Eight months ago I migrated my newsletter off ConvertKit and onto Beehiiv. Not because ConvertKit was bad — I'd used it for two years and it worked — but because the gap between what Beehiiv offered at zero cost and what ConvertKit charged for the equivalent was hard to ignore. Since then I've also helped two clients who went the opposite direction, moving from Beehiiv back to ConvertKit for specific reasons. Both moves made sense. Let me explain.
This comparison is written for solo founders, creators, and small teams running a newsletter as a primary or supporting business channel. If you're a marketing team running a corporate email list with 50,000 transactional contacts and complex CRM requirements, this is not the comparison you need.
Quick Picks (TL;DR)
- Best free plan for new newsletters: Beehiiv — up to 2,500 subscribers free, no platform fee on monetization
- Best for advanced email automations: ConvertKit — more mature automation builder with deeper conditional logic
- Best built-in monetization: Beehiiv — native paid subscriptions, boosts, and ad network with no platform cut
- Best for audience segmentation and tagging: ConvertKit — tagging system is more flexible for complex subscriber journeys
- Best all-in-one newsletter-first experience: Beehiiv — everything is built around the newsletter format
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConvertKit | Email automations, creator businesses, selling digital products | Yes (up to 1,000 subscribers) | ~$25/mo (verify) | Automation sequences, tagging, landing pages |
| Beehiiv | Newsletter-first creators, growth tools, monetization | Yes (up to 2,500 subscribers) | ~$42/mo (verify) | Built-in paid subscriptions, referral program, ad network |
ConvertKit
Best for: Creators who have an established product or course business alongside their newsletter, or anyone who needs sophisticated automation sequences to move subscribers through different journeys based on behavior.
I spent two years building with ConvertKit and it became second nature. The tagging system is genuinely excellent — I tag subscribers by what lead magnet they downloaded, which links they've clicked, what webinars they've attended, and what products they've bought. Those tags then power automation sequences that feel genuinely personalized rather than batch-and-blast.
The automation visual builder is the strongest feature ConvertKit has over Beehiiv. You can build branching email sequences with wait steps, conditions based on tags or purchase history, and multiple entry triggers. For a course creator with a launch funnel, a free webinar sequence, and a product onboarding flow all running simultaneously, ConvertKit's automation depth is hard to match.
What I like:
- The tagging and segmentation system is flexible in ways that matter. I can slice my list by any combination of behaviors and send targeted sequences to subgroups without affecting everyone else.
- Automation sequences are genuinely powerful. Multi-step, conditional, time-delayed automations with event triggers cover almost every nurture or onboarding scenario.
- Commerce integration for selling digital products, courses, and subscriptions is mature and doesn't require a third-party tool.
- The landing page and form builder is clean and conversion-focused. For a lead magnet funnel, ConvertKit gives you everything in one place.
- The subscriber profile view shows the full history of a contact — every tag, every email opened, every purchase. That visibility helps when troubleshooting a sequence.
What I don't like:
- The free plan tops out at 1,000 subscribers, which is lower than Beehiiv's 2,500. New newsletters burn through the free tier quickly.
- The email editor is functional but not exciting. Designing a beautiful newsletter in ConvertKit takes more effort than in Beehiiv where the format is centered on readability.
- Native newsletter growth tools are limited. There's no built-in referral program, no native cross-promotion network, no ad revenue sharing. Growing your list requires external tools or manual effort.
- Pricing scales with subscriber count, which is standard but can get expensive. At 50,000 subscribers, the monthly cost increases significantly compared to Beehiiv's flat tiers.
- The interface has accumulated complexity over the years. Finding specific settings sometimes requires clicking through multiple menus.
Who should skip ConvertKit: Creators who are entirely newsletter-focused and don't need to sell digital products or run complex automation funnels. Paying for ConvertKit's automation depth when you only send a weekly newsletter is overpaying.
Beehiiv
Best for: Newsletter-first creators and solo founders who want built-in monetization, growth infrastructure, and a clean writing experience without bolting together multiple tools.
