beehiiv
Gets more weight for a newsletter-first growth business. The current free Launch plan reaches its subscriber ceiling at 2,500, while automations and several monetization tools sit on Scale.
2-minute decision tool
What will make you pay first?
A large free subscriber allowance is not useful if the workflow you need sits behind a paid plan. Start with the constraint you expect to hit.
Your newsletter setup
Start your deeper check with
—
beehiiv trigger—
Kit trigger—
Substack cost trigger—
How the result is formed
Kit
Gets more weight when email supports products or services. Its current Free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers. The official help centre says one basic automation may be available, while multiple automations and sequences require a paid plan.
Substack
Gets more weight for writing-first publishing with minimal setup. Publishing has no subscriber-based fee, but paid subscriptions trigger a 10% Substack transaction fee plus Stripe fees.
Use this as a shortlist, not a verdict
The tool uses the four constraints above. It cannot assess your deliverability history, integrations, migration complexity or audience preference. Confirm the live pricing and feature pages before purchasing or moving a list.
Sources and disclosure
Checked 3 September 2026: beehiiv pricing, Kit Free plan, Kit Visual Automations, and Substack fees.
The beehiiv link is an affiliate link. A qualifying purchase may generate a commission at no additional cost to you. The same decision rules are applied to all three platforms.