Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover newsletter & email. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| beehiiv | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $49 | From $20 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | 14 days |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | Not stated |
| Runs on | Not stated | Not stated |
| Covers | Newsletter & Email, Monetization & Payments | Email Marketing & Automation, Newsletter & Email |
| Works with | Substack | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Newsletters with paid subscriptions and referrals
beehiiv handles sending, paid subscriptions, a referral program and a basic website, which covers most of what someone writing a weekly letter actually needs. It was built by people who ran Morning Brew, and it shows in the growth tooling. Automation is thinner than a dedicated email platform.
Our note
If you are starting a newsletter you intend to charge for, start here. The free tier goes further than it looks, the growth tools are the reason people stay, and the export is clean if you decide to leave.
Only on this side
Email marketing with the longest integration list
Mailchimp is the default nobody gets fired for picking, and the reason is that whatever else you run already connects to it. The editor and the reporting are fine rather than good. Its pricing counts contacts rather than sends, so a large list you mail once a month costs the same as one you mail daily, which is the wrong shape for most creators.
Our note
Pick Mailchimp when integrations decide it, and only then. For a newsletter as the main product, beehiiv and Kit both cost less and were designed for the job rather than adapted to it.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.