beehiiv vs Kit: price by subscriber tier
What beehiiv and Kit cost at 1,000, 5,000 and 25,000 subscribers, what each free plan allows, and what each takes from the money you make. From each vendor's pricing page.
The short answer
Kit's free plan goes to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv's free plan, Launch, stops at 2,500.
Billed yearly, Kit Creator costs less than beehiiv Scale up to 5,000 subscribers. From 10,000 subscribers, beehiiv Scale costs less, billed yearly or monthly.
On paid subscriptions, beehiiv takes 0% and Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30. Kit charges 3.5% + 30c, card processing included. The gap is 0.6 points.
Kit's free plan lets you sell subscriptions and products. beehiiv's free plan does not.
Prices were read on the vendors' own pricing pages on September 22, 2026. Kit's 1,000, 5,000 and 25,000 subscriber tiers were checked again on its slider on September 23, 2026. StackOnSale has not tested either platform. This page compares published prices, limits and fees only, not deliverability, editor quality or support.
Free plan limits
Kit's pricing page lists its free plan at "$0/mo", free up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv Launch: "$0 per month", "Up to 2,500 subscribers".
The two free plans allow different things. beehiiv Launch excludes, among others, automations, A/B testing, paid subscriptions, digital products, the Ad Network, Recommendations and the referral program.
Kit's free plan lists "Unlimited landing pages & forms", "Unlimited email broadcasts", "Audience tagging & segmentation" and "Sell digital products & subscriptions". Kit's own comparison table marks the visual automation builder, automated email sequences and Paid Recommendations as not included on Free, and lists A/B testing of subject lines as a Creator feature.
Neither free plan includes automations. Kit's lets you charge money. beehiiv's does not.
Price by subscriber tier, billed yearly
Total billed for one year, by subscriber count. beehiiv's figures are the "billed annually" totals shown by the subscriber selector on its pricing page. Kit bills a year at 10 times the monthly price, which is how its page shows "$390 billed yearly" for the $39 tier.
Above 25,000 the gap widens. At 50,000 subscribers, beehiiv Scale bills $2,629 a year and Kit Creator $3,790. At 100,000, $3,474 against $6,790.
Total billed for one year| Subscribers | beehiiv Scale | Kit Creator | beehiiv Max | Kit Pro |
|---|
| 1,000 | $517 | $390 | $1,151 | $790 |
|---|
| 2,500 (Kit tier: up to 3,000) | $729 | $590 | $1,573 | $990 |
|---|
| 5,000 | $940 | $890 | $1,785 | $1,390 |
|---|
| 10,000 | $1,151 | $1,390 | $2,313 | $1,890 |
|---|
| 25,000 | $1,785 | $1,990 | $3,052 | $2,790 |
|---|
beehiiv: "billed annually" totals from the subscriber selector on beehiiv.com/pricing. Kit: tiers from the subscriber slider on kit.com/pricing. Read September 22, 2026; Kit's 1,000, 5,000 and 25,000 tiers checked again on September 23, 2026.
Price by subscriber tier, billed monthly
The same tiers at each vendor's "Billed monthly" price.
Price per month, billed monthly| Subscribers | beehiiv Scale | Kit Creator | beehiiv Max | Kit Pro |
|---|
| 1,000 | $49 | $39 | $109 | $79 |
|---|
| 2,500 (Kit tier: up to 3,000) | $69 | $59 | $149 | $99 |
|---|
| 5,000 | $89 | $89 | $169 | $139 |
|---|
| 10,000 | $109 | $139 | $219 | $189 |
|---|
| 25,000 | $169 | $199 | $289 | $279 |
|---|
"Billed monthly" price on each vendor's pricing page, read September 22, 2026.
What each one takes from your revenue
beehiiv: "beehiiv takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue. You keep everything you earn, minus Stripe's standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction." Paid subscriptions start on Scale.
