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beehiiv or Kit: which newsletter lets a UK creator send further before a monthly bill?

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Both tools will send a newsletter without a monthly fee. The bill changes when the list grows, when you want a sequence, and when a reader pays you. Kit publishes plan prices in US dollars and a separate pound fee for a product sale. beehiiv’s pricing page, read the same day, shows US dollars. A UK card issuer may add a conversion charge on a dollar subscription. Neither page read for this article states a UK VAT rate on the software plan, so this article does not. Prices below are the ones the vendors published. Checked 22 October 2026.

What public reviews say

These are third-party scores, read on 22 October 2026. They are other people’s reviews. Occono has not collected them, and they will move. This article uses the www.trustpilot.com profiles. The same company names on other Trustpilot country addresses showed different review counts on the same day, so those copies are not used. Trustpilot says, on the Kit profile at kit.com, that the company has not invited customers recently, so the reviews may not be representative. The beehiiv profile text read for this article did not include that sentence, so this article does not claim it for beehiiv.

Kit’s 4.6 from 244 Capterra reviews and its 4.0 from 161 Trustpilot reviews are both kinder than the legacy ConvertKit page at 1.9 from 66. They are three different pages. Wren W.’s June 2026 Capterra review, quoted below, is a one-person course business using sequences. Dru R.’s review, the same month, is about a plan price that went up when the list grew and did not come down when the list shrank. Alexander’s December 2024 review on Capterra UK is a UK publisher who left beehiiv because readers were not getting the emails, and who names ConvertKit as the place they went back to.

“It's been the backbone of my course marketing. Once my follow-up sequences were set up they basically run themselves, which is exactly what I needed as a one-person business.”

Wren W., owner and operator in e-learning, Capterra, 20 June 2026. The same review says: “I run an online course for wedding pros and Kit handles all my lead follow-up. The visual automation builder is easy to set up - new sign-ups drop into a sequence and get nurtured without me touching anything.” Overall rating 5.0, customer service 4.0, likelihood to recommend 9 out of 10. Link to the Kit page the review was read on. Checked 22 October 2026.

“Decent product that's decaying and extractive business practices. The poor value and way plan changes get billed, automatic on the way up and manual on the way down, is why I would not recommend them and I'm moving to another platform.”

Dru R., listed as a CEO, Capterra, 17 June 2026, on the same Kit page. Overall rating 2.0. The same review says that when the list crossed a tier in January 2024 the plan upgraded the same day, and that after inactive subscribers were removed the higher price held. It says support confirmed overcharges of about $936 from June 2025 through January 2026. The $936 is the amount stated in the review. It is not a price from Kit’s help article.

“I really like how simple and intuitive Beehiiv is to use. It feels built with creators in mind, so setting up emails, editing content, and managing my list never feels overwhelming.”

Review titled “A smooth, creator-friendly platform with room to grow”, Capterra UK, 13 November 2025. Link to the beehiiv page the review was read on. The same review says some features feel limited, “especially around design and automation.” beehiiv replied on 21 January 2026 and addressed the reviewer as Inamari. The reply says automations had recently been updated.

“Overall, moving to beehiiv was a waste of time as we had to migrate to another platform after just a few months. It looked good initially, but ultimately we were better off with ConvertKit (now Kit).”

Alexander, owner in UK media production, self-employed, Capterra UK, 3 December 2024, on the same beehiiv page. The review says the software was used for 1–5 months. It also says: “Beehiiv has serious deliverability issues. We had to move off the platform as readers were no longer getting our emails. Their customer service was also quite poor, as they didn't respond when we reached out for help.” The same review says the interface is well designed and that access to advertisers made it easier to build a business on the platform.

“I enjoy the fact that I can sell my products on the website, as well as make monthly newsletters that are available online as well.”

Crystal, freelance writer in the US, Capterra UK, 30 June 2026, on the same beehiiv page. The review is titled “Try Beehiiv for Developing Newsletters”. The same review says the product was still hard to figure out when making the monthly newsletters.

What you actually get

Checked 22 October 2026 on beehiiv’s pricing page and on Kit’s help articles. kit.com/pricing returned a browser check, not the price cards, so this article does not quote a figure from that URL. Where beehiiv’s own page disagrees with itself, the cell says so. Plan prices are US dollars, as those pages show them. Kit’s product fee is also given in pounds, from Kit’s own currency table.

beehiiv prices, the 1,000-subscriber cards, the plan-limits table, and the FAQ: beehiiv.com/pricing. Checked 22 October 2026. The visible yearly cards showed Lite at $49 a month and Pro at $95 a month. The offer data on that URL lists Free at $0, Lite at $59 and Pro at $109. The FAQ text says the free plan never requires a card, caps it at 2,500 subscribers, and says paid plans start at $59 a month.

