Comparison — from the record, 2026-08-26
MailerLite vs beehiiv: two different animals, one search box
OUR PICK
Our pick: beehiiv — if the newsletter is the product. If email is just your marketing channel, it flips to MailerLite.
beehiiv's free Launch plan holds up to 2,500 subscribers — ten times MailerLite's 250 — and making money is built into the platform: paid subscriptions at a 0% platform take, an ad network, a recommendations marketplace. For someone starting a newsletter as a business, that free runway is the whole game.
The other way: Pick MailerLite if email is a channel for an existing business rather than the product itself. Its first paid rung is $12/month against beehiiv's $49, and it brings the automation, landing-page and selling toolkit a publishing platform isn't built around. It's our budget pick in three other comparisons on this site.
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How to read this page: every number below was read from the vendor’s own public pricing page on the date shown, and the pages are re-checked daily. Currencies differ because that is what each vendor showed an EU visitor. Some links on this page are affiliate links — if you subscribe through one we earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Per
our method, that never changes a number or a verdict. Source links always point to the vendor’s plain page.
The two pricing pages, side by side
MailerLite — USD, read 2026-08-26
| Plan | Price | Contacts | What the page says |
|---|
| Free | Free | up to 250 | 2,500 monthly emails, 2 seats, 3 automations, 1 landing page, community support |
| Comfort | $12/mo ($10.8 annual) | from 500 (scales) | 5,000 monthly emails, 3 seats, 50 automations, 10 landing pages, removes MailerLite logo |
| Power | $25/mo ($22.5 annual) | from 500 (scales) | Unlimited emails, unlimited seats, unlimited automations & landing pages, 24/7 live chat |
| Enterprise | Custom | 200K+ | Custom volume, dedicated support |
Source: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing · read 2026-08-26 (UTC) · Prices shown at the 500-subscriber base tier; annual billing saves 10% (annual per-month rates shown alongside). Prices rise with subscriber count. New Comfort/Power plan structure.
beehiiv — USD, read 2026-08-26
| Plan | Price | Contacts | What the page says |
|---|
| Launch | Free | up to 2,500 | Newsletters, website and podcast, campaign analytics; no ad network or paid recommendations |
| Scale | $49/mo ($43 annual) | from 1,000 (scales) | Ad network, recommendations, paid subscriptions at 0% take rate, beehiiv AI, API (excl. Send API) |
| Max | $109/mo ($96 annual) | from 1,000 (scales) | Removes beehiiv branding, sponsorship storefront, teams (3 seats), priority human support |
| Enterprise | Custom | 100K+ | Custom volume, demo required |
Source: https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing · read 2026-08-26 (UTC) · Paid prices shown at the up-to-1,000-subscriber slider position and rise with subscriber count. Annual billing saves ~12% (Scale $517/yr, Max $1,151/yr); the annual per-month rates are shown alongside.
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What the record says
People type this search because both tools send email to a list, but the two pricing pages are written for different lives. beehiiv's page sells a publishing business: newsletters, a website, a podcast, and four ways to get paid. MailerLite's page sells a marketing department: automations, landing pages, pop-ups, integrations. Same inbox at the end; completely different purchase.
The free tiers make the split concrete. beehiiv's Launch plan is $0 up to 2,500 subscribers — one of the deepest free tiers we track in any category — while MailerLite's free plan stops at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. If you're starting a newsletter from zero, beehiiv gives you roughly ten times the runway before anyone asks for a card.
The first paid rung flips the story. MailerLite's Comfort plan is $12/month; beehiiv's Scale is $49/month at the 1,000-subscriber position. But the $49 isn't buying marketing features — it buys monetization rails: the ad network, paid recommendations, and paid subscriptions where beehiiv takes 0% (you pay only Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, a comparison their page aims squarely at Substack's 10%). The advertised annual savings cross-check exactly against the monthly rates, which is more arithmetic honesty than most pricing pages manage.
So the decision rule is the job, not the feature list. Newsletter as the product — audience, sponsors, paid readers — and beehiiv's free depth plus built-in monetization wins. Email as the channel for a shop, a service or a SaaS — and MailerLite's $12 entry with automations and landing pages wins. Both prices slide with subscriber count; the figures above are same-day readings at the positions shown.
Beyond the price tag
Making money
beehiiv builds it in: paid subscriptions at a 0% platform take, an ad network, and a paid-recommendations marketplace. MailerLite lets you sell — digital products and e-commerce features sit on its paid plans — but there is no ad marketplace and no sponsor network; monetization is yours to bring.
Marketing automation
MailerLite's $12 plan includes 50 automations and a drag-and-drop builder that reviewers consistently rank among the friendliest in the category. beehiiv has automation too, but its pricing page leads with publishing and monetization — that's where the platform's weight is.
Beyond the inbox
beehiiv includes a website and podcast hosting even on the free plan. MailerLite counters with landing pages (1 free, 10 on Comfort) and the wider integrations of a general marketing tool.
Questions people actually search
Is beehiiv really free up to 2,500 subscribers?
Yes — the Launch plan, read from beehiiv's pricing page on the date shown: $0 up to 2,500 subscribers with newsletters, a website, a podcast and campaign analytics. What it excludes is the money layer: no ad network and no paid recommendations until Scale.
Which is cheaper once you outgrow the free plans?
MailerLite, by a wide margin at the entry: Comfort is $12/month against beehiiv Scale's $49 at the 1,000-subscriber position. But note Comfort caps sending at 5,000 emails a month, and the two $-figures buy different things — marketing features versus monetization rails.
Can I monetize a newsletter on MailerLite?
You can sell through it — digital products and e-commerce features are on the paid plans — but there's no built-in ad network or sponsor marketplace. beehiiv's pitch is keeping 0% of your paid-subscription revenue (Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 still applies).
Do both prices rise with my list size?
Yes. Both pages price by subscriber count; our tables show same-day readings at beehiiv's 1,000-subscriber slider position and MailerLite's base tier. The gap at the free level (2,500 vs 250 subscribers) is fixed, though.
THE VERDICT, ONE MORE TIME
Our pick: beehiiv — if the newsletter is the product. If email is just your marketing channel, it flips to MailerLite.
beehiiv's free Launch plan holds up to 2,500 subscribers — ten times MailerLite's 250 — and making money is built into the platform: paid subscriptions at a 0% platform take, an ad network, a recommendations marketplace. For someone starting a newsletter as a business, that free runway is the whole game.
Try beehiiv free →
We verified the prices and plan limits on both vendors' own pages (dates shown above). Feature descriptions summarize what each vendor's own materials emphasize and how the tools are commonly reviewed; we have not run a hands-on test. The method →
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