Updated March 2026

beehiiv vs MailerLite

beehiiv and MailerLite overlap for newsletter creators who want a free plan and good growth tools. beehiiv's free plan covers 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, a built-in recommendation network, and web publishing. MailerLite's free plan covers 500 subscribers with a website builder, landing pages, and basic automation. beehiiv is the better newsletter platform — the editor is optimized for long-form content, the ad network and Boosts enable monetization, and the growth tools (referral programs, recommendations) are unmatched. MailerLite is the better email marketing platform — stronger automation, higher deliverability (94.41%), and more versatile for businesses that need campaigns beyond newsletters.

Our pick: MailerLite (7.5/10 vs 7/10)

MailerLite wins 3 out of 6 categories. beehiiv is better for: newsletter creators and media companies who want to monetise their audience through ads, paid subscriptions, and cross-promotion.

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beehiiv

7/10

MailerLite

7.5/10

2/5

Automation

3/5

Deliverability

5/5

4/5

Ease of Use

5/5

3/5

Templates & Design

3/5

Analytics

2/5

3/5

Customer Support

3/5

Pricing Comparison

beehiiv

Free Plan

Paid plans from $43/mo

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MailerLite

Free Plan

Paid plans from $10/mo

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Pros & Cons

beehiiv

Best-in-class monetisation tools: built-in ad network, Boosts (paid cross-promotions), paid subscriptions with 0% take rate, and referral program. No other newsletter platform offers this full combination

Free plan includes up to 2,500 subscribers — generous for newsletter creators just starting out

November 2025 Winter Release was massive: AI website builder, digital products, podcast hosting, website analytics. Covered by TechCrunch as a significant platform evolution

Automation is the #1 weakness — basic compared to Kit, ActiveCampaign, or even MailerLite. No tags or lists system. This is the biggest reason creators leave beehiiv

No independent deliverability data exists — beehiiv is excluded from EmailToolTester benchmarks. Their self-reported 98.9% delivery rate cannot be externally verified, which is a red flag for a review site

Trustpilot rating of 4.2/5 but 23% of reviews are one-star — a bimodal love-it-or-hate-it distribution. Billing complaints include being charged after deactivation and difficulty finding the cancellation button

Full beehiiv review →

MailerLite

94.41% deliverability rate across 5 independent test rounds (EmailToolTester) — highest we found among all platforms tested

76% cheaper than Mailchimp at 2,500 subscribers ($25/mo vs ~$69/mo for equivalent features)

Won 'Best Email Marketing Tool for Ease of Use' every year from 2023-2026 across G2 and Capterra

Account approval/termination is a real problem — 60% of Capterra reviews mentioning it were negative. Users report accounts terminated without warning and no refund

Free plan was cut from 1,000 to 500 subscribers in September 2025, with no templates on free (must design from scratch)

Limited analytics — no heatmaps, no custom reports, no revenue attribution, no bot-click filtering. If data matters to you, this will frustrate you

Full MailerLite review →

The Bottom Line

Choose beehiiv if: you want a tool that is best for newsletter creators and media companies who want to monetise their audience through ads, paid subscriptions, and cross-promotion. It scores highest in ease of use.

Choose MailerLite if: you want a tool that is best for small businesses and creators on a budget who want simplicity. It scores highest in deliverability, ease of use.

Transparency note: We earn affiliate commissions from some tools on this page. This never influences our scores. Our methodology