Kit free-plan limits: The Kit Free plan. Creator and Pro starting prices, the 14-day trial, and the feature table: Creator plan vs Creator Pro plan. The page title on that URL is “Creator vs Pro: choose the right plan”. Both articles carry a structured date of 23 September 2026. Commerce fee and the UK selling country: Sell digital products with Kit, structured date 3 September 2026. Pound fee: Sell your products in different currencies, structured date 11 June 2026. The GBP row in that table is 3.5% + £0.20. Checked 22 October 2026. kit.com/pricing returned a browser check on that date, so it is linked here and not quoted.

The offer

beehiiv. Free plan: $0, no card, up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends. Lite and Pro have a free trial with no card. The page does not say how many days it lasts. The trial ends when you upgrade. With 1,000 subscribers and yearly billing selected, Lite showed $49 a month and Pro showed $95 a month. The offer data lists the monthly prices as $59 and $109. Enterprise is custom. The platform cut on paid subscriptions and on digital products is stated as 0%. The Stripe figure on the page is 2.9% + $0.30. The ad cards say “Avg. $39/mo”. That is beehiiv’s label, not a sum this page has checked, and the page does not say the ad network is available in the UK, so this article does not.

Kit. Free plan: $0 under 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages, and commerce. No separate paid-plan trial length is needed to describe the free plan. Creator and Pro each have a 14-day trial with no card. Creator starts at $39 a month and Pro at $79 a month, for up to 1,000 subscribers. Annual billing is 2 months free. A product sale is 3.5% + $0.30 in US dollars, or 3.5% + £0.20 in pounds. The commerce article says you set up a Kit-managed Stripe account even if you already have a Stripe account, and that payouts go out weekly, on Fridays. The first payout is described as 7–14 days after the first successful sale.

A worked example, Occono’s own arithmetic. It uses the dollar prices above. It ignores tax and any currency-conversion charge a UK card issuer adds. One hundred payments of $10 is $1,000. Kit’s stated fee is 3.5% + $0.30 on each payment: 3.5% of $1,000 is $35, and 100 times $0.30 is $30, so the fee is $65. The plan is $0 if the whole list is under 10,000. beehiiv’s stated platform cut of that $1,000 is $0, and Lite at the up-to-1,000 yearly card is $49. beehiiv’s page also quotes Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30. On these 100 payments that quote is $29 plus $30, which is $59. The plan plus that Stripe quote is $108. Kit’s $65 is the smaller bill in this example, if the 3.5% + $0.30 is the whole cost of the sale, which is what Kit’s commerce article says.

The same arithmetic meets when the gap covers the plan. Kit’s fee on a $10 payment is $0.65. The Stripe figure beehiiv quotes on a $10 payment is $0.59. The difference is $0.06. $49 divided by $0.06 is about 817. At 816 payments of $10, which is $8,160, the two bills are within a few cents. Under that, Kit’s percentage is the smaller bill. Over that, Lite plus the quoted Stripe figure is smaller. This only holds while every subscriber, paying or not, is still inside the up-to-1,000 yearly price of $49. 816 paying subscribers already use most of that bucket. This article does not have a verified Lite price above 1,000 subscribers.

A pound example, still this article’s arithmetic, for someone who is not converting currencies. Forty payments of £10 is £400. Kit’s pound fee is 3.5% + £0.20: 3.5% of £400 is £14, and 40 times £0.20 is £8, so the fee is £22. That sale can sit on Kit’s free plan. beehiiv Lite is priced in dollars. This article does not turn $49 into pounds.

Which one fits you?

Wren W.’s June 2026 review is a one-person course business that wanted the sequence to run after the form. Dru R.’s review, the same month, is the bill that rose with the list and stayed up. Alexander’s December 2024 review is a UK media business that left beehiiv because the emails were not arriving, and that went back to Kit. Crystal’s June 2026 review is a writer who wanted the letter and the product on one site, and who still found the editor slow. Those four are closer to a one-person publisher than a software-buyer average is.

A tutor, bookkeeper or shop sending one letter a month to people who already buy. You are not charging for the letter. Both free plans cover the send. Kit’s cap is 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv’s is 2,500. A local list will not hit 2,500 quickly, and it will not hit 10,000 quickly either. Kit is the one with more room if the list is already a few thousand. Neither takes a cut if nobody is paying for the newsletter. If the letter should also add the enquiry to a sheet you already keep, Make can connect the form to the sheet. That is a second product, and a second bill once you leave Make’s free plan. Kit’s free plan will host the form and a broadcast. The sequence that chases the enquiry is not on that free plan.

