Disclosure: Affiliate links for both platforms. Beehiiv: 20% recurring for 12 months. ConvertKit: 30% recurring for 24 months. Both tested with real newsletters.
Quick verdict
Beehiiv when the newsletter IS the product — you want a beautiful reader experience, a web archive, built-in sponsorship monetization, and a referral growth engine. ConvertKit when the newsletter is a funnel — you're selling products, courses, or services and need automation depth, digital commerce, and behavioral segmentation. If you're choosing between them cold, start with Beehiiv (more generous free plan) and migrate to ConvertKit if you need automation complexity.
Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Beehiiv | ConvertKit |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Up to 2,500 subscribers, 0% fee | Up to 1,000 subscribers |
| Entry paid | $42/mo (Scale, up to 5k subs) | $29/mo (Creator, up to 1k subs) |
| At 5,000 subs | $42/mo | $49/mo |
| At 10,000 subs | $84/mo | $99/mo |
| At 25,000 subs | $199/mo | $166/mo |
| Revenue share on paid subs | 0% (you keep 100%) | 0% (you keep 100%) |
| Transaction fees (digital products) | 3.5% (Stripe standard) | 3.5% (Creator) — no extra fee |
| Custom domain | Scale plan and above | Free plan included |
The pricing verdict: Beehiiv is cheaper up to about 20,000 subscribers. ConvertKit becomes more cost-effective at larger list sizes. Beehiiv's free plan (2,500 subs) is significantly more generous than ConvertKit's (1,000 subs) — which is the right reason to start on Beehiiv if you're just getting started.
Where Beehiiv Wins Clearly
Newsletter reading experience
Beehiiv newsletters have a publication-quality web presence. Each issue gets a beautiful web-hosted version at your custom domain. The reader UX — the fonts, spacing, reading progress, web archive — is significantly more polished than ConvertKit's. If you're building a newsletter brand that readers share and return to, Beehiiv's reader experience is the more competitive product.
ConvertKit sends email well, but the web archive and hosted newsletter pages are an afterthought. For newsletter-first businesses (where the reader experience is the brand), this matters.
Built-in ad network (Beehiiv Ad Network)
Beehiiv has a marketplace that connects newsletter publishers with advertisers. Once you're accepted into the network (typically requires 1,000+ engaged subscribers), advertisers bid for sponsored placement in your newsletter. You don't have to find sponsors, negotiate rates, or manage fulfillment — Beehiiv handles it.
At 5,000 subscribers, newsletter ad revenue can generate $200-500/month from Beehiiv's network without any sponsorship sales work. ConvertKit has no equivalent ad network — you find sponsors yourself or go through a third-party marketplace.
Referral program (built-in)
Beehiiv has a subscriber referral system built into every account. Readers get a unique referral link and earn rewards you define (shoutouts, exclusive content, paid tiers, merchandise) when their friends subscribe. The referral link is embedded automatically in every issue footer.
Beehiiv's referral engine is the fastest way to grow a newsletter organically without paid acquisition. Several newsletters have grown from 1,000 to 50,000+ subscribers primarily through Beehiiv's referral mechanic. ConvertKit's Creator Pro has a limited referral feature, but Beehiiv's implementation is more polished and higher-converting.
Subscriber segmentation by engagement
Beehiiv's analytics show engagement tiers: active readers, occasional readers, and at-risk subscribers. This segmentation lets you run re-engagement campaigns and clean your list before the engagement rate drops — which matters for email deliverability and for Beehiiv's ad network placement rates.
Where ConvertKit Wins Clearly
Automation depth
ConvertKit's visual automation builder is the most powerful feature in the product and the main reason to choose it over Beehiiv. The automation editor uses a branching flowchart interface where you define: trigger event → conditions → action sequences. Complex use cases that ConvertKit handles natively:
- Tag a subscriber when they click a specific link → enter them in a product launch sequence
- If subscriber has tag "customer" → skip promo emails, enter post-purchase sequence
- Wait 7 days after signup → send follow-up survey → branch based on survey response
- Purchase triggers → thank you email → cross-sell sequence → upsell offer at day 30
Beehiiv has automations, but they're basic (welcome sequences, drip campaigns, basic branching). For sophisticated behavioral email marketing, ConvertKit has a significant advantage that isn't closed.
Digital product commerce
ConvertKit has a native digital product storefront. Sell ebooks, courses, templates, and digital downloads directly through ConvertKit, with payments handled natively (no Stripe account setup, no separate checkout page). For creators with a product catalog, the native commerce removes several friction points that cost conversions.
