of the biggest challenges in podcasting. Newsletters drive podcast downloads. Podcasts drive newsletter signups. The two reinforce each other, and right now creators are managing that across fragmented tools. We’re fixing that.”

Creators can upload podcasts directly to Beehiiv, and the platform will then distribute them to major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Castro, and more. The platform supports MP3, M4A, and WAV files, with automatic audio normalization for consistent sound. Each episode also includes a full transcript, improving discoverability in search and LLMs. 

Each podcast episode gets its own SEO-optimized webpage, Denk said. Instead of sending listeners to Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, Beehiiv can keep them on the platform, where they can choose to listen directly or select their preferred player. 

Beehiiv’s podcast analytics are built to IAB standards and provide detailed breakdowns by country, listening app, device, and operating system. Creators also get insights into episode-level downloads and real-time data. 

Founded in 2021, Beehiiv last raised a $33 million Series B in April 2024 with Lightspeed Venture Partners and NEA as investors. Denk recently shared that Q1 2026 was Beehiiv’s best quarter in history, as the company added $4.5M ARR, sent more than 10 billion emails, and crossed 50,000 active users.