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Verdict: choose Beehiiv if your newsletter is the product: you want to grow a large audience fast and earn from ads, sponsorships and paid subscriptions. Choose Kit (formerly ConvertKit) if your newsletter supports a business: you sell products, courses or services and need strong automations and tagging to send the right email to the right person.
Both are excellent, both have free plans, and both are far better for newsletters than general email tools. The difference is what they're built to help you do.
Quick comparison
| Beehiiv | Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Media-style newsletters, growth and ad revenue | Creators and businesses selling products/services |
| Free plan | Up to 2,500 subscribers | Up to 10,000 subscribers (limited features) |
| Paid from | See site | See site |
| Growth tools | Referral program, Boosts, recommendations | Creator Network recommendations, referrals (paid) |
| Monetisation | Ad network, paid subscriptions, Boosts | Digital products, paid newsletters, tip jar |
| Automations | Good, improving | Excellent (visual builder, tags, sequences) |
| Website | Built-in newsletter website | Landing pages + creator profile |
| Affiliate program | See site | 30% recurring |
👉 Try Beehiiv free · Try Kit free (affiliate links)
Pricing
Both have free plans that are genuinely usable. Paid pricing scales with subscriber count.
| Subscribers | Beehiiv | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | See site | See site |
| 5,000 | See site | See site |
| 10,000 | See site | See site |
Note: Beehiiv's paid tiers unlock its main growth and monetisation tools. Kit's paid tiers unlock automations beyond the basics, integrations and more. Compare the features you'll actually use, not just the price.
Growth tools (referrals and recommendations)
This is where Beehiiv shines.
- Beehiiv: a built-in referral program (reward subscribers for sharing), a recommendation network where newsletters recommend each other at signup, and Boosts, where other newsletters pay you per subscriber you send them, or you pay to get subscribers.
- Kit: the Creator Network lets creators recommend each other, and paid plans include a referral system. Strong, but more focused on creators than on media-style growth.
Winner: Beehiiv, especially if audience size is your main goal.
Monetisation features
- Beehiiv: an ad network that matches your newsletter with sponsors, paid subscriptions (premium tiers), and Boosts income.
- Kit: sell digital products and paid newsletters directly, with a simple checkout, plus tip jars. Great if you sell your own templates, guides or courses.
Winner: depends on your model. Ads and sponsorships → Beehiiv. Your own products → Kit.
Automations
For a business, automations are where email makes money: welcome sequences, nurture sequences, product launches and tagging based on clicks.
- Kit: a mature visual automation builder. Tag people by what they click or buy, move them into different sequences, and segment precisely. This is Kit's biggest strength.
- Beehiiv: automations for welcome series and simple journeys, improving quickly, but less flexible for complex segmentation.
Winner: Kit. See our guide to email automation sequences for what to build.
Deliverability
Both have solid reputations. Deliverability depends far more on your habits than on the platform:
- Set up your own sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC
- Use double opt-in or confirm new subscribers
- Remove inactive subscribers regularly
- Ask readers to reply (it signals to inbox providers that you're wanted)
Winner: tie.
Pick by goal
| Your goal | Choose |
|---|---|
| Grow a newsletter as a media business | Beehiiv |
| Earn from ads and sponsorships | Beehiiv |
| Sell your own digital products or courses | Kit |
| Nurture leads for a service business | Kit |
| Advanced tagging and segmentation | Kit |
| Free plan with the most subscribers | Kit |
| Simple newsletter website included | Beehiiv |
Still comparing? See Kit vs Mailchimp for a more traditional email tool option.
Free: get 50 ChatGPT prompts for your business, sent straight to your inbox. Get the free prompts ()
Our recommendation
For most small businesses on Solo Stack AI's readership (selling services, templates or courses), Kit is the better choice because automations and tagging turn subscribers into customers. If you're building a newsletter as a standalone media business, Beehiiv gives you more growth and ad revenue tools out of the box.
Whichever you choose, start with a strong welcome email (see 7 welcome email examples) and a plan to build your list from zero.
FAQ
Is Beehiiv free?
Yes. Beehiiv has a free plan for up to a set number of subscribers with core newsletter features. Growth and monetisation tools are mostly on paid plans.
Can I sell products with Beehiiv?
You can sell paid newsletter subscriptions and earn from ads and Boosts. For selling digital products like templates or courses, Kit or a separate tool like Gumroad is usually simpler.
Is Kit the same as ConvertKit?
Yes. ConvertKit rebranded to Kit in 2024. Same company, same product.
Can I move from Kit to Beehiiv (or the other way)?
Yes. Both let you export and import subscribers as a CSV. Rebuild your automations, re-authenticate your domain and send a short "we've moved" note.
Which is better for beginners?
Both are beginner-friendly. Beehiiv feels simpler for writing and publishing; Kit is simpler for building automated sequences.
