If you sell courses, run a newsletter or nurture a small SaaS waitlist, three names keep coming up: Kit (formerly ConvertKit), beehiiv and MailerLite. All three send email. They are built for different jobs.
Below: what each free plan includes, what you pay at about 1,000 subscribers, how automation and monetization differ, and which tool suits which kind of sender. Plan details come from public vendor pages (rechecked 11 Nov 2026). This is desk research, not a hands-on deliverability test.
Quick verdict
| You are… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A creator who needs sequences, visual automations and digital products | Kit (Creator) | Creator unlocks sequences and Visual Automations. Free goes to 10k subscribers but leaves both out |
| A newsletter or media brand that wants ads, paid subscriptions, a website and a podcast in one account | beehiiv | Newsletter, website and podcast tools; paid subscriptions on Lite and up with a 0% platform take rate |
| A solo business or small brand that wants low-cost automation and EU-hosted data | MailerLite | Comfort costs $19/month at 1,000; Power raises limits and adds multiple automation triggers |
At a glance: free plans and paid entry (≈1,000 subscribers)
USD. “Entry” means the lowest published paid tier near 1,000 subscribers. Always confirm the current price on each vendor’s page.
| Kit | beehiiv | MailerLite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free ceiling | Up to 10,000 subscribers | Up to 2,500 | Up to 250 |
| Free send limits | Unlimited email broadcasts; Kit says Free has a lower sending limit than paid plans | Unlimited sends | 2,500 emails a month |
| Not on Free | Visual Automations, email sequences, rules/RSS | Paid subscriptions, ads, automations, A/B tests (Lite and up) | Caps on automations/forms/sites; MailerLite logo stays |
| Paid entry (~1k) | Creator $39/mo monthly or $32.50/mo on annual ($390/yr); Pro $79/mo (up to 1,000); annual is 12 months for the price of 10 , which works out to about $65.83/mo if billed annually, by our math (as of 11 Nov 2026) | Lite $59/mo monthly or $49/mo annual ($588/yr); Pro $109/mo or $95/mo annual ($1,140/yr) | Comfort $19/mo or $17.10/mo annual; Power $39/mo or $35.10/mo annual |
| Annual billing | 12 months for the price of 10 | Quoted annual totals above | 10% off |
| Sending on paid plans | Unlimited broadcasts and email sequences (Creator and Pro) | Unlimited sends | Comfort: 10× your tier ceiling per month; Power: unlimited (fair use) |
Sources: kit.com/pricing, help.kit.com Free plan, Billing at Kit, beehiiv.com/pricing, mailerlite.com/pricing.md.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): built around creator automation
Who Kit is for
Kit targets creators who sell products and run automated funnels, not only a weekly newsletter. Its Free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers, which makes it a workable home if you only send broadcasts. Once you need sequences or Visual Automations, you need Creator or Pro.
Plans (public)
- Free / Newsletter: $0 up to 10,000 subscribers. Unlimited forms, landing pages and broadcasts; tagging; digital products; API. Sequences and Visual Automations require a paid plan.
- Creator: sequences, Visual Automations, branding removal, integrations, 2 users. $39/month on monthly billing for up to 1,000 subscribers, or $390/year ($32.50/month) on annual.
- Pro: adds engagement analytics, deliverability reporting, unlimited users, Facebook Custom Audiences and newsletter referral tools. $79/month (up to 1,000). Annual is 12 months for the price of 10 , which works out to about $65.83/month if billed annually, by our math (as of 11 Nov 2026).
Kit splits each plan into subscriber tiers, and your tier sets the price (Billing at Kit). For the 3k, 5k and 10k tiers, check the current price on the live page.
Kit strengths
- A 10k free list ceiling is hard to beat if you only send broadcasts.
- Sequences and Visual Automations are the core of the paid plans.
- Digital products and subscriptions sit in the same account as your list.
- Free migration help on paid plans (see our Mailchimp → Kit guide).
Kit trade-offs
- Free leaves out the automation tools most creators switch to Kit for.
- At the same list size, paid Kit costs more than MailerLite Comfort.
