beehiiv vs MailerLite: Growth Platform or Low-Cost Sender?

The short answer

Choose MailerLite if you want to send good email cheaply, run a few automations, and put up a landing page or two without a long setup. It starts free and its paid plans start low.

Choose beehiiv if the newsletter itself is the thing you are building — something you want to grow with a recommendation network and referrals, and eventually monetize through ads, sponsorships, or paid subscriptions.

These are not two versions of the same product. MailerLite is a low-cost email marketing tool that also builds simple sites. beehiiv is a publishing platform whose paid tiers are mostly a growth-and-revenue engine. Pick the one that matches what your newsletter is for.

Every price and plan limit below comes from the vendor’s own page and carries the date we read it; review figures are dated where they appear. We have not run a newsletter on either platform, so nothing here is presented as first-hand experience. The full source list is at the end.

Disclosure worth stating plainly: of the two products compared here, beehiiv is the only one we earn a commission from. The MailerLite links below go to mailerlite.com and earn us nothing. Read the recommendation with that in mind — and notice that the verdict below sends a large group of readers to MailerLite.

The biggest difference: a sender versus a growth engine

MailerLite answers the question how do I send this email and maybe automate a follow-up? It does that well and cheaply, and it adds websites, landing pages, signup forms, and a way to sell a digital product or a paid newsletter.

beehiiv answers a different question: how does this publication get bigger and get paid? Its paid plans add a recommendation network, a referral program, an ad network, paid recommendations, and a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions. Those are distribution and revenue tools, not sending tools.

If you already know your newsletter is a channel that supports something else — a service, a shop, a course — MailerLite’s framing fits, and its lower paid-plan entry price is a real advantage. If the newsletter is the product, beehiiv is built around the part of the job MailerLite mostly leaves to you: growth.

Pricing in 2026

MailerLite

MailerLite’s pricing page uses a subscriber slider, so paid prices rise with list size. These are the values shown on September 2, 2026:

• Free: $0/month, up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 3 automations, 1 website and 1 landing page, 3 signup forms, 2 seats, community support.
• Comfort: from $12/month (billed monthly; a 10% discount is offered for annual billing). Adds more automations, 10 websites/landing pages, 10 signup forms, an AI writing assistant, and 24/7 email support.
• Power: from $25/month. Unlimited automations, websites, landing pages, and signup forms, multiple automation triggers, and 24/7 live chat.
• Enterprise: custom pricing, listed for 200K+ subscribers.

The “$12” and “$25” figures are entry prices at the smallest paid band. Set the slider to your own subscriber count before you rely on any number.

beehiiv

beehiiv’s pricing page also uses a subscriber slider. Values at the default 1,000-subscriber position, read August 31, 2026 and re-checked September 8, 2026:

• Launch: $0/month, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited email sends, a website, custom domains, and access to the recommendation network. Launch does not include the ad network, automations, the referral program, or paid subscriptions.
• Scale: $43/month, shown as $517 billed annually (“Save $71/year”), with a 100,000-subscriber ceiling. Adds the ad network, paid recommendations, a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions, automations, surveys, advanced analytics, webhooks, and 3 team seats.
• Max: $96/month, shown as $1,151 billed annually (“Save $157/year”). Adds branding removal, a Sponsorship Storefront, audio newsletters, up to 10 publications, and the Send API.
• Enterprise: custom pricing above 100,000 subscribers.

Reading the two side by side

At a small list, MailerLite’s free plan is tighter on subscribers (250 vs beehiiv’s 2,500) but gives you three automations and a landing page that beehiiv’s Launch plan does not. beehiiv’s Launch plan gives you a bigger free list and the recommendation network, but no automations and no referral program.

On paid plans the gap widens. MailerLite Comfort starts at $12 a month and Power at $25, and either covers sending, automations, and sites for a small operation. beehiiv Scale is $43 a month ($517 a year); what the higher price adds is the growth and revenue layer, not extra sending capacity.

	MailerLite	beehiiv
Free plan	250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 3 automations, 1 site + 1 landing page	2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, website, recommendation network; no automations
Paid entry point	Comfort, from $12/mo	Scale, $43/mo ($517/yr)
Automation	Included from the free plan; unlimited on Power	Paid plans only (Scale and up)
Websites / landing pages	Website builder, landing pages, signup forms on every plan	Website and link-in-bio on every plan; no dedicated landing-page builder observed
Growth tooling	None advertised (no ad network, no recommendation network)	Recommendation network (free), referral program + paid recommendations (Scale)
Monetization	Sell digital products and paid newsletter subscriptions; take rate not stated	0% take rate on paid subscriptions (Scale); ad network; Sponsorship Storefront (Max)
Review signal	Capterra 4.7/5 (2,322), verified Sep 2, 2026	G2 4.5/5 (40), last verified Aug 22, 2026

We did not verify MailerLite’s take rate on paid newsletters or digital-product sales on an official page, so we are not stating one. Check it yourself before you build revenue plans around it.

What reviewers say about each

MailerLite

Across Capterra, the recurring praise is ease of use, a clean interface, value for money, and fast, helpful support — reviewers frequently mention live-chat replies within minutes, including weekends. MailerLite’s Capterra score was 4.7/5 from 2,322 reviews, with 4.6 for ease of use and 4.8 for customer service, checked September 2, 2026.