A creator selling a short download, or a paid letter, to a list that is still small. Kit’s commerce article puts the product on every plan, including Free, and states the pound fee as 3.5% + £0.20. Forty sales at £10 cost £22 on that table, and the software plan is still $0 while the list is under 10,000. beehiiv’s FAQ says digital products are on every plan and that the platform cut is 0%, then the offer data lists digital products on Lite’s additions. Paid subscriptions are on the Lite card. Until those two beehiiv lines agree, Kit is the page that clearly lets you take the payment before a monthly plan. Crystal’s review is the case for beehiiv once you want the file and the letter on the site the FAQ describes. You still pay the Stripe figure beehiiv quotes, which is a US-style 2.9% + $0.30, not a UK rate.

A coach who needs one follow-up sequence, not only a broadcast. Kit’s free plan does not include the sequence. Creator starts at $39 a month even if you have a few hundred subscribers, because the published entry price is the up-to-1,000 tier. Wren W.’s review is that plan doing the job: new sign-ups drop into a sequence. beehiiv lists automations on Lite, which showed $49 a month on yearly billing at 1,000 subscribers, or $59 in the monthly offer data. $39 against $59 is Kit, if the only gap is the sequence and you are paying month to month. $390 against $588, on the yearly arithmetic above, is still Kit. Pay beehiiv for the sequence if you also want the website, the podcast and the 0% cut the FAQ describes, and if the sales arithmetic further up has already crossed. If the sequence is attached to a sales page and a course, a newsletter tool is the wrong stack. The Kit and Systeme.io comparison is that page, and Systeme.io is the all-in-one this site uses for a page, email and a course.

Someone moving a list that already exists. Export it before you cancel anything. Dru R.’s review is a Kit customer who says the higher tier stayed in place after the list was cut, and who names about $936. That figure is the reviewer’s. It is a reason to read the current tier on the day the list changes, and to keep the export. Alexander’s review is the other move: a UK publisher who left beehiiv over deliverability and support, and who says they were better off back on Kit. The November 2025 Capterra review is the opposite experience, a person who found the editor simple and the automations limited. beehiiv’s Trustpilot score of 4.2 from 330 reviews, and Kit’s 4.0 from 161, are both labelled Great. The legacy ConvertKit page at 1.9 from 66 is the one to read beside kit.com, because a search for the old name still lands there. If being found inside another company’s reading app is the point of the move, the beehiiv and Substack comparison is that page. This one is the bill for sending, and for selling next to the letter.

Where Kit is the better buy

Kit wins when the list is the job and the monthly plan is the thing you are trying to avoid. Free publishing up to 10,000 subscribers is a wider free plan than beehiiv’s 2,500. Unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages are on that free plan. So is a product, with a published pound fee of 3.5% + £0.20 and a US dollar fee of 3.5% + $0.30. The commerce article says that is the only cost of the sale. On the dollar example above, that fee stays under beehiiv Lite plus beehiiv’s own Stripe quote until roughly 816 payments of $10 in a month, and those 816 people already crowd the 1,000-subscriber price this article could read. Creator at $39 a month is also the smaller subscription if you need sequences at that tier. Capterra’s 4.6 from 244 reviews, and Wren W.’s June 2026 review, are the public case that the sequence tool is what a one-person course business came for. Dru R.’s review is the reason to watch the tier when the list grows and when you delete inactive people. The Trustpilot score of 4.0 from 161 reviews sits next to a warning that Kit has not invited customers recently, and next to a legacy profile at 1.9 from 66. Read both. The kit.com profile says 140 of the 161 reviews are from the last 12 months, and that replies to negative reviews typically take over a month.

beehiiv wins when the newsletter is a small site, and when the money from readers is large enough that Kit’s percentage would cost more than Lite. The free plan is a real account: 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, no card, and a recommendation network on the Free card. The pricing FAQ says the website, the podcast, the community and digital products are included on every plan. The offer data lists custom domains on Free and then lists digital products on Lite. Those lines were both on beehiiv.com/pricing on 22 October 2026. Paid subscriptions and the 0% take rate are on the Lite card. Lite at $49 a month on yearly billing, for up to 1,000 subscribers, is the first price this article could read for that plan. The monthly offer price is $59. You still pay Stripe at the rate beehiiv prints, which is not a UK rate. Removing the beehiiv branding waits until Pro, at $95 a month on that same yearly card, or $109 in the offer data. The free trial of Lite and Pro does not have a published length. Capterra UK’s 4.4 from 16 reviews is a small count. Trustpilot’s 4.2 from 330 reviews is the larger public score, with a 22% one-star share and a reply rate the profile puts at 93% of negative reviews, typically within 48 hours. Alexander’s review is the deliverability warning from a UK publisher. Crystal’s review is the reason the site-and-product case is not only a feature list.

Use one list. Two newsletters means two places a reader can be subscribed, and a person who leaves one of them is still on the other.

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Update details

• 22 October 2026 — Published.