- No built-in website, podcast hosting or ad network of the kind beehiiv bundles.
beehiiv: newsletter growth and monetization
Who beehiiv is for
beehiiv is aimed at publishers whose business is the content itself: a newsletter plus website, podcast, community and digital products. Its October 2026 plans are Free / Lite / Pro / Enterprise. Every plan gets the same core tools; upgrades raise limits, add monetization options and seats, and improve support.
Plans (public, USD, at up to 1,000 subscribers)
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (≈/mo) | Maximum list size the plan supports (price rises with list size) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 2,500 |
| Lite | $59 | $49 ($588/yr) | 100,000 |
| Pro | $109 | $95 ($1,140/yr) | 250,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
The 100k and 250k figures are plan ceilings, not subscribers included at the entry price.
Lite adds paid subscriptions (0% platform take rate; payment-processing fees still apply), ad monetization, automations, A/B testing and polls. Pro adds branding removal, more seats and publications, dynamic content, more AI credits, click-triggered automations, advanced splits and priority support.
beehiiv strengths
- 0% platform take rate on paid newsletter revenue (official FAQ).
- Unlimited sends, including on Free.
- Growth tools such as a recommendation network are built in.
- Self-serve Pro now supports lists up to 250k (2026 plan change).
beehiiv trade-offs
- Free stops at 2,500 subscribers, a quarter of Kit’s free ceiling.
- At 1,000 subscribers, Lite on annual billing ($49/mo) costs more than MailerLite Comfort ($17.10) or Kit Creator ($32.50).
- Lite and Pro handle real automation, but beehiiv is not a sales CRM. For pipeline-style workflows, dedicated marketing-automation tools such as ActiveCampaign go further (covered in other comparisons).
- Ad Network access is not available in every region or during the trial, and access does not guarantee ad income.
MailerLite: low-cost plans for smaller lists and teams
Who MailerLite is for
MailerLite’s 2026 lineup is Free / Comfort / Power / Enterprise; plan names, prices and limits changed on 16 June 2026. Comfort includes most paid tools, with usage caps. Power raises those caps and adds multiple automation triggers, unlimited seats and live chat. Despite “full feature set” marketing, those features are Power-only. MailerLite stores data in the EU according to its public docs. That helps if data location matters to you, but it does not make your own workflow GDPR-compliant.
Plans (public USD)
| Plan | Entry price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats |
| Comfort | From $12/mo at 500 (verified); $19/mo at 1,000 ($17.10/mo annual) | 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 sites, email support; monthly emails = 10× tier ceiling |
| Power | From $25/mo at 500 (verified); $39/mo at 1,000 ($35.10/mo annual) | Unlimited emails (fair use); unlimited automations, forms, sites and seats; still 100 steps per automation; live chat |
| Enterprise | Custom | 200k+ |
MailerLite bills for every subscriber who was active at any point in the billing cycle, even if you delete them later.
MailerLite strengths
- Cheapest paid entry of the three at 1,000 subscribers (Comfort).
- Sites, digital products and automations without an enterprise plan.
- Published tier tables make costs by list size easy to compare.
MailerLite trade-offs
- Free is small: 250 subscribers.
- Comfort’s send cap can limit frequent senders; Power removes it.
- No newsletter ad network comparable to beehiiv’s. Compare automation workflows against Kit before choosing.
Feature head-to-head
Automation
- Kit: Visual Automations and sequences on Creator/Pro. Free accounts can’t create them.
- beehiiv: Automations from Lite; Pro adds click-triggered automations and advanced splits.
- MailerLite: Limited automations on Free; 50 on Comfort; unlimited on Power, each capped at 100 steps. Multiple triggers are Power-only.
Monetization
- Kit: Digital products and subscriptions from Free up; Creator Network recommendations.
- beehiiv: Paid subscriptions with 0% platform take rate (Lite and up), ads, digital products, community.
- MailerLite: Digital products and bookings; paid newsletters/subscriptions from Comfort.
Team seats
- Kit Creator: 2 users; Pro: unlimited (Kit Help).
- beehiiv Lite: 2 seats; Pro: 10.
