beehiiv vs Kit
Pick Kit if your list is under 10,000 and you sell subscriptions or products, because its free plan sells for 3.5% + $0.30 with no monthly bill. Pick beehiiv if ads, referrals, and a newsletter website drive your business. The deciding factor is list size: past 10,000 subscribers, both charge a monthly plan.
| beehiiv | Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee on paid subscriptions | 0%, plus Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 | 3.5% + $0.30, card processing included |
| Platform's own share | 0% | 0.6% |
| Free plan | Up to 2,500 subscribers, no paid subscriptions | Up to 10,000 subscribers, selling included |
| Cheapest plan that can sell | Lite, $59 a month at 1,000 subscribers | Free |
| Price at 5,000 subscribers | Lite $109, Pro $199 a month | Free $0, Creator $89, Pro $139 a month |
| Automations | Lite and Pro | Creator and Pro |
| Payouts | Your connected Stripe account | Weekly on Fridays, first payout 7 to 14 days after first sale |
| Audience export | CSV with custom fields and statistics | CSV of your list or any segment |
| Custom domain | Paid plans | Every plan, including Free |
| Moving paid subscribers | Import tool copies them from your old Stripe account | Cannot move in or out with card details |
| Ad and referral income | Ad Network and paid recommendations on Lite and Pro | Paid Recommendations on paid plans, Kit keeps 23.5% |
| You keep on $1,000 a month | $825 | $928 |
| You keep on $10,000 a month | $9,226 | $9,275 |
| Our score | 8.1 out of 10 | 7.6 out of 10 |
What you keep on $1,000 a month
Both platforms paid in $8 payments by US cards, each on whichever plan leaves you the most. The blue is yours. The hatched part is fees.
| Platform and plan | Share kept versus fees | You keep | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| KitFree | $928 | −$72 | |
| beehiivLite | $825 | −$175 |
On $10,000 a month: beehiiv $9,226, Kit $9,275. How we calculate this.
Pick beehiiv if
- sponsorships and the Ad Network are a big part of your income.
- you are moving paid subscribers from Substack or another Stripe-based platform.
- you want a full newsletter website, podcast hosting, and community in one place.
Pick Kit if
- you sell to a list under 10,000 and want no monthly bill.
- the newsletter supports ebooks, courses, or other digital products.
- you want visual automations and email sequences for selling.
Which is cheaper, beehiiv or Kit?
Kit is cheaper for nearly anyone selling to a list under 10,000. Its free plan sells subscriptions for 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction, card processing included. beehiiv takes 0% of sales, but you need Lite to sell, at $59 a month for 1,000 subscribers or $109 at 5,000.
Kit's own share of each sale is 0.6%, against beehiiv's 0%. That 0.6% only passes beehiiv Lite's price at about $9,800 a month in sales at 1,000 subscribers, and about $18,000 at 5,000. See take-home pay at your revenue on our fee comparison.
Past 10,000 subscribers the math changes. Kit's free plan stops sending, so you pay for Creator or Pro on top of the transaction fee.
Which is better for a paid newsletter?
beehiiv is the better newsletter tool, and Kit is the better selling tool. beehiiv builds paid tiers, metered paywalls, and a website into the publishing flow, with the Ad Network and referrals on top.
Kit treats a paid newsletter as a subscription product. Its strength is automation: visual automations, sequences, and tags that move readers toward ebooks, courses, and other products sold from the same checkout. Read the beehiiv review and Kit review for the full feature lists.
Which one lets you leave more easily?
beehiiv is easier to move paid subscribers into, and both export your list as a CSV. beehiiv has an import tool that copies paid subscribers from your old platform's Stripe account.
Kit is stuck in both directions. Its help center says there is no convenient way to bring paid subscriptions in with card details, and beehiiv's help center says subscriptions run through Kit and Stripe Express cannot move out. Kit does include a custom domain on every plan, while beehiiv needs a paid plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kit cheaper than beehiiv?
For lists under 10,000 subscribers, yes. Kit's free plan sells for 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction with no monthly fee. beehiiv takes 0% of sales but charges at least $59 a month to sell.
Can I sell paid subscriptions on the free plan of either?
On Kit, yes, up to 10,000 subscribers. On beehiiv, no. Its free plan caps at 2,500 subscribers and cannot sell paid subscriptions.
Which pays out faster, beehiiv or Kit?
Kit publishes its schedule: weekly payouts on Fridays, with the first one 7 to 14 days after your first sale. beehiiv sends subscription revenue to your connected Stripe account and does not publish a payout timeline.
Can I move from Kit to beehiiv?
Yes for your list, which exports from Kit as a CSV with tags. Not for paid subscriptions. beehiiv's help center says subscriptions run through Kit and Stripe Express cannot be migrated, so you cancel them in Kit and ask readers to resubscribe on beehiiv.