The recurring complaints are just as consistent. MailerLite’s account-approval and verification process is stricter than many rivals’, and reviewers describe campaigns held up during review or, in a smaller number of cases, accounts suspended with a slow or unclear appeal path. Others want deeper automation, segmentation, and reporting than MailerLite offers. If your list is large or comes from an unusual source, read MailerLite’s sending and compliance rules before you import it.

beehiiv

beehiiv’s public review sample is small — 40 reviews on G2 at our last verified check on August 22, 2026 — so broad claims deserve caution. Within that sample, reviewers praise the monetization tools, the ad network, newsletter design, and recommendation-driven growth. Recent community discussion is more mixed: some experienced users report friction with the editor or with migrating an established publication, and others report the opposite. Test the editor and an import with a small segment before you move a real list.

Which one fits your newsletter?

MailerLite fits if:

• the newsletter supports another business — a service, a shop, a course — rather than being the business;
• you want automations, forms, and a landing page without a steep setup;
• budget matters and you would rather start at $0–$25 a month than $43;
• you value fast support over growth features you may not use;
• your list is cleanly acquired and opt-in, which lowers the chance of running into approval friction.

beehiiv fits if:

• the newsletter is the product, and growing it is the job;
• you want a recommendation network and referral mechanics built in, not bolted on;
• ads, sponsorships, or paid subscriptions are part of the plan — beehiiv’s Scale plan lists a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions;
• you would rather pay for distribution than assemble it yourself;
• you are comfortable starting on the free Launch plan and upgrading when the revenue tools become relevant.

Still unsure?

Answer one question: is anyone going to pay you for the newsletter itself in the next year — through subscriptions, ads, or sponsorships?

If no, MailerLite is likely the more economical fit for many straightforward email workflows. If yes, beehiiv’s paid tier is built around exactly that, and the free Launch plan lets you start without committing.

Alternatives

• You want the fastest writing-first start with no fixed cost: see beehiiv vs Substack, which lays out the revenue-share math.
• You want to own the whole publication, website and membership included: Ghost is the platform people weigh here; it appears in best newsletter platforms for creators.
• The newsletter feeds a creator business that sells products or services: a creator-funnel tool like Kit is the more natural fit — the wider field is in best email marketing software for solopreneurs.
• You are leaving beehiiv for a specific reason: best beehiiv alternatives is organized by the problem you are trying to solve.

FAQ

Is MailerLite cheaper than beehiiv?

Usually, yes. MailerLite starts free and its paid plans begin at about $12/month, versus beehiiv’s $43/month Scale plan. What beehiiv’s paid tier adds is growth and monetization tooling, not extra sending capacity. If you will not use that tooling, you are paying for features you do not need.

Does beehiiv take a percentage of paid subscriptions?

beehiiv’s Scale and Max plans list a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions. Payment-processing fees are separate and charged by the processor. We did not verify MailerLite’s take rate on paid newsletters on an official page, so we do not state one here.

Which has the better free plan?

It depends on what you need. MailerLite’s free plan allows 250 subscribers but includes three automations and a landing page. beehiiv’s free Launch plan allows 2,500 subscribers and the recommendation network but no automations. A bigger free list points to beehiiv; needing automation on day one points to MailerLite.

Can MailerLite grow my newsletter the way beehiiv does?

Not in the same way. On the pages we read, MailerLite does not advertise an ad network, a cross-publication recommendation network, or a referral program. Those are the features beehiiv is built around. MailerLite grows your list through your own forms, landing pages, and campaigns.

I heard MailerLite suspends accounts. Is that true?

Reviewers do report a strict approval and verification process, with some accounts held up or suspended and a slow appeal path. It is a recurring theme in public reviews, not a universal experience. If your list is large or unusually sourced, read MailerLite’s compliance rules before importing.

Should I use beehiiv’s free plan instead of paying for MailerLite?

It is a reasonable option if you mainly want to publish to a growing list on your own domain and do not need automation yet. You give up MailerLite’s automations and landing-page tooling and gain a larger free subscriber allowance and the recommendation network. See our beehiiv review for what the Launch plan does and does not include.

Related comparisons

• beehiiv review 2026 — plan by plan, and the cases where paying for beehiiv is a mistake.
• beehiiv vs Substack — the other common beehiiv decision, with the revenue-share break-even math.
• Best newsletter platforms for creators — the wider field, including Ghost and Kit.
• Best beehiiv alternatives — organized by the reason you would switch.

Sources and methodology

MailerLite pricing and features come from MailerLite’s official pricing and features pages (mailerlite.com — not an affiliate link; we earn nothing from it), read September 2, 2026 and re-read September 8, 2026. beehiiv pricing and plan features come from beehiiv’s official pricing page, read August 31, 2026 at the default 1,000-subscriber slider position and re-checked September 8, 2026. Review-marketplace data for MailerLite is from Capterra, confirmed on the live page September 8, 2026; the beehiiv figure reflects our last verified G2 check on August 22, 2026 and is dated as such. We did not verify subscriber-list export behavior or MailerLite’s paid-newsletter take rate on an official page, so neither is asserted. Community discussion is treated as anecdotal. No hands-on use of either platform is claimed.

Last verified: September 2, 2026.