beehiiv vs Kit: What Each Costs at 1k, 2.5k, 5k and 10k Subscribers, and Which Fits What You Sell

"beehiiv or Kit: which one won't make me switch again in a year?" That's the real question behind most beehiiv vs Kit searches (Kit is the platform formerly called ConvertKit).

Both have free plans, and both let you sell. But they're built for different businesses. beehiiv is newsletter-first: the newsletter is the product, and beehiiv says it takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue. Kit is a creator email platform built to sell courses and digital products through tags and sequences.

Below: what each costs at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers on monthly billing, with the math shown, plus automations, selling, growth tools and what to know before you switch.

On this page

1. beehiiv vs Kit: who wins each category
2. How we compared
3. What beehiiv and Kit cost at 1k, 2.5k, 5k and 10k subscribers
4. Automations: unlimited on Kit Creator, 10 on beehiiv Lite
5. Selling digital products and paid newsletters
6. Growth features we could verify
7. beehiiv: for newsletters that are the product
8. Kit: for selling courses and products from email
9. Who should pick which
10. Switching between beehiiv and Kit
11. Also considered
12. FAQ
13. The bottom line

beehiiv vs Kit: who wins each category

Prices are monthly billing at the time of our last check. Please confirm on each official pricing page before you buy.

The short version: Kit costs less at most list sizes and gives you more automation for the money. beehiiv keeps more of your revenue per sale and adds newsletter income tools like ads. Which matters more depends on what you sell.

How we compared

This is a research-based comparison. We read both pricing pages and plan price data, then priced each plan at four list sizes. We didn't run paid accounts on either platform for this article, and we don't publish ratings we can't back up.

We judged both on price at each size, what each free plan covers, when automations unlock, what each takes when you sell, verifiable growth tools, and who should skip each. Our full method is on how we review.

Some other comparisons still quote older "starting at" prices, and beehiiv publishes its own Kit comparison page. That's useful for features, but read a vendor's verdict as marketing.

What beehiiv and Kit cost at 1k, 2.5k, 5k and 10k subscribers

Each cell is the monthly price on monthly billing.

Prices shown are monthly billing at the time of our last check. Please confirm on the official pricing page before you buy.

How we got these numbers:

• beehiiv prices Lite in tiers that include 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 subscribers. Free covers "Up to 2,500", and above that beehiiv's pricing page shows Free as "Unavailable".
• Kit prices Creator in tiers of 1,000, 3,000, 5,000, 8,000 and 10,000. A 2,500-person list falls in the up-to-3,000 tier, so it's $59.
• Kit Free covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but it has no sequences or visual automations. That's why we show Creator too: it's the cheapest Kit plan that can send an automated welcome sequence.
• beehiiv Free includes a single welcome email. A multi-step sequence needs automations, which start on Lite.

What year one costs with automations

Cheapest plan that can run a welcome sequence, monthly price × 12:

Kit Creator is $20 a month cheaper at the first three sizes. At 10,000 subscribers, the two plans cost the same.

If you only need broadcasts

Here the gap is wider. Kit Free covers broadcasts, forms, landing pages, tagging and product sales up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv Free stops at 2,500, and in the price data we checked, the next Lite tier above 2,500 is 5,000 subscribers at $109 a month. So a 4,000-person newsletter with no automations costs $0 on Kit and $1,308 a year on beehiiv.

The Pro plans

Need more seats, branding removal on beehiiv, or Kit's reporting tools? Here are the next plans up, monthly billing:

Yearly billing

Kit's yearly price is 10 times the monthly price ("Pay yearly—save 17%"), so Creator at 5,000 is $890 a year. beehiiv's Lite at 5,000 is $95 a month billed yearly, or $1,140 a year. We'd stay on monthly billing until you're sure a platform fits.

Drag the slider to your list size, or where you expect to be in a year, and choose whether you need an automated welcome sequence. You'll see beehiiv and Kit side by side with MailerLite, Systeme.io and GetResponse. Selling courses too? Try our real cost calculator.

Automations: unlimited on Kit Creator, 10 on beehiiv Lite

A welcome sequence is usually the first automation a creator needs. Freebie delivery and launch sequences come next.

On Kit, Free has no sequences or visual automations. Creator adds "Unlimited Visual Automations" and "Unlimited email sequences", plus A/B subject lines and RSS campaigns. Combined with tagging (which Free already includes), that's the core of Kit: someone downloads your checklist, gets tagged, receives a five-email sequence, and only the people who clicked your course link see the sales pitch.

