beehiiv vs Kit
We give beehiiv a 2.4 GPA and Kit a 2.6, out of 4.0. Kit grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
beehiiv
Newsletter platform with paid subscriptions, ads, website and podcast
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAbeehiivFair | 2.6GPAKitGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DLite is $49 a month for 1,000 subscribers on yearly billing, or $59 monthly. That's in the dearest tenth of email tools, nearly four times the middle. Taking the beehiiv branding off needs Pro at $95. | DCreator is $33 a month for 1,000 subscribers on yearly billing, or $39 monthly, about two and a half times the middle of this category, and it's the plan you need for automations and sequences. Pro is $66, or $50 for the first year if you sign up by November 7, 2026. |
| Free plan and trial | BUp to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, a website, a podcast and a welcome email, free for good. One writer could live on that for a while. The wall is money: no paid subscriptions, no ad network and no custom automations. | AUp to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms, and sales of digital products and paid newsletters, all free. That's far more room than any other free plan here. What's missing is automations and sequences, and it's 1 user with Kit branding. |
| Features | BA block editor, paid tiers and paywalls, an ad network, recommendations, a website, a podcast and digital products, plus automations from Lite. It covers the newsletter job end to end. Lite caps you at 10 live automations, though; Pro lifts the cap. | BVisual automations, sequences, landing pages, a newsletter site, tags, segments, paid newsletters, products and a recommendation network. It covers a creator's whole email job. Each sale costs 3.5% plus 30 cents, and Paid Recommendations carry a 23.5% fee. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a web app where you build the newsletter, the site and the automations yourself, so there's some setting up before your first send. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a web app where you build the forms, pages and automations yourself, so expect some setting up before it runs on its own. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Stripe, Zapier, Make, Shopify and Luma connections and an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. | BWeb only, with Shopify, Wix, Fourthwall, Facebook and SparkLoop, 100+ apps on Creator, and an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. |
| Best for | newsletters you plan to make money from | creators growing a big list for free |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: beehiiv and Kit. How we grade
Price against what you get
beehiiv starts at $49 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kit starts at $33 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Kit starts $16 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than beehiiv for less, and 3 score higher than Kit for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- beehiiv starts at $49 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($59 monthly). Kit starts at $33 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($39 monthly).
At a glance
| beehiiv | Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($59 monthly) | $33 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($39 monthly) |
| Free plan | Up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, 1 seat, 1 publication, a website, a podcast and 30 days of analytics. No paid subscriptions or automations. | Up to 10,000 subscribers, 1 user, unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, tagging and segments, and sales of digital products. No automations. |
| Free trial | Free trial of Lite and Pro, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of Creator or Pro, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | beehiiv | Kit |
| Price read from | beehiiv.com | kit.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
beehiiv
- Writers building a newsletter they plan to charge for
- Publishers who want to earn from ads in their newsletter
- Creators who want newsletter, website and podcast in one place
Kit
- Writers, podcasters and other creators growing an email list
- Creators selling digital products or a paid newsletter
- Lists of up to 10,000 subscribers that only need broadcasts
Worth knowing
beehiiv
- The Free plan stops at 2,500 subscribers and has no paid subscriptions, ad network or custom automations.
- Removing beehiiv branding, dynamic content, webinars and the Send API all need Pro.
- Lite tops out at 100,000 subscribers and Pro at 250,000; larger lists go to Enterprise through sales.
- beehiiv takes no cut of paid subscriptions, but Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.
Kit
- The Free plan has no automations or email sequences, allows 1 user and keeps Kit branding.
- Product and subscription sales cost 3.5% plus 30 cents each on every plan, card processing included.
- Earnings from Paid Recommendations carry a 23.5% Kit fee.
- The Pro first-year discount ends November 7, 2026; the plan then renews at $790 a year for 1,000 subscribers.
Key features
beehiiv
- Newsletter editor
- A custom block editor with templates and unlimited sends on every plan. Lite adds A/B tests, polls, custom HTML and publishing to segments.
- Paid subscriptions and ads
- From Lite: paid tiers, metered paywalls, coupons and the beehiiv ad network. beehiiv takes 0% of subscription revenue; Stripe's fees still apply.
- Website, podcast and community
- Every plan hosts a website, a podcast feed and a member community. Custom pages, shows and private podcast feeds grow with the plan.
- Digital products
- Sell downloads and other one-time products from every plan; Lite raises the product limit to 3 and Pro removes it and adds webinars and coaching.
- Growth tools
- A recommendation network on all plans, plus a referral program, surveys and paid recommendations from Lite.
- Automations
- Welcome emails on Free. Lite allows 10 live automations triggered by sign-ups, tags, segments or purchases; Pro has no limit and adds click triggers.
Kit
- Visual automations and sequences
- Creator and Pro include unlimited visual automations and email sequences for welcome series, launches and nurture campaigns. The Free plan has neither.
- Landing pages, forms and newsletter site
- Unlimited landing pages and opt-in forms, a newsletter feed and website, and automatic delivery of opt-in freebies on every plan.
- Commerce
- Sell digital products, paid newsletters, recurring subscriptions and tips on any plan, for 3.5% plus 30 cents per sale including card processing.
- Recommendations and sponsorships
- Free creator-to-creator recommendations on every plan. Paid recommendations (Kit keeps 23.5%) and newsletter sponsorships start at Creator.
- Tags, segments and conditional content
- Tag subscribers by entry point or interest, group tags into segments, and use Liquid to show different content to different subscribers.
- Pro audience analytics
- Pro adds engagement scoring, Subscriber Signals audience research, deliverability reporting, an insights dashboard and a SparkLoop referral program.
Plans
beehiiv
Free$0
Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, 1 seat, 1 publication, website and podcast, beehiiv branding.
Lite$49
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($59 monthly)
Paid subscriptions, ad network, 10 automations, 2 seats, 3 publications, up to 100,000 subscribers. $119 a month at 10,000 subscribers, billed yearly.
Pro$95
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($109 monthly)
No beehiiv branding, unlimited automations, webinars, dynamic content, Send API, 10 seats, up to 250,000 subscribers. $199 a month at 10,000, billed yearly.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom subscriber volume, SSO and SAML, dedicated IPs, concierge onboarding and a customer success manager, through sales.
Kit
Free$0
Up to 10,000 subscribers, 1 user, unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts. No automations or sequences; Kit branding stays.
Creator$33
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($39 monthly)
2 users, unlimited visual automations and sequences, no Kit branding, SMS, RSS campaigns and 100+ apps. $1,390 a year at 10,000 subscribers.
Pro$66
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($79 monthly)
Unlimited users, engagement scoring, Subscriber Signals, deliverability reports. First year $50 a month under an offer ending Nov 7, 2026. $1,890 a year at 10,000.
Ways to pay less
beehiiv
- Annual discount
Save up to 20% with yearly billing
beehiiv's pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 20%: at 1,000 subscribers Lite is $49 a month billed yearly against $59 monthly.
Kit
- Annual discount
Save 17% with yearly billing
Yearly billing costs the same as 10 months: Creator at 1,000 subscribers is $390 a year instead of $468 paid monthly, and Pro is $790 instead of $948.
- Other savings
25% off the first year of annual Pro
Annual Pro is 25% off its first year for lists up to 65,000 ($593 at 1,000 subscribers) and 10% off up to 500,000. Ends November 7, 2026; renews at the standard rate.
