beehiiv vs Kit vs Mailchimp

Written head to head: Kit vs beehiiv · Kit vs Mailchimp, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	beehiiv Free plan · from $49/mo VisitRemove	Kit Free plan · from $32.50/mo VisitRemove	Mailchimp Free plan · from $13/mo VisitRemove
What it is	Newsletter platform with a website builder and ad network, free up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends	Email marketing for creators, formerly ConvertKit, with a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers	Intuit's email and SMS marketing platform, free for 250 contacts, with AI writing on Standard and Premium
Free plan	Up to 2,500 subscribers; unlimited email sends; 1 publication and 1 team seat; website builder, landing pages, recommendation network, API and integrations; 3 segments; 30-day analytics lookback; no automations, A/B testing, paid subscriptions or in-editor AI; beehiiv branding stays on. No credit card needed.	Up to 10,000 subscribers; unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts; tagging and segmentation; sell digital products and subscriptions (3.5% + 30c per sale); 1 user. No visual automations, email sequences, RSS campaigns or app integrations, and Kit branding stays on.	Up to 250 contacts; 500 email sends a month with no more than 250 a day; 1 user seat and 1 audience; limited pre-built templates; no automation flows, email scheduling or A/B testing; Mailchimp branding stays on; email support for the first 30 days only. Sending pauses if the contact or send limit is exceeded.
Cheapest paid plan	$49/mo billed annually (Lite)beehiiv pricing	$32.50/mo billed annually (Creator)Kit pricing	$13/mo (Essentials)Mailchimp pricing
What it covers	For 1,000 subscribers (the smallest tier); 2 team seats, 3 publications, 10 live automations. Lite allows up to 100,000 subscribers and the price rises with subscriber count.	For 1,000 subscribers (the smallest tier); $390 billed yearly, shown as $33/mo. 2 users. The price rises with subscriber count, for example $50/mo billed yearly at 3,000 subscribers.	Starting price for the 0-500 contacts tier; email sends up to 10x the contact count (5,000 a month at 500 contacts); 3 user seats. The price rises with the contact tier, up to $385/month for 50,000 contacts. Overages are billed if contact or send limits are exceeded. Annual plans exist only for Standard and Premium at 10,000+ contacts, through sales.
Free trial	Free trial of Lite and Pro, no credit card needed (length not stated)	14-day free trial of Creator or Pro, no credit card required	14-day free trial of Essentials or Standard (payment details required at sign-up); a 1-month Premium trial for qualified new customers through sales
Platforms	Web, API	Web, API	Web, iOS, Android, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Connects with Stripe, Zapier, Google Analytics and more	100+ direct app integrations through the Kit App Store	300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Stripe and Salesforce
Open source	No	No	No
Good for	Writers starting a newsletter free up to 2,500 subscribers Publishers earning from ads and paid subscriptions Media brands running several newsletters with a website	Creators growing a newsletter list to 10,000 subscribers without paying Selling digital products or paid newsletter subscriptions to an email list Setting up welcome sequences and launch funnels with visual automations	Small businesses sending regular newsletters to a few thousand contacts Ecommerce stores that want automated flows tied to Shopify or WooCommerce data Trying email marketing free with a list under 250 contacts
Watch out for	The free plan has no automations, A/B testing or in-editor AI Removing beehiiv branding needs Pro beehiiv cannot send SMS natively; its pages point to the API or webhooks for that	The free plan has no automations, sequences or app integrations Creator includes 2 users; unlimited users need Pro Digital product and subscription sales carry a 3.5% + 30c fee on every plan	The free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with no automation flows or scheduling Essentials automation flows are limited to 4 steps; generative AI features need Standard or Premium Overage charges apply on paid plans when contact or send limits are exceeded
Made by	beehiiv Inc.	Kit, Inc.	The Rocket Science Group LLC d/b/a Mailchimp (part of Intuit)

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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