On beehiiv, Free has no automations but includes a single welcome email on every plan. Lite gets "Live custom automations: 10". Pro and Enterprise are "Unlimited".

Ten automations go a long way for a newsletter: a welcome series, a re-engagement series, an upgrade nudge for paid tiers. They run out faster if you build a separate sequence for every lead magnet or launch.

Selling digital products and paid newsletters

Both platforms let you sell. The difference is how each one charges.

beehiiv: 0% take, from Lite for subscriptions

beehiiv's FAQ says it "takes 0% of your paid subscription and digital product revenue. You keep what you earn, minus Stripe's standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction." Digital products are listed on every plan. Paid subscriptions start on Lite.

Kit: selling on every plan, per-sale fee

Kit's pricing page lists selling digital products and subscriptions on the Free plan, including "Run paid newsletters" monthly, quarterly or annually. The same page lists a fee of "3.5% + 30c" on those sales.

The math: 100 paid readers at $8 a month

Here's a newsletter with 2,500 subscribers, 100 of whom pay $8 a month ($800 in revenue):

At 1,000 paid readers on a 10,000 list ($8,000 a month), beehiiv Lite costs $139 + $532 in Stripe fees, so you keep $7,329. Kit Creator costs $139 + $580, so you keep $7,281. As revenue grows, beehiiv's 0% take pulls ahead, because its fee is lower per sale and the plan prices match at 10,000.

What the numbers mean: if you're testing a paid newsletter on a small list, Kit Free lets you charge readers with no monthly plan fee, only the per-sale fee, which beehiiv's Free plan doesn't. If paid subscriptions are your main income and growing, beehiiv's 0% take usually leaves more with you.

Selling courses is a different job. Kit's edge for product sellers is less about the fee and more about the automation: tagging buyers, sending launch sequences and keeping buyers out of sales emails. beehiiv sells digital products, but its tools center on the newsletter itself.

Weighing a revenue share instead of a plan price? See beehiiv vs Substack for the 10% break-even math.

Growth features we could verify

Both tools promote growth features heavily. Here's what each pricing page lists, by plan. We can't verify open rates or deliverability claims, so we leave those out.

beehiiv:

• Recommendation network: listed on Free. Newsletters suggest each other to new subscribers.
• Referral Program: from Lite.
• A/B testing and audience polls: from Lite.
• Ad monetization: from Lite.
• Website: on every plan, so your archive and signup page live in one place.

Kit:

• Free Recommendations: on Free, described as growing your list "through the network of Kit creators."
• Smart Recommendations and Paid Recommendations: from Creator. Paid Recommendations lets you "get paid to promote other creators or newsletters."
• Newsletter referral system: from Creator, via "a free SparkLoop plan (worth $99/mo)", per Kit.
• Facebook custom audiences sync and A/B subject lines: from Creator.
• Subscriber engagement scoring and deliverability reporting: Pro only.

beehiiv: for newsletters that are the product

beehiiv

Best for: Newsletter-first creators

Free up to 2,500 subscribers · Lite from $59/mo monthly

Free plan

Up to 2,500 subscribers, one welcome email

At 5,000 subs

$109/mo Lite · $199/mo Pro

Revenue take

0% on paid subscriptions and digital products

Automations

None on Free · 10 on Lite · unlimited on Pro

Skip it if: you sell courses through launch sequences, or you need more than 2,500 subscribers for $0.

Start beehiiv free →Opens beehiiv.com · affiliate link

beehiiv is built for writers whose newsletter is the business. Free gives you room to reach 2,500 readers with unlimited sends, a website and one welcome email. Lite is where you start earning: paid subscriptions with a 0% take, ad monetization, a referral program and 10 automations.

Plan for two cost steps: Free to Lite past 2,500 subscribers, and Pro if you want beehiiv branding removed ($109/mo even at 1,000).

For the full plan breakdown, read our beehiiv review.

Start beehiiv free →Free up to 2,500 subscribers

Kit: for selling courses and products from email

Kit

Best for: Course and digital product sellers

Free up to 10,000 subscribers · Creator from $39/mo

Free plan

Up to 10,000 subscribers, no sequences

At 5,000 subs

$0 Free · $89/mo Creator

Selling fee

3.5% + 30¢ per sale, per Kit

Trial

14 days on paid plans, no card required

Skip it if: paid subscriptions and ad income are your whole business, and you'd rather keep the full revenue from each sale.

Try Kit free →Opens kit.com

Kit's strength is sorting subscribers by what they do, then sending each group the right email. Its free plan is the largest here: "Free—up to 10,000 subscribers", with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, and selling digital products and subscriptions.

