# beehiiv Pricing: Every Tier, and When It Beats Substack

> beehiiv pricing from the vendor's own file: Lite $59 or $588 a year and Pro $109 or $1,140 at 1,000 subscribers, all eleven tiers, how subscribers are counted, auto-upgrade, and the break-even against Substack's 10%.

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

---


beehiiv publishes every price it charges, and publishes it twice: once as a slider on the pricing
page and once as a Markdown file "generated from the same plan data as the website" [3]. That is
rare. Most email vendors we have measured hide part of the ladder; beehiiv shows all eleven tiers
for both paid plans, monthly and annual.

The price is set by two choices: the plan type, which decides the features, and the subscriber
tier, which decides the amount. All figures below are in US dollars, read on 9 October 2026.

## The short answer

- **Free:** $0, up to 2,500 subscribers, no paid subscriptions or ads.
- **Lite:** $59 a month billed monthly, or $588 a year ($49 a month) billed annually, up to 1,000
  subscribers.
- **Pro:** $109 a month billed monthly, or $1,140 a year ($95 a month), up to 1,000 subscribers.
- **Enterprise:** custom pricing, no figure published.

The headline "$49/mo" on the pricing page is the annual rate expressed per month [2]. The
vendor's own FAQ uses the monthly figure: paid plans "start at $59/month" [3].



> 💡 **undefined:** Delete suppressed addresses before a tier boundary.

## The full ladder

From the vendor's pricing file [3]:

| Subscribers | Lite monthly | Lite annual (total) | Pro monthly | Pro annual (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | $59 | $588 | $109 | $1,140 |
| Up to 2,500 | $79 | $828 | $149 | $1,548 |
| Up to 5,000 | $109 | $1,140 | $199 | $2,028 |
| Up to 10,000 | $139 | $1,428 | $239 | $2,388 |
| Up to 25,000 | $199 | $2,028 | $349 | $3,588 |
| Up to 50,000 | $299 | $2,988 | $469 | $4,788 |
| Up to 75,000 | $389 | $3,948 | $589 | $5,988 |
| Up to 100,000 | $469 | $4,788 | $699 | $7,188 |
| Up to 150,000 | not sold | not sold | $799 | $8,268 |
| Up to 200,000 | not sold | not sold | $899 | $9,348 |
| 250,000+ | not sold | not sold | $999 | $10,428 |

"Lite is sold through 100,000 subscribers. Pro is sold through 250,000." [3]. Above 100,000, a
Lite account has to move to Pro or Enterprise.

## What a thousand subscribers costs at each tier

The ladder is steeply degressive. Measured at the top of each tier, on Lite billed monthly, a
thousand subscribers cost:

| Tier | Lite monthly | Cost per 1,000 subscribers |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | $59 | $59.00 |
| Up to 2,500 | $79 | $31.60 |
| Up to 5,000 | $109 | $21.80 |
| Up to 10,000 | $139 | $13.90 |
| Up to 25,000 | $199 | $7.96 |
| Up to 50,000 | $299 | $5.98 |
| Up to 100,000 | $469 | $4.69 |

*Our arithmetic* on the vendor's table [3]. Pro at 250,000+ works out at $4.00 per thousand.
The first thousand subscribers are the most expensive by far, which is why the free plan's 2,500
matters: a newsletter can reach the point where the paid ladder becomes efficient before it pays
anything.

The other side of a degressive ladder is the cost at the bottom of each tier. A list of 1,100 pays
the 2,500 tier, $79, or $71.82 per thousand. A list of 10,100 pays $199 for the 25,000 tier, $19.70
per thousand. Pruning just before a boundary saves more than at any other point.



> 💡 **undefined:** Pay monthly until your list size is stable.

## What annual billing saves

Annual billing saves between about 13% and 17% depending on the plan and tier: 16.9% on Lite at 1,000
subscribers, but only 12.8% on Pro at the same size. At 1,000 subscribers Lite is $588 a
year against $708 on monthly billing, a saving of $120. At 10,000 it is $1,428 against $1,668,
a saving of $240. On Pro at 100,000 it is $7,188 against $8,388, a saving of $1,200.

What annual billing costs is flexibility. "You can't pause a plan that's billed annually." [4].
And there are no prorated refunds on cancellation [15]. Pay annually only for a list and a plan
you are sure of.

## The step from Lite to Pro

At the same list size, Pro costs between $50 and $230 a month more than Lite on monthly billing: $50
at 1,000 subscribers, $100 at 10,000, $150 at 25,000, $230 at 100,000. For that you get branding
removed, unlimited automations with click triggers, dynamic content, the Send API, RSS to Send,
newsletter lists, the sponsorship storefront, unlimited paid tiers, ten seats and ten publications
[3].

Pro is the only self-serve plan that removes beehiiv branding. If a white-label newsletter matters to
you, the real entry price is $95 a month billed annually, not $49.



> ⚠ **undefined:** The tier counts every publication in the workspace.

## How subscribers are counted

Three rules decide which tier you are billed on.