- MailerLite Free: 2; Comfort: 3; Power: unlimited.
Send allowances are not a deliverability ranking
These are plan allowances. They say nothing about which provider gets more mail into inboxes. All three offer unlimited or high-volume sending on paid plans. Of the three, only MailerLite Comfort still ties monthly sends to 10× your subscriber tier, so check that cap if you send often.
Pricing at 1,000 subscribers (annual billing)
Effective monthly cost on annual billing. You pay for the year upfront.
| Plan | Effective monthly (annual billing) | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Kit Creator | $32.50 | Sequences + Visual Automations |
| Kit Pro | $79/mo (up to 1,000); about $65.83/mo annual by our math | Analytics, unlimited users, growth tools |
| beehiiv Lite | $49 | Monetization + automations |
| beehiiv Pro | $95 | Branding removal, more seats, advanced automation |
| MailerLite Comfort | $17.10 | Comfort features, with send cap |
| MailerLite Power | $35.10 | Unlimited sends (fair use), higher limits, multiple triggers |
Under 250 subscribers, MailerLite Free covers campaigns and a few automations. Kit Free handles broadcasts but not sequences or Visual Automations, however small your list. If you want paid subscriptions, ads, a website and a podcast in one account, beehiiv’s higher price may be worth it.
Which one fits your workflow?
| Scenario | Pick | Skip (for now) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10k, newsletters only, no sequences | Kit Free | Paying for beehiiv Lite without needing its monetization tools |
| Welcome series, tag-based funnels, product launches | Kit Creator | MailerLite Free (250 cap, limited automations) |
| Paid newsletter, sponsorships, referral growth | beehiiv Lite/Pro | Kit Free |
| EU data preference, sites and email for under ~$20/mo at 1k | MailerLite Comfort | beehiiv if budget is tight |
| Daily digests to a mid-size list | Any paid Kit or beehiiv plan / MailerLite Power | MailerLite Comfort (10× cap) |
| Five or more people working on every send | Kit Pro, beehiiv Pro or MailerLite Power | Kit Creator (2 users) / beehiiv Lite (2 seats) |
How to choose in 10 minutes
- Count your subscribers the way each vendor bills them, and estimate monthly sends. (MailerLite, for example, counts anyone active during the billing cycle.)
- List must-haves: sequences, paid subscriptions, ads, website, EU hosting. Data location alone does not settle GDPR compliance.
- Price the matching plan on each official page (links in Sources).
- Build one real welcome flow in each trial.
- Only then compare affiliate or annual deals.
Free plan or free trial: what should you check?
A trial can let you build a workflow that your eventual free plan will not run. Before choosing, write down what must still work after the trial: a welcome series, a custom domain, a signup form and any paid content. Check those requirements against the plan you intend to keep, not just the trial dashboard.
Does a working test email prove good deliverability?
No. A test to your own inbox checks the message and links in that situation; it does not measure inbox placement across a subscriber list. We have not run a comparative sending test for this guide.
What if I already have a website?
Include the existing site in your decision. Test an embedded signup form, check where the newsletter archive will live, and decide which URLs should remain on your own domain. A second website is not automatically a benefit if you only need forms and email.
Related Email Stack Guide pieces
- Email marketing software pricing compared (broader table)
- Email marketing ROI calculator
- Migrate from Mailchimp to Kit
- Switch from Kit to beehiiv
Sources
- Kit pricing: https://kit.com/pricing
- Kit Free plan: https://help.kit.com/en/articles/16627071-the-kit-free-plan
- Kit Creator vs Pro: https://help.kit.com/en/articles/4494683-creator-vs-pro-choose-the-right-plan
- Kit billing: https://help.kit.com/en/articles/2502679-billing-at-kit
- beehiiv pricing: https://www.beehiiv.com/pricing
- beehiiv 2026 plans post: https://www.beehiiv.com/blog/beehiiv-pricing-2026
- MailerLite pricing (markdown tiers): https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing.md
- MailerLite pricing HTML: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing
Email Stack Guide · Imprint: LiBrAi · See our affiliate disclosure.