Automate Basics

Kit vs beehiiv vs MailerLite

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 21 October 2026.

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

Compared on
Kit

Free plan · from $32.50/mo

beehiiv

Free plan · from $49/mo

MailerLite

Free plan · from $10.80/mo

What it isEmail marketing for creators, formerly ConvertKit, with a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribersNewsletter platform with a website builder and ad network, free up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sendsEmail marketing with a free plan for 250 subscribers and paid plans priced by list size and sending
Free planUp 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 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 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month; 3 active automations with up to 5 steps; 1 website and 1 landing page; 3 active forms; 1 digital product or booking; 2 user seats; MailerLite logo on emails; API and MCP access limited, with no sending through them; community support. Sending locks above 250 active subscribers.
Cheapest paid plan$32.50/mo billed annually (Creator)Kit pricing$49/mo billed annually (Lite)beehiiv pricing$10.80/mo billed annually (Comfort)MailerLite pricing
What it coversFor 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.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 up to 500 subscribers and 5,000 emails a month; $129.60 billed yearly (10% off); 3 user seats, 50 automations, 10 forms. The price rises with subscriber count, and the plan moves to the next tier automatically when the limit is passed.
Free trial14-day free trial of Creator or Pro, no credit card requiredFree trial of Lite and Pro, no credit card needed (length not stated)14-day trial of premium features on every new account, no credit card required
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, APIWeb, iOS, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)100+ direct app integrations through the Kit App StoreConnects with Stripe, Zapier, Google Analytics and more100+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, ChatGPT and Claude
Open sourceNoNoNo
Good for
  • 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
  • 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
  • Small businesses sending regular newsletters on a tight budget
  • Creators selling digital products, bookings or paid newsletters
  • Teams that want the full feature set without moving to a higher tier
Watch out for
  • 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 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 stops at 250 subscribers and sending locks when the limit is passed
  • Comfort caps sending at 5,000 emails a month at 500 subscribers and allows 50 automations and 10 forms
  • Transactional email is a separate product, MailerSend
Made byKit, Inc.beehiiv Inc.MailerLite Limited

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.

Every tool in email marketing tools is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.