Beehiiv was built by the same people who built the Morning Brew newsletter, and that heritage shows. Every feature is designed around the specific needs of a newsletter publication: how you grow it, how you monetize it, and how you write it. When I migrated, the thing I noticed first was how much less I had to think about infrastructure. Growth tools, paid subscriptions, and the ad network are all native — not integrations.
What I like:
- The free plan allows up to 2,500 subscribers with no platform fee on paid subscriptions. For a new newsletter, that's a meaningful runway before you pay anything.
- The referral program is built in. Subscribers who refer others unlock rewards you define. I grew my list by about 18% in the first three months using this feature alone.
- The Beehiiv Ad Network matches advertisers to newsletters based on audience fit. I generated my first paid sponsorship through the network without pitching anyone — it came inbound.
- The writing experience is the best of the two tools for pure newsletter content. The editor is focused, the preview is accurate, and the reading experience for subscribers on the web is polished.
- Cross-promotion with other Beehiiv newsletters (Boosts) lets you grow your list by recommending other newsletters and earn money when you recommend others. The flywheel effect on growth is real.
- Analytics are detailed and newsletter-specific: opens by device, click maps, subscriber growth by source, revenue per subscriber.
What I don't like:
- Automation is the weakest area compared to ConvertKit. You can send a welcome sequence, but building complex conditional funnels based on subscriber behavior is not where Beehiiv shines.
- Beehiiv's segmentation and tagging is less granular. If your subscriber journey has many branches based on behavior, ConvertKit's tag system gives you more control.
- The paid plan jump from the free tier to Scale is a significant price increase for features like custom domains on web content, advanced analytics, and higher automation limits.
- Selling digital products or courses natively is not really what Beehiiv is designed for. If your business is a course, you'll be using Gumroad or another tool alongside it.
- The platform is younger than ConvertKit, which means some features that feel obvious are still being built. I've run into edge cases where the product just didn't have an answer yet.
Who should skip Beehiiv: Creators with complex digital product businesses, course sellers, or anyone who needs sophisticated multi-branch email automations. ConvertKit handles those workflows more maturely.
How to Choose
After using both for extended periods and migrating in both directions with clients, here's my honest framework.
Choose Beehiiv if your newsletter is the primary product and you want the platform to do as much of the growth and monetization work as possible. The referral program, ad network, and paid subscription setup are all native and polished. You'll spend less time connecting tools and more time writing.
Choose ConvertKit if you're selling something — a course, a digital product, a coaching program — and the newsletter is a channel to nurture buyers through. The automation and tagging depth enables subscriber journeys that Beehiiv can't match today.
For creators just starting out: start on Beehiiv's free plan. You get 2,500 subscribers free, you can set up paid subscriptions immediately, and the growth tools give you a head start. If you outgrow the automation capabilities later, ConvertKit will still be there.
For established creators evaluating a migration: the migration process in both directions is straightforward (CSV export and import), but your automations won't transfer — they need to be rebuilt. Factor that rebuild time into your decision.
FAQ
Can I migrate my subscriber list between platforms? Yes, both platforms support CSV import and export of subscriber lists. Tags and automation enrollment don't transfer — you'd need to rebuild sequences manually in the new platform.
Which platform has better deliverability? Both have strong deliverability reputations. ConvertKit has a longer track record. Beehiiv has invested heavily in deliverability infrastructure. In practice, your own sending habits (cleaning your list, avoiding spam triggers) matter more than the platform difference.
Does Beehiiv take a cut of paid subscription revenue? On the free plan, Beehiiv takes no platform fee on paid subscriptions (only Stripe processing fees apply). On paid plans, there is no additional platform cut beyond the subscription fee. This is a meaningful advantage over some competitors who charge a revenue percentage.
Can I run a paid newsletter on ConvertKit? Yes. ConvertKit has a built-in commerce feature for paid subscriptions and digital products. It's functional but less tightly integrated with the newsletter experience than Beehiiv's native paid subscription offering.