Newsletter Ledgerbeehiiv alternatives: what costs less at your list size
beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers, but selling subscriptions needs its Lite plan from the first subscriber. For a paid newsletter under 10,000 subscribers, Kit, MailerLite and Buttondown all cost less in our example, with Kit the cheapest. From 25,000 subscribers up, beehiiv is within a few percent of the cheapest options. Prices checked .
Paid newsletter: monthly cost next to beehiiv
| Platform | 1,000 subscribers | 5,000 subscribers | 10,000 subscribers | 25,000 subscribers | 50,000 subscribers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv (for reference) | $75.60 Lite | $228.00 Lite | $385.00 Lite | $834.00 Lite | $1,579.00 Lite |
| Kit | $29.00 cheapest Free | $145.00 cheapest Free | $290.00 cheapest Free | $890.83 * Creator | $1,829.00 * Creator |
| MailerLite | $43.70 Comfort | $177.10 Comfort | $346.10 Comfort | $826.10 Comfort | $1,617.10 Comfort |
| Buttondown | $44.60 Standard | $171.00 Standard | $354.00 Standard | n/a no self-serve price | n/a no self-serve price |
| Ghost (Pro) | $55.60 Publisher | $196.00 * Publisher | $354.00 * Publisher | $806.00 * cheapest Publisher | $1,538.00 * cheapest Publisher |
| Substack | $66.60 Substack (no plan fee) | $333.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $666.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $1,665.00 Substack (no plan fee) | $3,330.00 Substack (no plan fee) |
Per month, US dollars, billed yearly where the platform offers it, otherwise month-to-month. 5% of the list pays $8/month; plan, platform fee and Stripe's card fees included. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the vendor's own page. "n/a" = no self-serve price in our data at that size.
Free newsletter: monthly cost next to beehiiv
| Platform | 1,000 subscribers | 5,000 subscribers | 10,000 subscribers | 25,000 subscribers | 50,000 subscribers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv (for reference) | $0.00 cheapest Free | $95.00 Lite | $119.00 Lite | $169.00 Lite | $249.00 Lite |
| Kit | $0.00 cheapest Free | $0.00 cheapest Free | $0.00 cheapest Free | $165.83 * Creator | $379.00 * Creator |
| MailerLite | $17.10 Comfort | $44.10 Comfort | $80.10 Comfort | $161.10 Comfort | $287.10 Comfort |
| Buttondown | $9.00 Standard | $29.00 Standard | $79.00 Standard | n/a no self-serve price | n/a no self-serve price |
| Ghost (Pro) | $18.00 Starter | $63.00 * Publisher | $88.00 * Publisher | $141.00 * Publisher | $208.00 * Publisher |
| Substack | $0.00 cheapest Substack (no plan fee) | $0.00 cheapest Substack (no plan fee) | $0.00 cheapest Substack (no plan fee) | $0.00 cheapest Substack (no plan fee) | $0.00 cheapest Substack (no plan fee) |
Per month, US dollars, billed yearly where the platform offers it, otherwise month-to-month. Plan price only. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the vendor's own page. "n/a" = no self-serve price in our data at that size.
Try your own list size, price and share of paying readers in the cost calculator.
Disclosure: links to platforms go through /go/ redirects. Some are affiliate links (currently beehiiv, Systeme.io and Buttondown): if you sign up and pay, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. That never changes the numbers or the order of results. Full disclosure.
The alternatives, from their own pages
Kit
- Free plan up to 10,000 subscribers, and it can sell paid subscriptions.
- Charges 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction including card processing, which Kit says means it "only takes 0.6%".
- Above 10,000 subscribers you need the Creator plan. Creator prices above 3,000 subscribers are not yet confirmed on Kit's own page.
- The referral program is on the Pro plan, not Creator.
Visit Kit (opens in a new tab)
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
MailerLite
- Free plan up to 250 subscribers, without paid newsletters.
- Comfort is priced by list size and sells paid subscriptions with 0% commission; only Stripe fees apply.
- Paying yearly saves 10%.
- A general email marketing tool, not only a newsletter platform.
Visit MailerLite (opens in a new tab)
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Buttondown
- Free for the first 100 subscribers, then priced by list size: $9/month to 1,000, $29 to 5,000, $79 to 10,000 and $139 to 20,000.
- Paid subscriptions are a +$9/month add-on, and Buttondown says "You keep all of the money you make after credit card fees."
- No yearly price found, so our figures are month-to-month.
Visit Buttondown (opens in a new tab)
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Ghost (Pro)
- Ghost(Pro) has no free plan. Starter is $18/month billed yearly and cannot sell subscriptions.
- Publisher, the cheapest plan with paid subscriptions, is $29/month billed yearly at 1,000 members. Prices for larger lists sit behind a slider we could not read, so those figures are not yet confirmed.
- No transaction fees from Ghost on subscriptions; payment processor fees still apply.
Visit Ghost (Pro) (opens in a new tab)
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
Substack
- Free to publish at any list size: there is no plan price.
- Keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, on top of Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per card charge. Its help center also lists Stripe Billing at 0.7% of recurring payments.
- A custom domain is an optional one-time $50.
Visit Substack (opens in a new tab)
Official pricing source (checked 2026-10-19)
When beehiiv is still the better deal
- A free newsletter under 2,500 subscribers. beehiiv Free costs $0, the same as Kit Free and Substack.
- Growth tools on the entry paid plan. beehiiv Lite includes the referral program and the ad network; on Kit the referral program needs the Pro plan.
- Large paid lists. At 50,000 subscribers beehiiv Lite costs less than MailerLite Comfort and Kit Creator in our data.
- Coming from Substack with paying readers. beehiiv can take over existing paid subscriptions through Stripe, which Kit and MailerLite cannot.
Questions
What is cheaper than beehiiv?
For a paid newsletter under 10,000 subscribers, Kit, MailerLite and Buttondown all cost less than beehiiv Lite in our example (5% of readers paying $8/month). Kit is the cheapest of them because its Free plan sells subscriptions up to 10,000 subscribers. Above 25,000 subscribers the platforms are within a few percent of each other.
Is there a free alternative to beehiiv?
beehiiv itself is free up to 2,500 subscribers for a newsletter without paid subscriptions. Above that, Kit's Free plan costs $0 up to 10,000 subscribers and Substack is $0 at any size, though Substack keeps 10% once readers pay.
Does any alternative take 0% of paid subscriptions like beehiiv?
Yes. MailerLite, Buttondown and Ghost(Pro) also state 0% on subscription revenue, so you pay only the plan and Stripe. Kit takes 0.6% on top of card processing and Substack keeps 10%.
This page compares published prices and plan limits only; we have not moved a publication off beehiiv ourselves. The order of platforms follows the numbers, never whether a platform pays us. See the methodology.