1. **The count is per workspace.** "Subscriber limits and plan tiers apply to your whole account, not
   to each publication." [4]. Three newsletters of 4,000, 4,000 and 3,000 are a list of 11,000,
   billed on the 25,000 tier.
2. **Only Active subscribers count.** Paused, pending, and inactive subscribers are excluded from the
   active total [10].
3. **Suppressed addresses can still count.** "Suppressed subscribers may still appear as Active in
   your subscriber count because they are filtered at send time, not by status." [10]. Deleting
   them is the way to keep them off the bill.

## Going over the tier

You choose how growth is billed. With auto-upgrade on, "When you go over your current subscriber
limit, you're charged a prorated amount for the next tier of your current plan." [5]. With it
off, nothing is charged, but "If you don't turn this on, sends to your subscribers may be delayed
when you go over your plan limits." [5].

**Worked example.** A Pro account on the 25,000 tier at $349 a month reaches 25,600 active
subscribers ten days before renewal. With auto-upgrade on, it pays about a third of the $120
difference to the 50,000 tier, roughly $40. With it off, it pays nothing and its next send may be
delayed. Deleting 600 suppressed or long-inactive addresses would bring it back under the limit.

Over-limit imports are held rather than partly accepted: "beehiiv doesn't import part of a list to
fill your remaining space." [9].



> ⚠ **undefined:** Annual plans cannot be paused and are not refunded.

## Moving down

Downgrades take effect at the end of the billing period. "You keep your current plan until the end of
your billing period." [5]. Lowering the subscriber tier works the same way, and the help centre
warns that if the account has more subscribers than the new tier allows, you must remove some to
keep sending.

Downgrading to Free keeps your content and subscribers, but automations turn off, webhooks are
disabled, website redirects stop, and published custom pages are unpublished except one [5].
Existing custom domains stay connected, but "You can't add a new custom domain on the Free plan."
[5].

## What beehiiv takes from what you earn

| Revenue stream | beehiiv's share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paid subscriptions | 0% | Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 applies [17] |
| Paid recommendations | 20% | Built into the marketplace price [13] |
| Ad Network | Not published as a share | Payouts on "payable clicks" or opens [11] |

The 20% on paid recommendations is the one platform fee beehiiv states openly. For the ad network,
the vendor publishes what you are paid per campaign, not what advertisers pay, so its margin cannot
be calculated from public pages.

## The comparison that matters: beehiiv against Substack

Substack charges no plan fee and keeps 10%: "Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card
fees." [18]. beehiiv charges a plan fee and keeps nothing. The break-even is where 10% of your
paid revenue equals the plan.

**Worked example 1.** A newsletter with 800 free subscribers and 120 paying $5 a month: 920 in total,
the 1,000 tier. Gross revenue is $7,200 a year. Substack's 10% is $720. Lite annual is $588. beehiiv
is $132 a year cheaper.

**Worked example 2.** The same list with 60 paying readers: gross $3,600, Substack's 10% is $360,
Lite annual is $588. Substack is $228 a year cheaper.

**Worked example 3.** A list of 20,000 with 1,000 paying $8 a month: the 25,000 tier, gross $96,000.
Substack's 10% is $9,600. Lite annual is $2,028; Pro annual $3,588. beehiiv saves $7,572 on Lite,
$6,012 on Pro.

*Our arithmetic*, from the vendor's price table and Substack's stated share. The vendor's own
calculator shows "$11,652 / year more with beehiiv" on its example but does not subtract the plan
[16].

## Three real profiles, priced for a year

**A hobby newsletter, 1,800 subscribers, no paid readers.** Free covers it at $0. If the writer
wants a custom domain, the cheapest path is Lite at the 2,500 tier: $79 a month or $828 a year
[3]. That is the price of a domain on beehiiv, because Free cannot add one.

**A paid newsletter, 6,000 subscribers, 400 paying $7 a month.** The list sits on the 10,000 tier.
Gross revenue is $33,600 a year. Lite annual costs $1,428. Substack would keep 10%, $3,360. Stripe
takes about $2,414 on either platform (2.9% of $33,600 plus $0.30 on each of 4,800 charges). beehiiv
leaves the writer $1,932 a year better off than Substack.

**A media team, three publications, 40,000 subscribers in total.** The workspace sits on the 50,000
tier: Pro annual is $4,788 [3]. If the team buys 2,000 new subscribers through paid
recommendations at $2.50 each, that is $5,000, of which $1,000 is beehiiv's 20% fee [13]. The
year costs $9,788 before any ad earnings come back.

*Our arithmetic* in all three cases, from the vendor's published prices and fees.

## beehiiv against Kit for a paid newsletter

Kit is beehiiv's closest rival among creator platforms and the second most compared, at 140
searches a month. Kit's pricing page lists its Creator plan at $390 a year for 1,000 subscribers,
or $33 a month billed yearly [20]. beehiiv Lite at the same size is $588. Kit is $198 a year
cheaper on the plan.

