Beehiiv vs Kit (ConvertKit)

Kit's free plan supports 10,000 subscribers — 4x more than Beehiiv's 2,500. However, Kit's free plan lacks automations and most integrations, while beehiiv's free plan includes unlimited sends, a newsletter website and the free recommendation network (automations start on Lite).

On paid plans, beehiiv Lite (formerly Scale) starts at $59/month ($49 billed annually) for 1,000 subscribers and is priced by active subscribers: $139/month ($119 annual) at 10,000. See our beehiiv pricing breakdown and compare it with Kit at your list size.

Full Kit plan and fee breakdown: Kit review.

The decision comes down to what you're selling. Beehiiv offers three monetization paths: the Ad Network, paid recommendations (formerly Boosts), and premium subscriptions (0% platform fee), all on Lite and up. Kit offers digital product sales (ebooks, courses, presets), paid newsletters (3.5% fee), and a tip jar.

For newsletter-specific monetization, Beehiiv wins decisively. For creators who sell digital products alongside their newsletter, Kit's commerce features are more mature — including customizable product pages, upsells, and drip content delivery.

Beehiiv's editor is modern and blog-like — closer to writing in Notion or Medium. Rich formatting, image embedding, interactive blocks (polls, CTAs), and a clean distraction-free writing experience make it a joy for newsletter writing.

Kit's editor is intentionally simple and text-focused — designed for personal, direct emails. Both are designed for non-technical creators and have gentle learning curves, but optimized for different content styles.

beehiiv's automations start on Lite (up to 10 live) and Pro adds unlimited automations — welcome sequences, conditional logic, and subscriber journey mapping for newsletter workflows.

Kit's visual automation builder (paid plans) is excellent for course launches, product delivery funnels, and complex subscriber segmentation. Neither platform matches ActiveCampaign for automation depth, but both handle creator workflows effectively.

Beehiiv achieves 95%+ deliverability thanks to its newsletter-focused infrastructure. Its analytics show subscriber growth trends, engagement metrics, revenue tracking, and referral program performance — all metrics that matter for newsletter businesses.

Kit achieves 90%+ deliverability with strong inbox placement. Its reporting covers email performance and subscriber engagement. Beehiiv's newsletter-specific metrics (growth rate, recommendation conversions, ad revenue) give it a slight edge for newsletter operators.

Choose Beehiiv if you're building a newsletter as a primary business — whether through sponsorships, paid subscriptions, or paid recommendations. Its growth tools, modern editor, and 0% revenue fees are unmatched for newsletter-first creators.

Choose Kit if you sell digital products (courses, ebooks, templates) and use your newsletter as a marketing channel. Kit's commerce features are more mature, and its 10,000 free subscriber limit lets you grow a large audience before paying.

If you monetize the newsletter itself (subscriptions, ads, sponsorships), Beehiiv gives you better tools and takes 0% of your subscription revenue. If you monetize through digital products that the newsletter supports, Kit's commerce features are stronger.

Many successful creators use both — Beehiiv for the newsletter, Kit for the product business. But if you're choosing one, pick based on your primary revenue model.