beehiiv vs Sendy
We give beehiiv a 2.4 GPA and Sendy a 2.0, out of 4.0. beehiiv grades higher on the free plan, features and ease of use. Sendy grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on 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 | 2.0GPASendyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A$69 once for one domain, less than half a year of this category's middle subscription. Sending is Amazon's $1.6 per 10,000 emails, so even a big list costs little. Add your own server, $79 if you want Sendy to install it, and $39 for the AI add-on. |
| 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. | FNothing is free and there's no trial. Sendy promises a refund if it doesn't work out, but a money-back promise isn't a trial. |
| 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. | CThree editors, autoresponders on intervals or dates, rules and webhooks, segments, custom fields, live reports, automatic list cleaning and white-labeled client brands. It does newsletters fully, but it's a smaller job, and it can't send without your own Amazon SES or SMTP account. |
| 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. | DNo App Store rating on record, and you install it yourself on a PHP and MySQL server and set up your own Amazon SES account. That's self-hosting, which puts it at a D. Sendy will install it for $79. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Stripe, Zapier, Make, Shopify and Luma connections and an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. | BIt runs in a browser on your own server, with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailjet, Elastic Email, Zapier, WordPress, Magento and Joomla, plus an API. No desktop or phone app, so a B. |
| Best for | newsletters you plan to make money from | big lists without a monthly bill |
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 Sendy. How we grade
Where they differ
- beehiiv starts at $49 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($59 monthly). Sendy starts at $69 one-time purchase, for one domain.
- beehiiv has a free plan. Sendy does not.
- Sendy is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Sendy can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- beehiiv also covers forms and paid newsletters.
At a glance
| beehiiv | Sendy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $49 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed yearly ($59 monthly) | $69 one-time purchase, for one domain |
| 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. | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of Lite and Pro, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | beehiiv | Sendy |
| Price read from | beehiiv.com | sendy.co |
| 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
Sendy
- Publishers with large lists who want to stop paying per subscriber
- Developers comfortable running a PHP app on their own hosting
- Agencies sending for several clients under their own brand
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.
Sendy
- You host it yourself on a PHP and MySQL server and need your own Amazon SES account.
- Each license covers one domain, and major version upgrades are not included.
- The AI Assistant is a $39 one-time add-on (shown cut from $49), and installation by Sendy costs $79.
- There is no free trial; Sendy offers a refund if it does not work out.
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.
Sendy
- Sending through Amazon SES
- Campaigns go out through your own Amazon SES account at Amazon's rate; SendGrid, Mailjet and Elastic Email also work natively over SMTP.
- Three email editors
- Switch between drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG and HTML editors when building templates.
- Autoresponders, rules and webhooks
- Drip sequences sent at set intervals or on dates, plus rules that send notifications, fire webhooks or move subscribers when something happens.
- Segments and custom fields
- Build segments from any conditions, store custom fields for personalization, and include or exclude lists and segments per campaign.
- White-labeled client brands
- Group lists into brands and give clients their own access, permissions, sending limits and pricing.
- Live reports and list cleaning
- Real-time opens, clicks, bounces, complaints and locations, with bounces and complaints removed automatically.
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.
Sendy
Sendy software$69
one-time purchase, for one domain
The self-hosted app for one domain, with free updates until the next major version. Sending through Amazon SES costs $1.6 per 10,000 emails, paid to Amazon.
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.
Sendy
No public discounts listed.