The fees run the other way. Kit charges 3.5% plus 30 cents on each sale, a figure it says is
inclusive of card processing; beehiiv passes on Stripe's 2.9% plus $0.30 [20] [17]. The
difference is 0.6 points of gross revenue. It equals Kit's $198 plan advantage at $33,000 of paid
revenue a year.

**Worked example.** 300 readers paying $10 a month bring $36,000 a year. On Kit, the extra 0.6
points cost $216; on beehiiv, the extra plan cost is $198. beehiiv comes out $18 ahead, which is to
say the two are level. Below about $33,000 a year in paid revenue, Kit costs less; above it, beehiiv
does. Kit's free plan also covers 10,000 subscribers and allows selling subscriptions [20], where beehiiv's
covers 2,500 and does not.

Paid recommendations reverse again: Kit lists its fee at 23.5% [20], beehiiv at 20% [13].

## Compared with other email platforms

At 1,000 subscribers, billed annually and per month:

| Platform | Entry paid plan | What it is built for |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv Lite | $49 | Newsletters that earn |
| Kit Creator | $33 ($390 a year) [20] | Creators selling products |
| MailerLite Comfort | $10.80 at 500 subscribers [22] | Small-business email |
| Brevo Starter | $8.08 at 5,000 emails [23] | Multichannel sending |

For pure sending, beehiiv is the most expensive. Its price buys the monetisation layer, the website
and the podcast host; if you will use none of them, a cheaper plan elsewhere is the better buy.

## Refunds, renewals and price changes

- "All sales are final upon subscription" [6].
- Subscriptions renew automatically at the same price unless changed under the terms [15].
- Fees can change with notice: the terms require "not less than thirty (30) days advance notice"
  [15].
- Prepaid cards are refused [4].
- Promotion codes apply at checkout; affiliate discounts apply through the link itself [4].

## Enterprise

Enterprise has custom subscriber and publication limits, unlimited seats, dedicated IP addresses,
SSO and SAML, audit logs, a customer success manager, and the WordPress and S3 integrations [3].
No figure is published. The vendor positions it for publishers above 100,000 subscribers [34].

## What the pricing page does not tell you

- **The ad network's margin.** beehiiv publishes the CPM or CPC it pays you per campaign, not what
  the advertiser pays, so its share cannot be computed [11].
- **What "avg. $39/mo" averages.** The pricing page attaches it to ad monetisation on Lite and Pro
  without saying across which publishers or months [2].
- **The AI allowance.** The table says "Limited", "Elevated" and "5x Lite" without units [3].
- **Support response times.** The help centre says they vary by plan and gives no figures [14].

These are not hidden prices in the way some vendors hide tiers; every plan price is public. They are
the parts of the money that depend on the platform's own judgement.



## FAQ

**How much is beehiiv per month?**

Lite is $59 a month billed monthly or $49 a month billed annually at up to 1,000 subscribers; Pro is $109 or $95. Prices rise with the subscriber tier.

**Does beehiiv charge per email?**

No. Every plan, including Free, has unlimited email sends. The price is set by active subscribers across the workspace.

**Is beehiiv cheaper annually?**

Yes, by about 13% to 17% depending on the plan and tier, but annual plans cannot be paused and cancellation brings no prorated refund.

## How to choose a plan

1. **Count every publication.** The tier is the workspace total.
2. **Decide if you will charge.** If not, Free or another vendor is likely the better value.
3. **Count paying readers.** Below about 100 at $5 a month on a 1,000 list, Substack costs less.
4. **Decide on branding.** If it must go, start from Pro.
5. **Turn on auto-upgrade** if a delayed send would cost you more than a prorated upgrade.
6. **Pay monthly first.** Move to annual when the list size is stable; annual plans cannot pause.




## 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)
[7] beehiiv help: account reviews and blocks — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/43764493955991.md (2026-10)
[8] beehiiv help: importing subscribers — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/4412705350679.md (2026-10)
[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)
[24] beehiiv AI features page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/artificial-intelligence.md (2026-10)
[25] beehiiv help: getting started with the MCP — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/39255979546263.md (2026-10)
[26] beehiiv integrations page — https://www.beehiiv.com/integrations.md (2026-10)
[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)
[30] beehiiv full machine-readable site dump — https://www.beehiiv.com/llms-full.txt (2026-10)
[31] beehiiv help: the Send API — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/36759164012439.md (2026-10)
[32] beehiiv help: domains — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/12999491162391.md (2026-10)
[33] beehiiv Enterprise page — https://www.beehiiv.com/enterprise.md (2026-10)
[34] beehiiv automations feature page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/automations.md (2026-10)
[35] beehiiv Ad Network page — https://www.beehiiv.com/ad-network.md (2026-10)
[36] beehiiv recommendations feature page — https://www.beehiiv.com/features/recommendations.md (2026-10)
[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)
[40] beehiiv help: spam complaints — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/13092270804631.md (2026-10)
[41] beehiiv help: Stripe account types — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/30064926230679.md (2026-10)
[42] beehiiv help: delete a workspace or publication — https://www.beehiiv.com/support/article/12430837307287.md (2026-10)
[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)