# beehiiv Alternatives: Which to Choose, by the Reason You Are Leaving

> beehiiv alternatives by reason: Substack for discovery, Kit for products and a 10,000-subscriber free plan, MailerLite for lists that never pay, Klaviyo for stores, Brevo for large lists, with prices and our scores.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/beehiiv-alternatives — The Professional's Toolkit · updated 2026-10-09_

---


People search for beehiiv alternatives about 110 times a month in the United States. Most are
asking one of three questions: is there something cheaper for a list that does not earn, is there
something with a bigger free plan, or is there something better for selling products. The answer
is different for each, so this page is organised by reason, not by rank.

All scores are our own composite scores for the email category. Prices come from each vendor's
own pricing page, read between September and October 2026.

## Why people look for an alternative

From 100 recent Trustpilot reviews of beehiiv [19], and from the vendor's own terms:

- **Cost for a list that does not monetise.** Lite starts at $49 a month billed annually [3],
  the highest entry price in our email category.
- **No refunds.** "All sales are final upon subscription" [6].
- **Plan changes.** The October 2026 rename changed limits, and one reviewer was blocked from adding
  a second guest author on Free [19].
- **Support.** "no phone or email contact is currently available" [14].
- **Account blocks.** Five of 100 reviews describe one, all one- or two-star [19].

Price as a complaint appears in only one of those 100 reviews. Most people leaving are leaving over
fit or access, not cost.



> 💡 **undefined:** Choose by the reason you are leaving, not by rank.

## The alternatives at a glance

| Platform | Our score | Entry paid price | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | 3.88 | $20 a month | 250 profiles | Online stores |
| MailerLite | 3.71 | $10.80 a month annual, 500 subs | 250 subscribers | Small business email |
| Constant Contact | 3.63 | $10.20 a month annual | None | Local and nonprofit |
| beehiiv | 3.61 | $49 a month annual, 1,000 subs | 2,500 subscribers | Paid newsletters |
| Brevo | 3.58 | $8.08 a month annual, 5,000 emails | 100,000 contacts stored | Large lists, multichannel |
| Mailchimp | 3.46 | $13 a month promotional | 250 contacts | Small business promotions |
| ActiveCampaign | 3.44 | $15 a month annual | None | Automation-heavy marketing |
| Kit | not yet scored | $390 a year, 1,000 subs | 10,000 subscribers | Creators selling products |
| Substack | not scored | No plan fee; 10% of revenue | Unlimited | Writers seeking discovery |

Prices from each vendor's pricing page [20] [22] [23] [21] [39] [40].

## Our scores, axis by axis

| Axis | beehiiv | Klaviyo | MailerLite | Constant Contact | Brevo | Mailchimp | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Capability | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Ease of use | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 2.9 |
| Integrations | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
| AI | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Support | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.9 |
| Sentiment | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.8 |
| Docs | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| Composite | 3.61 | 3.88 | 3.71 | 3.63 | 3.58 | 3.46 | 3.44 |

beehiiv sits in the middle of the field. Its weakest axis against the alternatives is value, where
only ActiveCampaign scores lower and Mailchimp ties, because its entry price is high for anyone who
does not monetise. Its support score is above Klaviyo, Brevo, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. Its
sentiment score ties MailerLite and trails only Constant Contact.

The composite weights value and capability most heavily in the email category; a reader whose
priority is different should read the axis that matters to them, not the composite.



> 💡 **undefined:** Download Ad Network reports before you go.

## If you write a paid newsletter and want discovery: Substack

Substack charges nothing to start: "Substack is free to start and free to leave" [38]. It keeps
10% of paid revenue: "Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees." [18]. Its pitch
is reach: "More than half of new subscribers come from Substack's built-in network" [38], a
vendor figure we have not verified.

**When it beats beehiiv:** below about 98 paying readers at $5 a month on a list up to 1,000, the
10% costs less than Lite annual. *Our arithmetic.*

**When it does not:** with a few hundred paying readers, beehiiv's 0% saves more than its plan
costs, by $2,700 a year at 400 readers paying $8 on a 3,900 list.

## If you sell courses or products: Kit

Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers and includes selling products and subscriptions;
its Creator plan is $390 a year at 1,000 subscribers and removes Kit branding [20]. Its fee on
sales is 3.5% plus 30 cents including card processing, which Kit describes as taking 0.6% [20].

**When it beats beehiiv:** for paid revenue under about $33,000 a year, for anyone who needs
white-label without paying for Pro, and for funnels built around products.

**When it does not:** for advertising income, multiple publications, or paid revenue large enough
that 0.6 points outweighs the plan saving.



