A free audience allowance and a paid-newsletter workflow are separate buying decisions. That is the useful takeaway from our 9 October recheck of beehiiv, Kit and Buttondown.
Start with the feature you need next
beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers, while paid subscriptions require a paid plan. Kit documents paid newsletters on its free plan too, with transaction charges separate. Buttondown's selected 1,000-subscriber calculator includes paid subscriptions at $9 monthly or a quoted $90 annually. A default tier's add-on list can therefore misprice your actual setup.
Keep the annual bill visible
At 1,000 subscribers, beehiiv Lite displays $59 on monthly billing and a $49 monthly equivalent on yearly billing. Multiplying the latter gives $588; that is our local arithmetic, not a checkout invoice.
Kit Creator quotes $39 monthly or $390 annually. Its Pro annual view currently carries a first-year promotion; the promotional first year must not become your assumed renewal budget.
These are provider-displayed dollars, read 9 October, before tax, add-ons, payment fees or currency conversion. Recheck the selected plan and your billing location before paying.
Make the next issue your trial
Choose one issue, a starting list size and five requirements. Draft the same content in each shortlisted option. Inspect the reader signup and the export you would need to leave. Keep payment and email-unsubscribe behaviour as separate checks.
Our free trial pack includes a synthetic brief, example issue, export checklist and fourteen reproducible local cost scenarios. Native provider steps have not been run. The pack does not claim sends, delivery results or a successful migration.
For the current conditional choices and full price table, read the newsletter comparison. If your requirements need a private shortlist, the £149 decision memo sets out the scope before you enquire.
Source note. This issue uses agent-assisted research into the linked official pages and local price arithmetic. Native provider journeys remain unexecuted; the linked pack states the exact local work and its limits.
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