Kit vs beehiiv: what you pay and what you get at each list size
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Quick verdict
At 1,000 subscribers on monthly billing, Kit’s entry paid plan costs $39 against $59 for beehiiv Lite, and Kit’s Free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers against 2,500 on beehiiv’s.[1][2][3]We could not verify Kit prices at larger list sizes, so we make no claim there. beehiiv’s paid plans include more publishing and monetization tools, such as an ad network and a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions.[2]Choose based on the features you will use, not the headline price.
Price at several list sizes
Kit prices are monthly-billing list prices. For beehiiv we show both monthly billing and the per-month rate on annual billing; beehiiv’s page shows annual by default. Kit says annual billing gives 12 months for the price of 10,[4]but we omit Kit’s annual dollar figures because we could not read them on its pricing page. Where we could not verify a price, the cell reads “not verified”.
| List size | Kit | beehiiv Lite | beehiiv Pro | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator, monthly billing, $ per month | Pro, monthly billing, $ per month | Monthly billing, $ per month | Annual billing, $ per month | Monthly billing, $ per month | Annual billing, $ per month | |
| 1,000subscribers | $39 | $79 | $59 | $49 | $109 | $95 |
| 2,500subscribers | not verified | not verified | $79 | $69 | $149 | $129 |
| 3,000subscribers | $59[4] | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified |
We dropped Kit’s 5,000 and 10,000 rows because we could not verify Kit prices at those list sizes. beehiiv’s verified prices at those sizes are in Table 2.
| List size | beehiiv Lite | beehiiv Pro | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly billing, $ per month | Annual billing, $ per month | Monthly billing, $ per month | Annual billing, $ per month | |
| 5,000subscribers | $109 | $95 | $199 | $169 |
| 10,000subscribers | $139 | $119 | $239 | $199 |
Feature comparison
| Feature | Kit | beehiiv |
|---|---|---|
| Team seats / users | Free 1, Creator 2, Pro unlimited | Free 1, Lite 2, Pro 10, Enterprise unlimited |
| Remove platform branding | Creator and Pro | Pro and Enterprise |
| Automations | Visual automation builder and email sequences on Creator and Pro | Lite (10 live automations), Pro and Enterprise unlimited |
| Paid subscriptions | All plans, including Free; transaction fee 3.5% + 30¢ | Lite and above; 0% take rate, though Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 processing still applies |
| Sponsorship / ads | Newsletter sponsorships on paid plans[7] | Ad network on Lite and above (not during the trial or in all regions); sponsorship storefront on Pro |
| Paid recommendations | Creator and Pro; 23.5% fee | Lite and above (not during the trial or in all regions) |
| A/B testing | 2 subject lines on Free and Creator; 5 on Pro, plus advanced A/B testing | Lite and above |
| RSS-to-email | Creator and Pro | Pro and Enterprise |
| Polls in emails | Paid plans[8] | Lite and above |
| Referral program | Pro | Lite (3 milestones), Pro unlimited |
| Deliverability reporting | Pro | Enterprise (listed as coming soon) |
| Podcast hosting | not listed | All plans; 5,000 monthly downloads on Free |
| SMS | Not on Kit’s pricing page; Kit’s App Store lists a third-party SlickText app for sending texts from Kit automations[9] | not listed |
Who each is best for
Kit suits creators who want to stay on a free plan longer (up to 10,000 subscribers), sell products or paid newsletters from the start (available on Free), and pay less than beehiiv for a 1,000-subscriber list on monthly billing.[1][3][6]
beehiiv suits publishers who want a website, podcast and community alongside the newsletter, plan to earn from an ad network, and want to lose nothing on paid subscriptions beyond Stripe’s fees.[2]
Try beehiiv
Try beehiiv ↗ Affiliate link
Sources
- Creator vs Pro: choose the right plan | Kit Help Centerhelp.kit.com · Checked
- Pricing - beehiiv — The newsletter platform built for growthbeehiiv.com/pricing · Checked
- The Kit Free plan | Kit Help Centerhelp.kit.com · Checked
- Billing at Kit | Kit Help Centerhelp.kit.com · Checked
- Kit Pro: Advanced Email Marketing for Growing Creatorskit.com/pro · Checked . Promotion banner
- Flexible Pricing Plans for Every Stage of Your Creator Businesskit.com/pricing · Checked . “Compare plans and features” table, feature rows only; slider prices could not be read
- How to run Kit Newsletter Sponsorships | Kit Help Centerhelp.kit.com · Checked
- How to add Polls to your emails | Kit Help Centerhelp.kit.com · Checked . “Polls are available on paid plans”
- SlickText | Kit App Storekit.com/apps/slicktext · Checked
Disclosure
This article contains affiliate links for beehiiv (see our affiliate disclosure). They are labelled and they do not change our figures or verdict, which come only from the vendors’ published pricing pages on the dates shown. Prices are USD, exclude tax and change often; check the vendor’s page before buying.