beehiiv vs MailerLite: the growth-stage fork in newsletter pricing
At the start, these two are interchangeable: a free plan, a decent editor, automations. The fork appears when the newsletter becomes a business — because beehiiv prices the ceiling your list may grow to, while MailerLite prices the list you actually have. Growth is free on one and billable on the other, and which is better flips twice on the way up.
The verified numbers
| beehiiv (verified Oct 23, 2026) | MailerLite (verified Oct 23, 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 2,500 subscribers, 1 seat, 30-day analytics | Up to 1,000 subscribers, free automations and forms |
| Entry paid | Lite — $49/mo, up to 100,000 subscribers, 2 seats, 0% take rate on paid subs | $12/mo for up to 1,000 (annual ~$10.80), 50 automations, 3 seats |
| Growth tier | Pro — $95/mo, up to 250,000 subscribers, 10 seats | Power — $22.50/mo annual, unlimited everything |
| Monetisation | Built in: paid subscriptions, ad network, boosts | Sell digital products via its commerce features; no ad network |
| Signature quirk | Step-function pricing: the tier is a ceiling, not a meter | Band pricing: you pay for the band your list falls in |
Full breakdowns: beehiiv pricing explained and, for the other ruler, the three rulers of email pricing. The direct Kit comparison — the third player in this market — is in Kit vs MailerLite and beehiiv vs Kit.
Where each one wins
beehiiv wins the growth story. A list of 20,000 — which costs real money on band-priced platforms — runs on beehiiv Lite at $49 with room to 100,000. That is the step function doing its job: the price is flat while the list compounds, which is exactly the incentive a newsletter aiming at scale wants. And the monetisation layer is native: paid subscriptions with a 0% take rate on Lite, an ad network that matches sponsors to your list, and boosts for cross-promotion. For a newsletter whose business model is the newsletter, that stack has no equivalent at MailerLite.
MailerLite wins the early years and the automation depth. Below ~2,500 subscribers it is cheaper at every step ($12 versus $49 once paid), includes real automations on every tier including free, and its band pricing stays proportional — you never pay a $49 minimum for a 3,000-person list. For a service business that uses email as one tool among several (the stack shape in the minimal software stack), MailerLite is the utility purchase; beehiiv's minimum is a bet on audience scale you have not made yet.
The crossover arithmetic
Three zones, from the verified figures:
- Under 1,000 subscribers: MailerLite free ($0) versus beehiiv free ($0) — choose on editor and features, not price.
- 1,000–2,500: MailerLite $12 versus beehiiv free — MailerLite is cheaper and paid, and only monetisation ambition (paid subs, sponsorships) justifies the difference.
- Roughly 5,000 and beyond: beehiiv Lite at $49 flat versus MailerLite's climbing bands — the step function overtakes, and by 20,000 the gap is not close. This is the fork: MailerLite until scale is real, beehiiv when the list is the business.
The parallel calculation for paid-newsletter economics — how much of $5,000/month survives each platform's fees — is in the cheapest way to run a paid newsletter.
The decision, by situation
- Newsletter as a side channel: MailerLite — lowest floor, automations included, no scale bet.
- Newsletter as the business, growth intended: beehiiv — the ceiling pricing and native monetisation compound with the list instead of against it.
- Currently at 1,000–2,500 and unsure: free on both or $12 on MailerLite; delay the fork until monetisation is real. The honest upgrade trigger is in when upgrades pay off.
- Leaving Mailchimp for either: the migration mechanics are shared — see moving from Mailchimp to Kit for what breaks in any move.
What we cannot verify
Both vendors' figures were read from their own pricing pages on October 23, 2026: beehiiv's Free/Lite/Pro ceilings, seat counts and take-rate statement; MailerLite's plan prices at the 1,000-subscriber band and its automation/seat allowances. MailerLite's band prices scale non-linearly above the quoted band — we have not mapped its full price ladder beyond the verified points. We have not run parallel sends to compare deliverability, and beehiiv's ad-network earnings are market-dependent and unverifiable in advance. Regional pricing may differ. See How We Test.