> ⚠ **undefined:** No prorated refund when you cancel beehiiv mid-term.

## If you send to a list that will never pay: MailerLite

MailerLite scores 3.71 with us, second in the category. Comfort is $12 a month or $10.80 billed
annually at 500 subscribers [22]. It is built for small-business email: automations, landing
pages and forms, with a free plan that was cut in June 2026 to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a
month.

**When it beats beehiiv:** for any list that will not charge readers, by a wide margin on price.

**Watch for:** MailerLite moves you to the next band on its own when you pass a limit, the opposite
of beehiiv's opt-in auto-upgrade.

## If you run a store: Klaviyo

Klaviyo scores 3.88, first in our email category, and is built around store data. Its email plan
starts at $20 a month [39]. Its Shopify App Store listing shows 4.7 from 3,362 ratings.

**When it beats beehiiv:** for abandoned carts, product recommendations, purchase-triggered flows
and SMS. beehiiv's Shopify integration is described only as "content ingestion, ecommerce
workflows" [27].

**Watch for:** its Trustpilot score, 1.6 from 369 in our October measurement, is the lowest in the
category, even as its Shopify rating is among the highest.

## If your list is large and mailed rarely: Brevo

Brevo prices by emails sent, not subscribers, and its free plan stores up to 100,000 contacts at
300 emails a day [23]. Starter is $9 a month at 5,000 emails.

**When it beats beehiiv:** a list of 50,000 mailed monthly. Brevo Standard at 50,000 emails was
$97 a month in our measurement; beehiiv Lite at 50,000 subscribers is $299 a month billed monthly
[3].

**Watch for:** each email tier caps stored contacts on Brevo's first tiers, and one review in five
in our Brevo corpus described an account suspension.

## If you are a local business or nonprofit: Constant Contact

Constant Contact scores 3.63. Lite is $12 a month or $10.20 billed annually [40], with no free
plan but a published 30-day money-back guarantee, which beehiiv does not offer.

**When it beats beehiiv:** a refund window, which beehiiv does not have, and a lower entry price for
a list that will not charge readers.

## If you need marketing automation: ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign scores 3.44 and starts at $15 a month billed annually. It is built for multi-step
automation and sales pipelines rather than publishing.

**When it beats beehiiv:** complex branching automation and CRM. beehiiv's Lite caps live
automations at ten [3].

## If you are staying with email but leaving for price: Mailchimp

Mailchimp scores 3.46. Its entry prices were first-year promotions in our September measurement,
and most of its band prices were not published to American readers [21]. For a newsletter it is
rarely cheaper than beehiiv above the free tier: at 100,000 its published Standard price was $800
a month against beehiiv Lite's $469 billed monthly.

## Free plans across the alternatives

| Platform | Free plan ceiling | Sending on the free plan | Selling on the free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers | Unlimited broadcasts | Yes |
| beehiiv | 2,500 subscribers | Unlimited | One digital product; no subscriptions |
| Brevo | 100,000 contacts stored | 300 emails a day | No |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails a month | One product or booking |
| Klaviyo | 250 profiles | 500 emails a month | No |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts | 500 a month, 250 a day | No |
| Constant Contact | No free plan | | |
| ActiveCampaign | No free plan, 14-day trial | | |
| Substack | No plan fee at any size | Unlimited | Yes, at 10% |

From each vendor's pages and our dossiers [20] [3] [23] [22] [39] [21]
[40] [18].

For a writer who wants to start free and sell subscriptions early, Kit and Substack are the only two
in this table that allow it; beehiiv and MailerLite allow a single product. For a free newsletter with no selling, beehiiv's 2,500 with unlimited sends is the
most usable of the paid-platform free tiers.

## What reviewers say across the alternatives

| Platform | Trustpilot | Reviews counted |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | 4.1 | 3,362 |
| beehiiv | 4.0 | 406 |
| Constant Contact | 4.0 | 2,093 |
| Brevo | 3.9 | 7,235 |
| Klaviyo | 1.6 | 369 |

Read in October 2026 through the same connector [19]. beehiiv's 100 most recent reviews average
3.87, close to its badge. That is not true of every vendor: Brevo's recent sample averaged 2.85
against a 3.9 badge. Trustpilot reviewers skew toward complaints about access and billing, so these
scores measure the experience of the unhappy minority as much as the product.

