Newsletter Operator Toolkit

Newsletter Benchmarks

Free tools for newsletter operators: score your performance, check deliverability, and compare ESP costs. Built on industry benchmark data.

Scorecard

Enter your newsletter's cohort and your own performance numbers to see where you land in the benchmark distribution. Data stays in your browser — nothing is submitted.

Your newsletter

Your stats (fill in at least one)

Enter values as percentages (e.g. 42.5 for 42.5%).

Or explore the full benchmark data below.

Benchmarks

Explore the underlying cohort data: median open rates, CTR, and growth across categories, list sizes, and ESPs.

No filters

Overview

Median Open Rate

38.0%

n = 137,548on par with all-time

Median Click-Through Rate

3.3%

n = 134,503on par with all-time

Median Monthly List Growth

3.5%

n = 970on par with all-time

Median Unsubscribe Rate

0.2%

n = 1,100on par with all-time

Compare medians

Break down a single metric across categories, list sizes, or ESPs.

Beehiiv report categories, cross-referenced

Figures Beehiiv tracks in its yearly State of Newsletters that don’t fit the cohort view above. Each card links to the primary source and, where available, a comparable data point from another public report.

Mobile open share

96.2%

as of 2024

Automated vs. regular CTR

13.48% / 4.59%

as of 2024

Daily-send share

15.82%

as of 2024

Time to first dollar

66 days

as of 2025

Top-paying sponsorship vertical

$66 / 1K

as of 2024

Best send day (open rate)

Tue · 38.25%

as of 2024

Industry over time

Creator revenue and platform scale for the two most-cited newsletter platforms, 2023–2025. Values are drawn from disclosed figures in public reports; where a year was not publicly reported, the series is left blank for that year rather than estimated.

Creator revenue flowing through platforms

USD — Substack ARR, Beehiiv paid-sub GMV, Beehiiv Ad Network

Substack Annualized RevenueBeehiiv Paid SubscriptionsBeehiiv Ad Network

Creators / publications on platform

Beehiiv + Substack paying creators

BeehiivSubstack