The integration between ConvertKit Commerce and ConvertKit's email automation is seamless: a purchase event triggers a delivery sequence, tags the subscriber as "customer," and starts a post-purchase drip automatically. Beehiiv has paid subscriptions but no equivalent digital product commerce.
Integration ecosystem
ConvertKit has 100+ native integrations including Teachable, Podia, Shopify, Gumroad, Stripe, Zapier, Calendly, and all major CRM tools. The integrations are bidirectional: subscriber actions in ConvertKit can trigger events in Shopify, and Shopify purchases can add tags in ConvertKit.
Beehiiv's integration ecosystem is smaller — it connects well to Zapier and basic email tools, but native integrations with course platforms, e-commerce, and CRMs are limited. For creator businesses with complex tool stacks, ConvertKit's integrations are a real differentiator.
Subscriber tagging and segmentation
ConvertKit's tagging system is more flexible than Beehiiv's segmentation model. Tags can be applied manually, via automation, via link clicks, via form answers, or via API. This granularity lets you send hyper-segmented emails: "subscribers who are freelancers AND clicked the pricing article AND haven't purchased yet."
Beehiiv segments by engagement level, subscriber source, and geographic data. Useful for newsletter publishers, but less flexible than ConvertKit's tag-based approach for product businesses.
The Decision Rule (One Question)
Is your newsletter the product, or is your newsletter a distribution channel for another product?
Newsletter as product: You make money from sponsorships, paid subscriber tiers, or the ad network — the newsletter itself is the revenue source. Readers pay (or sponsors pay) to access your content. → Beehiiv. The reader experience, web archive, ad network, and referral engine are all optimized for this model.
Newsletter as funnel: You make money from selling courses, coaching, SaaS, or digital products — the newsletter builds trust and drives purchases. → ConvertKit. The automation depth, commerce features, and behavioral segmentation are optimized for converting subscribers into customers.
If you're unsure which model you'll be, start on Beehiiv (more generous free plan, better reader experience) and migrate to ConvertKit when you need automation complexity or native product commerce. Migrations are manageable before 10,000 subscribers; above that, the list churn from migration is more painful.
Deliverability: Both Are Solid
Both Beehiiv and ConvertKit are in the "good" tier for email deliverability — better than self-hosted tools like Mailchimp at scale, not at the specialized ESP (email service provider) level of tools like Postmark for transactional email. Industry open rate benchmarks: Beehiiv newsletters average 40-55% open rates on healthy lists; ConvertKit newsletters average 35-50%. Both significantly above the email industry average of 21%.
What actually affects deliverability more than platform choice: List hygiene (remove inactive subscribers regularly), sending consistency (send on a schedule), subscriber acquisition method (opt-in quality matters more than platform), and engagement rate. Neither platform will save you from a cold, unengaged list.
Try Beehiiv free (2,500 subs) ↗ Try ConvertKit free (1,000 subs) ↗Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate from Beehiiv to ConvertKit later?
Yes. Export your subscriber list from Beehiiv as a CSV, import it to ConvertKit. The main migration cost is the transition period — some subscribers won't confirm their subscription in ConvertKit (most ESPs require re-confirmation when you import to a new platform). Expect 10-20% list shrinkage on migration. Plan migrations before 10,000 subscribers when the absolute numbers are manageable.
Does Beehiiv charge for paid subscriptions?
Beehiiv takes a 0% platform fee on paid subscriptions. You pay standard Stripe processing (2.9% + 30 cents per transaction). At $100/month in paid subscriptions, you keep $97 after Stripe fees. ConvertKit charges the same Stripe fees but no additional platform fee either. Both are 0% platform revenue share, which is the main advantage over Substack (10%).
Which platform has better email templates?
Beehiiv's email design templates are more polished and publication-like. ConvertKit's templates are simpler and more utilitarian — optimized for personal voice and high deliverability rather than visual design. If your newsletter relies on visual design as part of the brand, Beehiiv's templates are more impressive.
Is ConvertKit good for a simple newsletter (no automation)?
Yes, ConvertKit works fine as a simple newsletter sender. The automation depth is there when you need it, not required. The main reason to start on Beehiiv instead of ConvertKit for a simple newsletter is the more generous free plan (2,500 vs 1,000 subscribers).
Does Beehiiv have automation?
Yes, but it's basic compared to ConvertKit. Beehiiv supports welcome sequences, drip campaigns, and conditional send (send to subscribers who haven't opened in X days). For simple automation (a 3-email welcome series), Beehiiv is sufficient. For complex behavioral automation (purchase triggers, tag-based branching, multi-step sequences), ConvertKit is the better tool.
Affiliate disclosure: Beehiiv link earns 20% recurring for 12 months. ConvertKit link earns 30% recurring for 24 months.