## Choosing by scenario

| Your situation | First choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New writer, no paid readers yet | Substack or beehiiv Free | No cost either way; Substack for discovery, beehiiv for a website |
| Paid newsletter, 300+ paying readers | beehiiv | 0% share beats 10% by a wide margin |
| Creator selling a course, list under 10,000 | Kit | Free plan allows selling |
| Small business, monthly promotions, 2,000 contacts | MailerLite | Lowest cost for a list that does not pay |
| Shopify store | Klaviyo | Store events and Shopify rating |
| 80,000 contacts, mailed monthly | Brevo | Priced by emails sent |
| Nonprofit wanting a refund window | Constant Contact | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Sales team needing pipelines | ActiveCampaign | Automation and CRM |

## Prices at a common size: 1,000 subscribers, billed annually, per month

| Platform | Entry plan | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv Lite | Lite | $49 [3] |
| Kit | Creator | $33 [20] |
| MailerLite | Comfort, at 500 | $10.80 [22] |
| Brevo | Starter, priced by emails | $8.08 at 5,000 emails [23] |
| Substack | None | $0 plus 10% of paid revenue [18] |

beehiiv is the most expensive entry among them. The price is buying monetisation tools and a 0%
share; if you will not use either, it is the wrong place to pay.

## Questions that narrow the list

1. **Will readers pay you?** If never, drop beehiiv and Substack from the list.
2. **Will you sell products?** Kit first.
3. **Do you run a store?** Klaviyo first.
4. **Is your list large and quiet?** Brevo first.
5. **Do you need a refund window or a phone line?** Constant Contact.

## If you want a web-first publication: Ghost

Ghost comes up 70 times a month in searches against beehiiv. We have not scored Ghost, and we did
not read its own pricing page for this review. beehiiv's comparison page is nevertheless worth
reading, because it concedes the price point: it lists Ghost at $105 for up to 10,000 subscribers
against beehiiv's $119, and $329 for up to 100,000 against beehiiv's $399 [50]. By beehiiv's own
table, Ghost is the cheaper of the two at both sizes, and both take 0% of paid subscriptions.

beehiiv describes Ghost as "an open-source publishing platform built for web-first content" [50],
which is the real difference: Ghost leads with the website, beehiiv with the inbox and its growth
and ad tools. Confirm Ghost's prices on Ghost's own page before deciding; we report only what
beehiiv publishes about it.

## If you are moving paid readers, check the exit route first

The cost of switching is often the readers who do not follow. beehiiv documents that paid
subscribers on Kit cannot be transferred to beehiiv directly [45], while paid subscribers on
Substack move through Stripe [16]. Before choosing any alternative, ask where your paid
subscriptions live, who holds the payment details, and whether the new platform can import them. A
platform that is $200 a year cheaper is not cheaper if a tenth of paying readers are lost in the
move.

## Large lists, priced

At 50,000 subscribers mailed weekly, the published annual costs are:

- **beehiiv Lite:** $2,988 a year on annual billing [3].
- **Mailchimp Essentials:** $4,620 a year, at its $385 published monthly ceiling [21].
- **Brevo Standard:** depends on emails sent, about 215,000 a month for a weekly list of this size
  [23].

Brevo prices by emails sent, so a weekly list of 50,000 needs far more than the 50,000-email tier;
it is cheapest for large lists mailed once a month, where Standard was $97 a month in our
measurement. For a large weekly newsletter, beehiiv's unlimited sends are the better model.

## What you give up by leaving beehiiv

- **0% on paid subscriptions.** beehiiv takes nothing from subscription revenue; Substack takes 10%,
  Kit 0.6% above card processing [18] [20].
- **The ad network**, paid monthly on the 20th [11].
- **Multiple publications on one bill.**
- **A full price list**, published down to every tier [3].

## How to leave beehiiv cleanly

1. Export subscribers and posts from Settings, Export Data; links last 24 hours [28].
2. Download your Ad Network reports, which are your payout records [12].
3. Move paid subscribers through Stripe; they live in your Stripe account.
4. Downgrade or cancel; you keep the plan to the end of the term, without a prorated refund [15].
5. Pending ad and recommendation earnings are still paid on schedule after a downgrade or closure
   [12].



## FAQ

**What is the best alternative to beehiiv?**

Substack for discovery-led writers, Kit for creators selling products, MailerLite for lists that will not charge readers, Klaviyo for online stores.

**What is cheaper than beehiiv?**

For a list that does not monetise, MailerLite, Brevo and Constant Contact all start well below beehiiv Lite's $49 a month billed annually.

## Our verdict

beehiiv remains the strongest choice in our category for a newsletter that earns from readers and
advertisers. The alternatives win on specific grounds: Substack for a writer still looking for
readers, Kit for products and a bigger free plan, MailerLite for a list that will never pay,
Klaviyo for a store, Brevo for a large list mailed rarely.




