Beehiiv, the newsletter powerhouse, has expanded its hive by adding native podcast hosting. Creators can now publish, distribute and monetise their podcasts within one platform, consolidating tools that were previously spread across various services like Substack and Patreon.

Podcasts and newsletters share a lot of overlap: episodic, long-form content distributed to owned audiences with sponsorship opportunities. Beehiiv’s co-founder Tyler Denk sees this move as inevitable, driven by customer demand for consolidation. The platform already has thousands of users with podcasts hosted elsewhere, making in-house hosting a logical step.

Beehiiv aims to attract creators while not taking a cut on their revenue—creators keep 100% and the company does not take any share. This move could further challenge its competitors, especially Substack which takes a 10% cut on paid podcast subscriptions, and Patreon which charges 8%. Beehiiv’s podcast episodes also come with transcripts for improved discoverability.

With major podcasts like Genshe and The Rebooting Show launching on the platform, there's plenty of buzz. Beehiiv envisions heavy adoption from existing users over several weeks, as well as attracting new podcasters who want to start a newsletter alongside their show. Podcasts will be distributed to platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, with support for MP3, M4A and WAV files.