Beehiiv wins on its bigger free plan and newsletter monetization; MailerLite wins on automations, websites and landing pages, and price once you pay. Here’s how they compare from 1,000 to 10,000 subscribers, from both vendors’ own pages.
By the Creator Mail Stack team · Updated October 11, 2026
Quick verdict
Beehiiv wins on the free plan. Beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. MailerLite Free covers 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month.
Beehiiv wins on newsletter monetization. From Lite, Beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscriptions and adds its ad network (not in all regions), paid recommendations and metered paywalls. MailerLite also lists a 0% sales fee on paid newsletters (Comfort and Power), so the difference is the ad and sponsorship tools around it, not the cut.
MailerLite wins on automations. MailerLite Free includes 3 automations; Comfort includes 50 and Power unlimited, each with up to 100 steps. Beehiiv Free has a welcome email only, and Lite allows 10 live automations.
MailerLite wins on sites and landing pages. Free includes 1 website and 1 landing page, Comfort 10 of each, with a blog section on every plan.
MailerLite wins on price once you pay. At 1,000 subscribers, Comfort is $19 a month against Beehiiv Lite’s $59 (monthly billing). By our arithmetic, Comfort costs less than Lite at every list size we checked, from 1,000 to 10,000.
Try MailerLite free Free for up to 250 subscribers, plus a 14-day premium trial with no payment method needed (October 11, 2026). Affiliate link.
Side-by-side
Dimension
Beehiiv
MailerLite
Built for
Newsletter publishing: website, podcast, community, growth and monetization
Email marketing: campaigns, automations, forms, websites and landing pages
Beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends and no card. It includes 1 seat, 1 publication, a welcome email, a website with 1 custom page, podcast hosting, a community, the recommendation network and 1 digital product. Custom automations, paid subscriptions, the ad network and custom domains need a paid plan.
MailerLite Free covers up to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with 2 seats. It includes all three email editors, 3 automations of up to 5 steps, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms and 1 digital product or booking. The MailerLite logo stays on, and support is community support and the knowledge base after the first 14 days’ live chat.
What that means in practice. By our arithmetic, a weekly send to 250 readers is about 1,000 emails a month, which fits MailerLite Free. A weekly send to 2,500 readers is about 10,000 emails a month, which only Beehiiv Free covers. If you want automations on a $0 plan, MailerLite Free has them and Beehiiv Free doesn’t. More detail: our MailerLite free plan guide and best free newsletter platforms.
Pricing at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000
Both vendors publish every tier. These are their US-dollar prices on October 11, 2026 (monthly billing / billed yearly, per month).
Subscribers
Beehiiv Lite
Beehiiv Pro
MailerLite Comfort
MailerLite Power
1,000
$59 / $49
$109 / $95
$19 / $17.10
$39 / $35.10
2,500
$79 / $69
$149 / $129
$33 / $29.70
$49 / $44.10
5,000
$109 / $95
$199 / $169
$49 / $44.10
$69 / $62.10
10,000
$139 / $119
$239 / $199
$89 / $80.10
$129 / $116.10
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Sources: Beehiiv’s price slider and pricing data file; MailerLite’s price slider and pricing data file. Both checked October 11, 2026. Beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers at $0; MailerLite Free covers up to 250. Comfort sends 10× the top of your tier (10,000 emails a month at 1,000); Beehiiv and Power have no monthly send cap (Power under fair use).
Break-even, by our arithmetic. On monthly billing, Beehiiv Lite costs $40 a month more than MailerLite Comfort at 1,000 subscribers, $46 more at 2,500, $60 more at 5,000 and $50 more at 10,000. Billed yearly, the gap is $382.80 a year at 1,000 ($588 against $205.20) and $610.80 at 5,000 ($1,140 against $529.20). Both list a 0% cut on paid subscriptions, so that gap is what Beehiiv’s ad network and other Lite tools would need to earn or save you to break even. The other way round: from 251 to 2,500 subscribers, Beehiiv Free costs $0 while MailerLite needs Comfort ($12 to $33 a month), so Beehiiv is cheaper if you can live without automations and a custom domain. Every tier is in our Beehiiv pricing guide and MailerLite pricing guide.