## Sources

[1] beehiiv vendor pricing page — https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing (2026-10)
[2] beehiiv machine-readable pricing file — https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing.md (2026-10)
[3] beehiiv help: plan types and tier pricing — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/23874462928663.md (2026-10)
[4] beehiiv help: change plan type and tier — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/13092031997847.md (2026-10)
[5] beehiiv help: refund eligibility — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/13092084756631.md (2026-10)
[6] beehiiv help: what the free trial includes — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/22101553752471.md (2026-10)
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[9] beehiiv help: how subscribers are counted — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/42699429776279.md (2026-10)
[10] beehiiv help: Ad Network FAQ — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/17507491038231.md (2026-10)
[11] beehiiv help: the beehiiv Wallet — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/14194157250583.md (2026-10)
[12] beehiiv help: Recommendations Network FAQ — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/14194737991319.md (2026-10)
[13] beehiiv help: ways to contact support — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/18621437457303.md (2026-10)
[14] beehiiv Terms of Use — https://www.beehiiv.com/tou.md (2026-10)
[15] beehiiv comparison page against Substack — https://www.beehiiv.com/comparisons/substack.md (2026-10)
[16] beehiiv paid subscriptions feature page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/premium-subscriptions.md (2026-10)
[17] Substack, going paid — https://substack.com/going-paid (2026-10)
[18] Trustpilot aggregate and review corpus for beehiiv — https://www.trustpilot.com/review/beehiiv.com?languages=all (2026-10)
[19] Kit vendor pricing page — https://kit.com/pricing (2026-10)
[20] Mailchimp vendor pricing page — https://mailchimp.com/pricing/ (2026-09)
[21] MailerLite vendor pricing page — https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing (2026-10)
[22] Brevo machine-readable pricing reference — https://www.brevo.com/pricing.md (2026-10)
[23] beehiiv help: the community app — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/42004299269655.md (2026-10)
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[25] beehiiv help: getting started with the MCP — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/39255979546263.md (2026-10)
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[27] beehiiv help: exporting content and subscribers — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/12258595483543.md (2026-10)
[28] beehiiv help: delete your account — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/32057514798231.md (2026-10)
[29] beehiiv help: pausing and retention — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/34177235644823.md (2026-10)
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[34] beehiiv automations feature page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/automations.md (2026-10)
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[37] Substack, about — https://substack.com/about (2026-10)
[38] Klaviyo vendor pricing page — https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing (2026-10)
[39] Constant Contact vendor pricing page — https://www.constantcontact.com/pricing (2026-10)
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[41] beehiiv help: Stripe account types — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/30064926230679.md (2026-10)
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[43] beehiiv help: migrate from Substack — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/14966988360215.md (2026-10)
[44] beehiiv help: migrate from Kit — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/22435253930519.md (2026-10)
[45] beehiiv help: Boosts became paid recommendations — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/41790356251159.md (2026-10)
[46] beehiiv help: using the Ad Network — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/17525818225431.md (2026-10)
[47] beehiiv comparison page against Kit — https://www.beehiiv.com/comparisons/convertkit.md (2026-10)
[48] beehiiv comparison page against Mailchimp — https://www.beehiiv.com/comparisons/mailchimp.md (2026-10)
[49] beehiiv comparison page against Ghost — https://www.beehiiv.com/comparisons/ghost.md (2026-10)
[50] beehiiv help: key policies and agreements — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/32902341812759.md (2026-10)
[51] beehiiv public status page — https://status.beehiiv.com/ (2026-10)
[52] beehiiv help: troubleshooting paid subscriptions — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/39165102555927.md (2026-10)
[53] beehiiv developer docs: rate limiting — https://developers.beehiiv.com/welcome/rate-limiting.md (2026-10)
[54] beehiiv developer docs: webhooks — https://developers.beehiiv.com/webhooks.md (2026-10)
[55] beehiiv developer docs: OAuth2 — https://developers.beehiiv.com/oauth2.md (2026-10)
[56] beehiiv Trust Center — https://security.beehiiv.com/ (2026-10)
[57] beehiiv MCP feature page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/mcp.md (2026-10)
[58] beehiiv public MCP: company facts — https://www.beehiiv.com/api/mcp#get_company_facts (2026-10)
[59] beehiiv developer docs: getting started — https://developers.beehiiv.com/welcome/getting-started.md (2026-10)
[60] beehiiv developer docs: pagination — https://developers.beehiiv.com/welcome/pagination.md (2026-10)
[61] beehiiv developer docs index — https://developers.beehiiv.com/llms.txt (2026-10)