Kit: "3.5% + 30c" on digital products and subscriptions, on every plan including Free, "inclusive of credit card processing fees, so Kit only takes 0.6% of the total fees." Kit also keeps 23.5% of Paid Recommendations earnings, on Creator and Pro.
The fee gap is 0.6% of what you sell: $60 on $10,000 of sales. Billed yearly, Kit Creator costs $127 less than beehiiv Scale at 1,000 subscribers and $50 less at 5,000. beehiiv's lower fee only makes up for that above about $21,000 of yearly sales at 1,000 subscribers and about $8,300 at 5,000. That is our arithmetic on the published figures.
beehiiv and Kit, published figures| Item | beehiiv | Kit |
|---|
| Free plan ceiling | 2,500 subscribers | 10,000 subscribers |
|---|
| Free plan: sell subscriptions and products | Excluded | "Sell digital products & subscriptions" |
|---|
| Free plan: automations | Excluded | Visual automation builder and automated sequences not included |
|---|
| Free plan: A/B testing | Excluded | Not on Free, "A/B test subject lines" listed under Creator |
|---|
| Entry paid plan, 1,000 subscribers | Scale, $49 billed monthly, $517 billed yearly | Creator, $39 billed monthly, $390 billed yearly |
|---|
| Entry paid plan, 5,000 subscribers | Scale, $89 monthly, $940 yearly | Creator, $89 monthly, $890 yearly |
|---|
| Entry paid plan, 25,000 subscribers | Scale, $169 monthly, $1,785 yearly | Creator, $199 monthly, $1,990 yearly |
|---|
| Fee on paid subscriptions | 0%, plus Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 | "3.5% + 30c", card processing included |
|---|
| Recommendations revenue share | Not verified | Kit retains 23.5%, Creator and Pro only |
|---|
Read on beehiiv.com/pricing and kit.com/pricing, September 22, 2026.
When Kit wins
You are under 10,000 subscribers and do not need automations. Kit is free there. At 5,000 subscribers the cheapest beehiiv plan, Scale, bills $940 a year.
You want to charge before you pay. Kit's free plan sells subscriptions and products at 3.5% + 30c. On beehiiv, paid subscriptions start with Scale. At 5,000 subscribers, beehiiv's lower fee only makes up for Scale's $940 above about $157,000 of yearly sales (our arithmetic).
You need a paid plan and have up to 5,000 subscribers. Billed yearly, Kit Creator is $390 at 1,000 and $890 at 5,000, against $517 and $940 for beehiiv Scale.
When beehiiv wins
You have 10,000 subscribers or more. Billed yearly, beehiiv Scale is $1,151 at 10,000 and $1,785 at 25,000, against $1,390 and $1,990 for Kit Creator. At 100,000: $3,474 against $6,790.
Your paid subscription revenue is large. beehiiv's total fee is 0.6 points lower, and from 10,000 subscribers its plan is also cheaper.
What we could not verify: beehiiv's Ad Network and Recommendations revenue share terms, whether either vendor's yearly price holds at renewal, and any tax or overage charge not shown on the pricing pages.
Questions
Which free plan goes further?
Kit's: free up to 10,000 subscribers, and it lets you sell subscriptions. beehiiv Launch stops at 2,500 and excludes paid subscriptions. Read September 22, 2026.
Does beehiiv take a cut of paid subscriptions?
No. beehiiv states it takes 0%, and Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Paid subscriptions are not available on Launch.
What does Kit charge on money you make?
3.5% + 30c per sale on every plan, card processing included. Kit states its own share is 0.6%. Kit also keeps 23.5% of Paid Recommendations earnings on Creator and Pro.
What does beehiiv cost at 25,000 subscribers?
Scale: $169 billed monthly, or $1,785 billed yearly. Max: $289 monthly, or $3,052 yearly. Read September 22, 2026 on beehiiv.com/pricing.
What does Kit cost at 25,000 subscribers?
Creator: $199 billed monthly, or $1,990 billed yearly. Pro: $279 monthly, or $2,790 yearly. Checked on kit.com/pricing on September 23, 2026.
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