Who counts toward your bill
Both bill on active subscribers. MailerLite’s FAQ says unsubscribed and bounced addresses don’t count, but counting is cumulative within each billing cycle, so an address that was active at any point that month counts even if you delete it. Beehiiv’s help center sets your tier by total active subscribers across all your publications, and its pricing FAQ describes unique email addresses. On a paid MailerLite plan, passing your tier moves you up automatically; on MailerLite Free, sending locks once you pass 250 active subscribers.
Free trials
Beehiiv: a 14-day Pro trial with no card. Your account stays on Free with temporary access to Pro features (Beehiiv’s trial article doesn’t state a separate subscriber limit). Not all paid features are included, so check in your account.
MailerLite: a 14-day premium trial applied to every new account, with no payment method needed. It’s capped at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails, and not all paid features are included, so check in your account.
Automations and site building
Automations. MailerLite’s visual automation builder is on every plan, with e-commerce triggers: 3 active automations on Free (up to 5 steps each), 50 on Comfort and unlimited on Power (up to 100 steps each), plus RSS campaigns from Comfort. Beehiiv Lite allows 10 live automations, with triggers such as entering a segment or buying a paid subscription; Pro adds unlimited and click-triggered automations.
Websites and landing pages. Beehiiv’s site is built around your newsletter: posts publish to the web, with 1 custom page on Free, 5 on Lite and unlimited on Pro. MailerLite gives you separate websites and landing pages (1 of each on Free, 10 on Comfort, unlimited on Power), a blog section and SEO tools on every plan, and landing page A/B tests from Comfort.
Strengths and watch-outs
Beehiiv Newsletter growth platform
Built around publishing issues, a web edition of your newsletter, referrals, recommendations and ways to earn from your audience.
Strengths
Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends
0% take on paid subscriptions, plus the ad network, from Lite
Community, podcast hosting and 1 digital product on Free
Watch-outs
Custom automations, custom domains and paid subscriptions need Lite
Lite starts at $59/month on monthly billing (up to 1,000 subscribers)
Also consider on a tight budget: EmailOctopus. If you mainly need simple campaigns, its free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month (with EmailOctopus branding and 30-day reports), and Pro starts at $10 a month, or $9 billed yearly, for up to 500 subscribers (EmailOctopus pricing, checked October 11, 2026). See our EmailOctopus pricing guide. Referral link: if you sign up and pay, you get $15 off your first payment and we may earn a $15 account credit.
Which should you choose?
Choose Beehiiv if…
The newsletter is your product and your list will pass 250 soon: Free covers 2,500 with unlimited sends.
You want to earn from ads, sponsors and paid subscriptions in one place.
You want a publication website, community or podcast alongside your emails.
Start on Beehiiv FreePartner referral link: we may earn a commission if you buy a paid Beehiiv plan, at no extra cost to you.
Choose MailerLite if…
You want welcome sequences and other automations, on a $0 plan or a cheap one.
You want a website or landing pages for an offer, not just a newsletter archive.
You’re paying either way and want the lower bill: Comfort is $19 at 1,000 subscribers against Lite’s $59.
No star ratings. We don’t invent scores; this comparison is built from each vendor’s own pages. Pick by the weekly job you will actually run.
FAQ
Is Beehiiv better than MailerLite?
For a growing newsletter you plan to monetize with ads, often yes: Free covers 2,500 subscribers, and Lite adds the ad network. For automations, landing pages and a lower paid price, MailerLite is the better fit.
Which is cheaper, Beehiiv or MailerLite?
From 251 to 2,500 subscribers, Beehiiv Free ($0). On paid plans, MailerLite: Comfort is $19 a month at 1,000 subscribers and $49 at 5,000, against Beehiiv Lite’s $59 and $109 on monthly billing.
Does either take a cut of paid subscriptions?
Beehiiv’s pricing page lists a 0% take rate from Lite, and MailerLite’s paid newsletter platform page lists a 0% sales fee, and paid newsletters are on Comfort and Power (checked October 11, 2026). Stripe’s processing fees apply on both.
Does Beehiiv’s free plan include automations?
A welcome email, but no custom automations; those start on Lite (10 live). MailerLite Free includes 3.
Beehiiv, MailerLite and EmailOctopus are trademarks of their owners. We run Creator Mail Stack independently, and it is not endorsed by any of them. We’re in Beehiiv’s partner program, MailerLite’s affiliate program and EmailOctopus’s referral program, as described in the disclosure. Found something out of date? Tell us.
Creator