The best beehiiv alternatives after the 2026 price increase: 6 tools compared
beehiiv raised prices on October 1, 2026. The best beehiiv alternatives compared on price, paid newsletters, and selling: Eden, Kit, Substack, Mailchimp, MailerLite, and Ghost.
beehiiv is the best tool for growing a newsletter: an ad network, a referral program, a recommendation network, and 0% taken from paid subscriptions. It raised its prices on October 1, 2026 (Lite at 10,000 subscribers went from $109 to $139 a month), and people look elsewhere because automations and paid subscriptions start on Lite ($59 a month at 1,000), order bumps, upsells, and coaching need Pro, and everything is built around a publication. If you mostly sell products, Eden puts sales emails next to your store and checkout. Kit is the best all-round creator email tool, Substack is best for writers, MailerLite is the cheapest, and Ghost is best if you want your own site with paid memberships.
This guide is for creators on beehiiv now, or choosing between beehiiv and something else. Full disclosure: we make Eden, which is first on this list. Eden sells paid newsletters but isn't a full newsletter platform. We say plainly where beehiiv or another tool is the better pick. Prices were checked on each company's site in October 2026.
What beehiiv does well, and why people look elsewhere
beehiiv was built to grow newsletters, and it shows. The free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, a website, landing pages, the recommendation network, and one digital product. On paid plans you get an ad network, a referral program, paid recommendations, and paid subscriptions. beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscriptions and 0% of digital product sales (Stripe's fee still applies). Sends are unlimited on every plan.
Why some creators look elsewhere:
- Prices went up. New prices started October 1, 2026 for new customers, and existing customers move over at their first renewal on or after November 1. At 10,000 subscribers, Lite went from $109 to $139 a month and Pro from $219 to $239. At 1,000, Lite went from $49 to $59. Custom domains left the free plan.
- Automations cost money. There are no automations on Free. Lite gets 10 live automations, from $59 a month (or $49 billed yearly) at 1,000 subscribers.
- Selling tools sit on Pro. Order bumps, upsells, webinars, coaching, and unlimited digital products are on Pro, from $109 a month ($95 billed yearly) at 1,000 subscribers.
- It's built around a publication. Posts, a web archive, and growth tools come first. If your list exists to sell a course or coaching, a lot of beehiiv is stuff you won't use.
- The bill grows with your list. At 10,000 subscribers, Lite is $139 a month ($119 billed yearly) and Pro is $239 ($199 billed yearly).
The short version
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | At 10,000 subscribers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | Sales emails next to your store | No email on Free | $108/mo broadcasts, $158/mo with sequences |
| Kit | Creators who sell and want automations | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $116/mo ($1,390/yr) |
| Substack | Writers with a paid newsletter | Free, 10% of paid subscriptions | Free |
| Mailchimp | Shops and small businesses | 250 contacts | Essentials $110/mo, Standard $135/mo |
| MailerLite | Low price with automations | 250 subscribers, 3 automations | Comfort $89/mo ($80.10/mo billed yearly) |
| Ghost | Your own site with paid memberships | No (free trial) | Rises with members (Publisher from $29/mo yearly) |
| beehiiv | Growing a newsletter (for reference) | Up to 2,500 subscribers | Lite $139/mo ($119/mo billed yearly) |
Card processing (usually 2.9% + 30¢ per US payment) applies wherever you take money.
1. Eden
Eden is a creator store with email built in. Your products, checkout, and sales emails live in one place, so your emails know who bought what.
What it does well:
- Your list builds itself. Buyers, people who claim a free product, signups on your page, people who tick the email box on a form or quiz, and people who start checkout but don't buy all land in your contacts.
- Sequences that stop pitching buyers. Give a sequence a product to sell. Anyone who buys it leaves the sequence, so they never get "last chance" emails for something they own.
- Checkout recovery. People who start checkout and leave get a reminder. beehiiv has no version of this.
- Ready-made sequences. Welcome, Free to paid, Upsell, Abandoned checkout, Ask for testimonials, and Win back. Write with AI drafts a whole sequence from the product it sells (10 credits).
- Money per email. Every broadcast and sequence email shows sent, opened, clicked, and money earned.
- No domain setup. Emails go out from your store handle on Eden's sending address, with unsubscribe links, bounce checks, and spam watching handled for you.
- Paid newsletters. Sell a newsletter monthly, yearly, or once, email each issue to paying readers, and keep every issue in an archive in Eden, for 5% (2% on Max). See Newsletters.
Where it falls short: Eden isn't a full newsletter platform. There's no public web archive, no ad network, no referral program, and no recommendation network. There are no A/B tests, no visual automation builder, and you can't send from your own domain. Sequences need Pro.
Price: Starter $29/mo (broadcasts, 250 contacts). Pro $79/mo adds sequences and checkout recovery. Bigger lists add one flat list size price: $79/mo at 10,000 contacts. Selling costs 5% per sale. Eden takes no extra fee on email.
Best for: creators whose list exists to sell courses, coaching, or downloads. You can also keep your newsletter on beehiiv and use Eden for sales emails. Eden sends buyers and signups to beehiiv, Kit, GoHighLevel, or Substack. See Eden vs beehiiv.
2. Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the classic creator email tool. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms, broadcasts, tags, and selling digital products.
What it does well: sequences and unlimited visual automations on Creator, 100+ app integrations, and selling on every plan for 3.5% + 30¢ per sale (card processing included). Recommendations are free on every plan, and there are no sending limits.
Where it falls short: the free plan has no sequences or automations. The referral program is Pro only. Abandoned checkout works for Shopify, Fourthwall, and Wix stores, not Kit's own products.
Price: Free up to 10,000. Creator from $33/mo ($390/yr) at 1,000 subscribers, $116/mo at 10,000. Pro from $66/mo at 1,000. See Kit vs beehiiv and Eden vs Kit.
Best for: creators who want strong automations and a big free plan.
3. Substack
Substack is free to publish and takes 10% of paid subscriptions, plus Stripe's fee. It gives you a newsletter, a web archive, a reader app, and Notes, where a lot of discovery happens.
Where it falls short: 10% of paid revenue adds up fast, there are no real automations, and your design choices are limited. There's no official way for other apps to add subscribers, though Eden adds signups to Substack through its desktop app or Chrome extension.
Price: free, 10% of paid subscriptions. See Substack growth strategy.
Best for: writers whose main product is the newsletter.
4. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the biggest name in email, with 300+ integrations and tools built for online shops.
Where it falls short: it counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your bill, Essentials only allows 4 steps in a flow, and prices jump by contact band. It isn't built for creators selling courses or coaching. More in Mailchimp alternatives.
Price: Free up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. At 10,000 contacts, Essentials $110/mo and Standard $135/mo.
Best for: businesses that already run a shop on Mailchimp's integrations.
5. MailerLite
MailerLite is the budget pick. Every paid plan gets the full feature set, and you pay for list size and sending.
What it does well: the free plan includes 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 3 automations, a website, a landing page, and one digital product or booking. Comfort adds 50 automations, 5 digital products or bookings, and removes the MailerLite logo. Power makes automations, products, and sending unlimited.
Where it falls short: no ad network or referral program like beehiiv, and the free plan is small.
Price: Comfort from $12/mo at 500 subscribers ($89/mo at 10,000). Power from $25/mo ($129/mo at 10,000). About 10% off billed yearly.
Best for: small lists that want automations for less.
6. Ghost
Ghost is open source publishing software. Ghost(Pro) is the hosted version: a real website, an email newsletter, and paid memberships, with no payment fees.
Where it falls short: the Starter plan has no paid subscriptions and only one staff user. Prices rise with your member count, and it has fewer growth tools than beehiiv.
Price: Starter from $18/mo billed yearly (1,000 members). Publisher from $29/mo billed yearly adds paid subscriptions, custom themes, and 3 staff users. Business from $199/mo billed yearly.
Best for: writers who want their own site and paid memberships with 0% taken.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Eden if your list exists to sell products, and you want emails that know who bought, recover lost checkouts, and stop pitching buyers.
- Pick Kit if you want automations and a free plan up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Pick Substack if you're a writer and the newsletter is the product.
- Pick MailerLite if price matters most and your list is small.
- Pick Ghost if you want your own site and paid memberships with no fee.
- Pick Mailchimp if you run an online shop and need its integrations.
- Stay on beehiiv if growth is the goal. Its ad network, referrals, and recommendations are hard to match. You can still add Eden for sales emails and send your buyers to beehiiv.
Where Eden falls short
Eden is a store with email and paid newsletters, not a full newsletter platform. If growing a publication is the goal, stay on beehiiv, Kit, Substack, or Ghost and connect it to Eden. Eden has no public web archive, no ad network, no referral program, no A/B tests, no branching automations, and no sending from your own domain. Starter includes 250 contacts before you add a list size, and sequences need Pro.
Frequently asked questions
Did beehiiv raise its prices in 2026?
Yes. New prices started October 1, 2026 for new customers, and existing customers move over at their first renewal on or after November 1. Plans were renamed too: Launch is now Free, Scale is Lite, and Max is Pro. At 10,000 subscribers, Lite went from $109 to $139 a month. More in beehiiv pricing.
What is the best free alternative to beehiiv?
Kit, for most creators. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, four times beehiiv's 2,500. Substack is also free to publish and only takes 10% when you charge.
What is cheaper than beehiiv?
MailerLite. At 10,000 subscribers, Comfort is $89 a month, against $139 for beehiiv Lite. Substack costs nothing until you take paid subscriptions.
Can I use beehiiv and Eden together?
Yes. Keep your newsletter on beehiiv and connect it in Eden's Integrations. Buyers and signups go to beehiiv, and Eden sends your sales emails, like welcome sequences and checkout recovery. See connect your email list.
Can I move my beehiiv list to Eden?
Yes. Export your subscribers and import them in Customers. Only import people who bought from you or agreed to hear from you. Imported people get broadcasts, not sequences. See the email marketing help article.
Does beehiiv take a cut of paid subscriptions?
No. beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscriptions and digital product sales. Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ still applies.
Want sales emails that sit next to your store? Start Eden free, claim your page, and send your first broadcast.