October 19, 2026
Newsletter cost · per-send pricing vs subscriber tiers
10,000 readers cost $39 a month on MailCheap if you send weekly, or $149 if you send daily. Beehiiv Lite is $119 a month billed yearly.
A newsletter tool charges you in one of two ways. Subscriber-tier pricing charges by the people on your list. Per-send pricing charges by the emails you send in a month. Beehiiv uses subscriber tiers. MailCheap uses per-send pricing.
The short answer
Pick Beehiiv if you send daily to 10,000 readers or more, or if you sell ads or charge readers. It is cheaper at that send count, and it includes the tools that earn money. Pick a per-send tool like MailCheap if you send a free newsletter once a week to more than 2,500 readers and never plan to earn from it. Under 2,500 readers, Beehiiv Free costs $0.
What changed at Beehiiv
Beehiiv renamed its plans on October 1, 2026. Launch is now Free, Scale is now Lite and Max is now Pro, says Beehiiv's October 1 post. New customers pay the new prices now. If you already pay Beehiiv, your price changes at your first renewal on or after November 1, 2026.
EmailOctopus, a competitor, says Lite at 100,000 subscribers cost $290 a month billed yearly before the change. On October 19, 2026, Beehiiv's prices showed $399 a month billed yearly.
Annual billing means you pay for 12 months up front, and the monthly price is lower. Always check which one a price uses. At 5,000 subscribers, Lite is $95 a month billed yearly or $109 billed monthly.
What each tool costs
Beehiiv Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. Lite and Pro are priced by list size.
| Subscribers | Lite billed yearly | Lite billed monthly | Pro billed yearly | Pro billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | $49 | $59 | $95 | $109 |
| Up to 5,000 | $95 | $109 | $169 | $199 |
| Up to 10,000 | $119 | $139 | $199 | $239 |
| Up to 50,000 | $249 | $299 | $399 | $469 |
| Up to 100,000 | $399 | $469 | $599 | $699 |
MailCheap has no free trial or free plan. The prices below are billed monthly. Yearly billing gives you 2 months free. Each plan has an email limit and a subscriber limit.
- Starter is $19 a month for 20,000 emails and up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Growth is $39 a month for 75,000 emails and up to 40,000 subscribers.
- Pro is $79 a month for 200,000 emails and up to 100,000 subscribers.
- Scale is $149 a month for 500,000 emails and up to 250,000 subscribers.
- Max is $349 a month for 2,000,000 emails and up to 1,000,000 subscribers.
What the same list costs at different send rates
A weekly newsletter goes out about 4.3 times a month. A daily one goes out about 30 times.
The math: 4,000 subscribers, weekly. 4,000 × 4.3 = about 17,200 emails, which fits MailCheap Starter at $19. On Beehiiv, 4,000 subscribers sit in the up-to-5,000 tier, so Lite is $109 billed monthly or $95 a month billed yearly. That is $90 a month more on monthly billing and $76 a month more on yearly billing.
The math: 10,000 subscribers, weekly. 10,000 × 4.3 = about 43,000 emails, which fits MailCheap Growth at $39. Beehiiv Lite is $139 billed monthly or $119 a month billed yearly.
The math: 10,000 subscribers, daily. 10,000 × 30 = 300,000 emails, which needs MailCheap Scale at $149. Beehiiv Lite stays at $139 billed monthly or $119 a month billed yearly, so Beehiiv is cheaper.
The math: 4,000 subscribers, daily. 4,000 × 30 = 120,000 emails, which fits MailCheap Pro at $79. Beehiiv Lite is $95 a month billed yearly, so per-send still wins at this size.
The math: 50,000 subscribers, daily. 50,000 × 30 = 1,500,000 emails, which needs MailCheap Max at $349. Beehiiv Lite is $299 billed monthly or $249 a month billed yearly, so Beehiiv is cheaper on both.
MailCheap's own footnote says 4,000 weekly subscribers cost $19 on MailCheap against $109 on Beehiiv Lite. The $109 is Beehiiv's monthly price. Billed yearly, the Beehiiv side is $95.
What you give up with per-send pricing
MailCheap's plans list campaigns, scheduling, a website, your own domain, a signup form, an API and chat support. They don't list an ad network, referrals or paid subscriptions.
Beehiiv's paid plans include an ad network, paid recommendations and paid subscriptions. Beehiiv also has a referral program, which rewards readers who bring in new readers. Paid recommendations let other newsletters pay you to suggest them to your readers. Beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue, and Stripe, the card processor, still takes 2.9% plus $0.30 per charge.
So the cheaper tool depends on the job. A free weekly letter that will never sell anything can save money on per-send pricing. A newsletter that sells ads or subscriptions gets those tools on Beehiiv.
What to do before your renewal
Count your subscribers and multiply by your sends per month. Price that number on both tools. If you already pay Beehiiv, do this before your first renewal on or after November 1, 2026.
Next · Beehiiv pricing lists every plan · Newsletter platforms compares Beehiiv with Substack, Kit and Ghost · Beehiiv vs Substack runs the fee math on paid newsletters.