Beehiiv Pricing in 2026: What Every Plan Actually Costs
An honest deep-dive into Beehiiv's real pricing — subscriber-tier costs, what each plan includes, hidden fees, and who should (and shouldn't) use it.
Table of Contents
Beehiiv isn’t an email marketing tool. It’s a newsletter platform — website, email, and monetization bundled together. That distinction matters because it explains both the pricing and the limitations. You get a publishing platform, not a CRM with an email feature bolted on.
Beehiiv Launch
Unlimited sends + custom domain for up to 2,500 subs. No monetization tools.
Beehiiv Scale
Unlocks ads, Boosts, paid subs (0% take), and automations. Price scales with list size.
Beehiiv Max
Remove branding, sponsorship storefront, 10 publications, unlimited team seats.
What Beehiiv actually is
Most “email marketing” tools are really marketing-automation-with-email-attached. Beehiiv flipped that. You get a hosted website, an email sending engine, and a monetization layer — all optimized for one use case: recurring newsletters.
The product includes a built-in Ad Network (they sell ads for you), a Boosts marketplace (get paid to recommend other newsletters), and paid subscriptions with a 0% platform take (vs. Substack’s 10%). That monetization stack is Beehiiv’s real differentiator, not the email sending.
What you don’t get: marketing automation beyond basic sequences, transactional email, SMS, or deep CRM features. If you need those, you’re looking at the wrong tool.
The real pricing (it’s not flat)
Beehiiv’s pricing scales by subscriber count. Some sites still report Scale at a flat $49/mo — that’s wrong. Here’s what you actually pay:
| Subscribers | Scale (monthly) | Scale (annual) | Max (monthly) | Max (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 2,500 | Free (Launch) | Free | — | — |
| 1,000 | $49 | $43 | $109 | $96 |
| 2,500 | $69 | $60 | $129 | $112 |
| 5,000 | $89 | $77 | $149 | $129 |
| 10,000 | $109 | $94 | $169 | $146 |
| 25,000 | $169 | $146 | $229 | $198 |
| 50,000 | $199 | $172 | $279 | $242 |
| 75,000 | $289 | $250 | $369 | $320 |
| 100,000 | $329 | $285 | $419 | $363 |
The free Launch plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. That’s legitimately generous. But the moment you hit 2,501, you’re paying $49/mo minimum. No $10 or $20 stepping stone exists.
What each plan includes
Launch (Free) — Up to 2,500 Subscribers
You get: Custom website + domain, unlimited email sends, basic analytics, recommendation network, 3 publications.
You don’t get: Any monetization (no Ad Network, no Boosts, no paid subscriptions, no digital products), no A/B testing, no AI features, no automations, no referral program, 1 team member only, and “Powered by Beehiiv” on everything.
The honest take: Great for validating a newsletter idea. But the moment you want to make money from it — or even A/B test a subject line — you need Scale.
Scale ($49–$329/mo) — Up to 100K Subscribers
Unlocks: Ad Network, Boosts Network, paid subscriptions at 0% platform take, digital products, email automations, surveys, A/B testing, AI writing (25 credits/day), 3 team seats, Slack community + human support.
Still missing: Can’t remove Beehiiv branding. Capped at 3 publications. 25 AI credits/day.
The honest take: This is the plan most serious newsletter creators need. The 0% take on paid subs is the headline feature — Substack charges 10% on every dollar. At $10K/mo in subscription revenue, that’s $1,000/mo you keep with Beehiiv.
Max ($109–$419/mo) — Up to 100K Subscribers
Adds on top of Scale: Remove “Powered by Beehiiv” branding, sponsorship storefront, podcast websites, audio newsletters, 10 publications, unlimited team seats, priority support, Getty image credits, dynamic content.
The honest take: Most people upgrade for one reason: branding removal. If “Powered by Beehiiv” in your footer bothers sponsors or undermines your brand, Max is the tax. At 1K subscribers, that’s a $60/mo premium over Scale for what is essentially a footer toggle.
Hidden costs and gotchas
-
Stripe fees still apply. Beehiiv takes 0% on paid subscriptions. Stripe still takes 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. On a $10/mo subscription, that’s $0.59/subscriber/month.
-
Boosts revenue share. The Boosts marketplace pays you to recommend other newsletters, but Beehiiv takes a cut of those earnings.
-
No SMS, no transactional email. Not on any plan. If you need order confirmations or SMS campaigns, you need a separate tool.
-
AI credits are rationed. 10/day on Launch, 25/day on Scale, 50/day on Max. Heavy AI users will hit ceilings.
-
Limited integrations. Beehiiv’s integration library is thin compared to Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign. No native Shopify, no deep CRM sync.
Who should use Beehiiv
Launch (Free): You’re testing a newsletter idea, have under 2,500 subscribers, and don’t need monetization yet. Hard to beat free with unlimited sends.
Scale ($49–$329/mo): You’re a serious newsletter creator who wants to monetize through ads, Boosts, or paid subscriptions. The 0% take rate on paid subs saves real money vs. Substack at any meaningful revenue.
Max ($109–$419/mo): You run a multi-publication media brand, need branding removal for sponsors, or want the sponsorship storefront. The premium is steep but the tooling is purpose-built.
Skip Beehiiv if:
- You need marketing automation — ActiveCampaign or Kit are built for that
- You need transactional email — Brevo or Postmark
- You want the cheapest possible newsletter tool — Buttondown starts at $9/mo for 1K subs, or $29/mo for 5K
- You’re between 2,500–5,000 subs and not monetizing — Kit’s free plan covers you to 10K
Alternatives (brief)
Substack: Free until you monetize, then 10% of all paid subscription revenue forever. Cheaper than Beehiiv below ~$500/mo in revenue, dramatically more expensive above it. No ad network. Full comparison →
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Better free tier (10K subs) and stronger automation. But Creator plan pricing scales fast: $89/mo at 5K subs, $199/mo at 25K. Better for creators who sell digital products. Full comparison →
Buttondown: The minimalist option. $9/mo for 1K subs, $29/mo for 5K. No built-in monetization layer, but rock-bottom pricing for people who just want to send a newsletter. Full comparison →
Methodology: Pricing verified directly from beehiiv.com on March 24, 2026. Subscriber-tier pricing confirmed via pricing page slider. Annual prices reflect ~13% discount on monthly rates. Stripe processing fees calculated at standard 2.9% + $0.30. We track newsletter platform pricing across 8+ providers — data refreshed monthly on our email marketing comparison page.
PriceWorld may earn affiliate commissions from links on this page. This does not influence our pricing data, which is verified directly from vendor websites.