# AI newsletter (Substack) > Drop Beehiiv's ad network and referral mechanics for Substack's Notes feed and recommendations. Perplexity replaces Feedly for one-writer research scale. Total spend stays under $25/mo until you have paid subs to give back 10% of. Source: https://aistack.sh/stack/ai-newsletter-substack Category: Writing · Newsletter Level: Beginner Last verified by a human: 2026-05-05 ## The tools ### Perplexity — Story discovery - Pricing: $20/mo Pro · API tier-based - Site: https://perplexity.ai - Why this one: At one-writer scale you don't need Feedly's training loop. Perplexity Pro answers 'what's new in {niche} this week' with citations. - Swap in instead: Feedly - More: https://aistack.sh/tool/perplexity ### Claude — Synthesis + voice - Pricing: Free · $20/mo Pro · $100/mo Max 5x · $200/mo Max 20x · Sonnet API $2/$10 per M tokens (input/output) - Site: https://claude.ai - Why this one: Same drafting role as the Beehiiv stack. The voice library is what carries. - Swap in instead: ChatGPT - More: https://aistack.sh/tool/claude ### Substack — Publish + grow - Pricing: Free to publish · 10% of paid subs - Site: https://substack.com - Why this one: Notes feed and recommendations push your work to readers already on Substack. Free to start; 10% of paid subs only when monetized. - Swap in instead: Beehiiv - More: https://aistack.sh/tool/substack ### Typefully — Promo threads - Pricing: Free · $12.50/mo Pro - Site: https://typefully.com - Why this one: Same cross-post role. Substack's own Notes covers some of what X used to. - Swap in instead: Taplio - More: https://aistack.sh/tool/typefully ## Monthly cost ### $20/mo — Free, building list (small) - Perplexity: Free - Claude: $20 - Substack: Free - Typefully: Free ### $53/mo — Pro research + paid subs (medium) - Perplexity: $20 - Claude: $20 - Substack: 10% on paid - Typefully: $13 ### $128/mo + 10% — Daily + paid tier monetized (heavy) - Perplexity: $20 - Claude: $80 API - Substack: 10% on paid - Typefully: $28 ## Workflow ### 1. Weekly research pass (Perplexity) Perplexity Pro: ask 3 to 5 narrowly scoped questions about your niche. Star answers with citations. **Prompt: Weekly niche research prompt** ``` For my newsletter on {{niche}}, give me this week's developments. Focus the search on the last 7 days only. Output sections: 1. **Three things that actually happened** — specific, with sources, with dates. 2. **One contrarian read** — a take from someone credible that pushes against the consensus this week. 3. **One under-covered story** — something most outlets in {{niche}} missed. Each item: 50 words max. Cite the source name and link inline. No "experts say", no paraphrased filler. ``` ### 2. Synthesize (Claude) Claude turns starred items + your voice library into the issue. **Prompt: Issue from Perplexity research + voice library** ``` You are writing this week's issue of {{newsletter_name}} for {{audience}}. Voice: {{e.g. direct, mildly skeptical, light dry humor}}. This week's research (Perplexity output): """ {{paste perplexity output, including links}} """ Voice library (3 of my last issues): """ {{paste 3 issues}} """ Structure: 1. **The story** — the single most important item, 120 words, sharp lede, one specific number. 2. **Three more worth your time** — bulleted, 35 words each, link in the bullet. 3. **Worth a click** — 5 short links with 1-line context each. 4. **One contrarian take** — pick the most against-the-grain item, steelman it in 80 words. Rules: - Never use "delve", "in the rapidly evolving landscape", "it's important to note". - Every section opens with a specific noun. - No em dashes. - Cite source name inline, like "(Bloomberg, May 2)". Output the full issue as Markdown, ready to paste into Substack. ``` ### 3. Publish to Substack (Substack) Paste in. Use one consistent issue template; Substack's editor is opinionated, lean into it. ### 4. Drop a Note + cross-post (Typefully) Substack Note distills the lede into 280 chars; Typefully sends an X thread + a LinkedIn version from the same draft. **Prompt: Substack Note + X thread + LinkedIn from issue** ``` Source issue: """ {{paste full issue}} """ Output three artifacts: 1. **Substack Note** (one item, under 280 chars) - Hook from the issue's lede - Ends with "(full issue in profile)" — no link, Notes auto-link 2. **X thread** (5 to 7 posts, 280 chars each) - Post 1: same hook - Posts 2 to 6: one specific takeaway each, with a number or name - Final: link to the issue with a one-line "why click" 3. **LinkedIn post** (180 to 220 words) - Hook in line 1, no warm-up - Plain text, 1 to 2 hashtags at end - Link + 1-line CTA No emojis. No em dashes. ``` ## What it produced **Niche writer, 0 to 1,400 subs in 90 days** Free Substack newsletter. ~62% of growth came from Substack recommendations and Notes; 0% from paid acquisition. Crossed the 'paid tier worth turning on' line at month 4. ## Pitfalls - **Substack network can also be quiet** — Recommendations only kick in once you're in the 'recommended by larger writers' graph. Like Beehiiv's recommendations, plan for a 60 to 90-day cold start. - **10% take is real money at scale** — At $50k+/yr in paid subs, the platform fee is large enough to justify a Beehiiv migration. Crosswalk: ~$20k/yr in paid subs is roughly the indifference point including time cost. - **Notes is its own job** — Active Notes posting drives most discovery. If you skip Notes, the network barely works for you. ## Recent changes affecting this stack - **Typefully released a unified calendar view for teams with planned draft states** (2026-08-05, feature) — Typefully redesigned its calendar to display all social sets in a workspace at once and introduced 'planned posts'—drafts with scheduled times that won't publish until manually confirmed. This helps teams coordinate launches across multiple accounts and platforms by enabling centralized planning and approval workflows. Source: https://typefully.com/changelog - **Typefully launches unified team calendar and planned posts feature** (2026-08-05, feature) — Typefully rebuilt its calendar to display all social content from a workspace in one view and introduced planned posts—drafts with scheduled dates/times that require manual confirmation before publishing. This enables teams to coordinate multi-account launches with brand, founder, and employee accounts publishing on the same day. Source: https://typefully.com/changelog - **Typefully introduces a unified calendar for teams with planned posts requiring confirmation before publishing.** (2026-08-05, feature) — Typefully rebuilt its calendar to display all social accounts and team members in a single unified view, enabling centralized coordination of cross-platform launches. The new 'planned posts' state allows scheduled drafts to remain unpublished until confirmed by the account owner, facilitating multi-stage launch workflows where team members can plan and then individually confirm their posts. Source: https://typefully.com/changelog - **Typefully rebuilt calendar to show all workspace accounts in one unified view with planned posts** (2026-08-05, feature) — Calendar now displays all social accounts and team members across a workspace simultaneously. Introduces "planned posts" - drafted content scheduled with date/time that requires explicit confirmation before publishing, enabling coordinated multi-account launches where each person approves their own post. Source: https://typefully.com/changelog - **Typefully adds unified calendar with planned posts for team workflows** (2026-08-05, feature) — Rebuilt calendar displays all social accounts and teammates' content in one view with a new "planned posts" state that requires confirmation before publishing. Teams can now coordinate launches across multiple accounts and users in a single interface. Source: https://typefully.com/changelog ## Other ways to do this - [AI newsletter](https://aistack.sh/stack/ai-newsletter): Beehiiv with monetization built in — $80/mo --- Curated by rae-f on aistack.sh. Last updated 2026-05-05.