beehiiv vs Kit: Which Should You Choose?

beehiiv

The newsletter platform built for growth — create, grow, and monetize your email audience without code.

beehiiv is a newsletter platform created by early Morning Brew team members, designed around one goal: growing and monetizing an email audience. Writers get a modern editor, customizable templates, and a built-in website builder, so a publication can live entirely on beehiiv without separate hosting. Its growth toolkit is the standout — a referral program, Boosts for paid cross-promotion between newsletters, recommendations, subscribe forms, pop-ups, and A/B testing are all native features rather than third-party add-ons. Monetization options include beehiiv's ad network that connects publishers with brand sponsors, paid subscriptions, and direct sponsorships. Detailed analytics cover audience growth, engagement, and revenue. A free Launch plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers, making beehiiv a popular Substack alternative for creators who want to own their growth levers.

Kit

The creator marketing platform (formerly ConvertKit) — email, automations, and monetization built for creators.

Kit, the platform formerly known as ConvertKit, is an email marketing hub built around creators — writers, podcasters, course sellers, and YouTubers. Beyond sending newsletters, Kit's strength is its visual automation builder: tag subscribers by behavior, branch sequences by interest, and run evergreen funnels that sell products while you sleep. Landing pages, forms, and a Creator Network for cross-promotion handle audience growth, while Commerce features let you sell digital products and paid newsletters with no separate storefront. The free plan now supports up to 10,000 subscribers, making Kit unusually generous for starting out. Compared to newer publications-focused tools like beehiiv, Kit leans toward marketing automation depth: it's less about publishing a media brand and more about running a creator business on email.