Creator unlocks the automation that sells on autopilot: unlimited sequences and visual automations, plus Kit branding removal, A/B subject lines and RSS campaigns. It's $39 at 1,000, $89 at 5,000 and $139 at 10,000 on monthly billing. Kit offers a "14-day free trial. No credit card required." and lists free migrations from another platform.

To see Kit next to MailerLite, Systeme.io and GetResponse, read best email marketing for creators.

Try Kit free →Free up to 10,000 subscribers

Who should pick which

Start from what you sell, then check the price at two or three times your current list.

• The newsletter is the product (paid tiers, sponsors, ads): beehiiv. Lite puts paid subscriptions, ads and referrals in one plan with a 0% take.
• You sell courses, coaching or digital products: Kit. Use Free while you grow, then Creator when you need launch sequences.
• Free newsletter between 2,500 and 10,000 readers, no automations yet: Kit Free, on cost. beehiiv would mean Lite.
• Testing a paid newsletter on a small budget: Kit Free lets you charge readers with no plan fee, just the per-sale fee. beehiiv needs Lite.
• Paid newsletter earning a few thousand a month at 10,000 subscribers: beehiiv. The plan prices match, and the 0% take keeps more per sale.
• You need many automations on a budget: Kit Creator. beehiiv's 10 on Lite can run short.
• Brand-new and not sure yet: either free plan works. Our guide on how to start an email list covers the first steps.

Switching between beehiiv and Kit

Moving is mostly about rebuilding, not exporting.

1. Price your list at 2–3× today's size. At 2,000 subscribers now, budget for beehiiv Lite at 5,000 ($109) or Kit Creator at 5,000 ($89).
2. Export a CSV of your subscribers and keep a copy on your own drive.
3. Copy every sequence into a doc before you leave. On beehiiv Lite, count them against the 10-automation limit.
4. Map your tags. Kit relies on tags to decide who gets what. Write down which tags drive which emails, so you can recreate the logic.
5. Plan paid subscribers with support. Active paid subscriptions are tied to each platform's checkout. Ask support on both sides how they move before you change anything. We haven't verified that process.
6. Ask about migration help. Kit lists free migrations from another platform. We didn't find migration terms on beehiiv's pricing page.
7. Run both for a few weeks. Send test issues before you cancel the old account.

Also considered

• Substack: free to publish, then 10% of paid revenue. See beehiiv vs Substack.
• MailerLite and Systeme.io: $49 and $17 a month with automations at 5,000 subscribers (monthly billing). See best email marketing for creators.

FAQ

Is beehiiv better than Kit?

They fit different creators. beehiiv suits writers whose newsletter is the business, with a 0% take on paid subscriptions and ad monetization from Lite. Kit suits creators who sell courses or products through tags and sequences, and its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers.

Is Kit the same as ConvertKit?

Yes. Kit is the current name of the platform formerly called ConvertKit, so "beehiiv vs ConvertKit" comparisons are about the same tool. Older articles may quote outdated prices, so check Kit's current pricing page.

Which is cheaper, beehiiv or Kit?

Kit, at most sizes. On monthly billing with automations, Kit Creator is $39 at 1,000, $59 at 2,500 and $89 at 5,000, against beehiiv Lite's $59, $79 and $109. Both are $139 at 10,000. Without automations, Kit Free covers 10,000 subscribers, while beehiiv Free stops at 2,500.

Can I sell digital products on the free plans?

Yes, on both. beehiiv lists digital products on every plan with a 0% take, minus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. Kit lists digital products and paid newsletters on Free, with a per-sale fee of 3.5% + 30¢. Paid newsletters on beehiiv start on Lite.

Does beehiiv or Kit take a cut of paid newsletter revenue?

beehiiv says it takes 0% of paid subscription revenue; Stripe's processing fee still applies. Kit's pricing page lists 3.5% + 30¢ per sale on digital products and subscriptions.

Can I move from Kit to beehiiv, or the other way?

Yes. Export your subscriber CSV, copy your sequences into a doc, and note how your tags drive each email. Kit lists free migrations from another platform. For paid subscribers, ask support on both platforms before you switch.

The bottom line

Pick beehiiv if the newsletter is the product. Its 0% take, ads and referral program make Lite a strong earning plan, and the gap with Kit closes at 10,000 subscribers.

Pick Kit if your emails sell courses, coaching or digital products. Its free plan covers 10,000 subscribers, and Creator gives you unlimited sequences for $20 a month less than beehiiv Lite up to 5,000 subscribers.

Start beehiiv free →Free up to 2,500 subscribers

Try Kit free →Free up to 10,000 subscribers