Kit vs beehiiv vs MailerLite vs Substack: pricing compared (2026)
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Short answer
- Need automations? MailerLite Comfort is cheapest at most list sizes (beehiiv Lite wins at 50k).
- Under 10k subscribers, no automations? Kit Free costs $0, even for a paid newsletter (3.5% + 30¢ per sale).
- Large list, frequent sends, ad revenue? beehiiv Lite: unlimited sends and an ad network.
- Paid newsletter earning more than a few hundred dollars a month? Avoid Substack's 10% fee.
- Need EU-hosted data? MailerLite is the only one of the four.
Monthly list price by list size
| Subscribers | Kit Free | Kit Creator | beehiiv Free | beehiiv Lite | MailerLite Comfort | MailerLite Power | Substack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | Free | $39 | Free | $59 | $19 | $39 | $0 + 10% |
| 2,500 | Free | $59 | Free | $79 | $33 | $49 | $0 + 10% |
| 5,000 | Free | $89 | — | $109 | $49 | $69 | $0 + 10% |
| 10,000 | — | $139 | — | $139 | $89 | $129 | $0 + 10% |
| 25,000 | — | $199 | — | $199 | $179 | $239 | $0 + 10% |
| 50,000 | — | $379 | — | $299 | $319 | $389 | $0 + 10% |
| 100,000 | — | $679 | — | $469 | $439 | $489 | $0 + 10% |
Monthly billing, USD. Sources: kit.com/pricing (tier data from kit.com's pricing code, checked against two third-party captures); beehiiv.com/pricing; mailerlite.com/pricing.md (updated 8 Sep 2026); Substack help centre. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026. Treat exactly 10,000 subscribers as a paid tier on Kit.
Worked example: 8,000 subscribers, 200 paying × $8
$1,600 MRR, US cards, monthly billing, no automations needed.
| Rank | Option | Platform fee | Fees | Total/mo | % of MRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kit Free | $0.00 | $116.00 | $116.00 | 7.2% |
| 2 | MailerLite Comfort | $69.00 | $106.40 | $175.40 | 11.0% |
| 3 | MailerLite Power | $99.00 | $106.40 | $205.40 | 12.8% |
| 4 | Kit Creator | $119.00 | $116.00 | $235.00 | 14.7% |
| 5 | beehiiv Lite | $139.00 | $106.40 | $245.40 | 15.3% |
| 6 | Substack | $0.00 | $277.60 | $277.60 | 17.4% |
| 7 | Kit Pro | $169.00 | $116.00 | $285.00 | 17.8% |
| 8 | beehiiv Pro | $239.00 | $106.40 | $345.40 | 21.6% |
Fee assumptions: Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 (beehiiv, MailerLite); Kit 3.5% + 30¢ including processing; Substack 10% + Stripe + 0.7% Stripe Billing. VAT excluded. MailerLite Comfort caps sends at 10× your tier per month, which is fine for weekly sends but not daily.
Where your subscribers' data lives
| Platform | Data location | Source |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | EU (Google Cloud: Germany legacy, Netherlands) | DPA |
| beehiiv | USA (AWS US regions) | Trust Center |
| Kit | USA (listed sub-processors) | DPA |
| Substack | US-established; US and other countries | Privacy policy |
Try them
- Visit Kit [AFFILIATE LINK]
- Visit beehiiv [AFFILIATE LINK]
- Visit MailerLite [AFFILIATE LINK]
- Visit Substack (no affiliate link)
Head-to-heads
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