Beehiiv Pricing 2026: Plans, Fees, and Is It Worth It?
This post contains affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no cost to you. Beehiiv is one of them. See our Affiliate Disclosure. Pricing as of October 2026, read on October 19 from Beehiiv’s pricing page, help center, and its October 1 announcement.
Beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $49 a month billed yearly ($59 month to month) at 1,000 subscribers and climb with list size. Podcast hosting is included on every plan, capped at 5,000 downloads a month on Free and 15,000 on Lite. Buy it as a newsletter that also hosts your show, not as a cheaper podcast host.
Beehiiv renamed its plans on October 1, 2026. Launch is now Free, Scale is Lite, and Max is Pro. Reviews written before that date quote plans and prices that no longer exist.
Key takeaways
- Beehiiv’s Free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, includes the website, podcast, and community products, and has no monthly fee.
- Beehiiv Lite costs $49 a month billed yearly or $59 billed monthly at 1,000 subscribers, and $119 or $139 at 10,000.
- Beehiiv Pro costs $95 a month billed yearly or $109 billed monthly at 1,000 subscribers, and supports up to 250,000 subscribers.
- Beehiiv caps podcast downloads by plan: 5,000 a month on Free, 15,000 on Lite, and 50,000 on Pro.
- Beehiiv takes 0 percent of paid subscription revenue, but Stripe’s processing fee of 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction still applies.
- Existing Beehiiv customers keep their old price until their first renewal on or after November 1, 2026.
How much does Beehiiv cost in 2026?
Free costs nothing. Lite and Pro are priced by how many subscribers you have, so the same plan costs more as your list grows. The table below is Beehiiv’s own pricing page, with the subscriber slider moved to each level and both billing toggles read on October 19, 2026. Yearly billing is printed per month.
| Subscribers | Lite, billed yearly | Lite, billed monthly | Pro, billed yearly | Pro, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $49 | $59 | $95 | $109 |
| 2,500 | $69 | $79 | $129 | $149 |
| 5,000 | $95 | $109 | $169 | $199 |
| 10,000 | $119 | $139 | $199 | $239 |
| 25,000 | $169 | $199 | $299 | $349 |
| 50,000 | $249 | $299 | $399 | $469 |
| 100,000 | $399 | $469 | $599 | $699 |
All prices are per month in US dollars. Lite stops at 100,000 subscribers and Pro at 250,000. Past that, Beehiiv sells Enterprise through its sales team. The yearly totals are our math: Lite at 1,000 subscribers is $588 a year billed yearly against $708 paid monthly, a $120 difference. Beehiiv’s page says yearly billing saves up to 20 percent, and its announcement says up to two months free.
What changed in Beehiiv’s plans on October 1?
The names and the prices. Beehiiv’s announcement, dated October 1, 2026, maps Launch to Free, Scale to Lite, and Max to Pro, with Enterprise unchanged. New customers pay the new prices from October 1. Existing customers change at their first renewal on or after November 1. Monthly payers get at least 30 days’ notice, and annual payers keep their price through the end of their term.
Our own capture of the pricing page on August 4 showed Scale at $43 a month and Max at $96 on annual billing. The entry prices today are $49 for Lite and $95 for Pro, so the cheapest paid plan went up $6 a month and the top plan went down $1. The announcement also lifts Pro’s ceiling from 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers, so self-serve plans no longer force a sales call at 100,000.
One more detail from the announcement: some accounts had grown past the subscriber tier they were billed for, and Beehiiv moved them to the matching tier. Those accounts are billed at the new tier from their first renewal on or after November 1.
What does each Beehiiv plan include?
Every plan includes unlimited email sends, plus the newsletter, website, podcast, community, and digital products tools. What changes as you move up is limits, support, and advanced features. These are the limits from Beehiiv’s plan comparison table:
| Limit | Free | Lite | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscribers | 2,500 | 100,000 | 250,000 |
| Team seats | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Publications | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Guest authors | 1 | 3 | Unlimited |
| Analytics history | 30 days | 12 months | Unlimited |
Lite adds paid subscriptions with a 0 percent platform fee, ad monetization, automations, audience polls, and A/B testing. Pro adds everything in Lite plus removal of Beehiiv branding, webinars and coaching, advanced analytics, webhooks, dynamic content, more AI credits, and 24/7 priority support. Enterprise adds SSO, dedicated IP addresses, and a customer success manager.
How many podcast downloads does Beehiiv allow?
5,000 a month on Free, 15,000 on Lite, and 50,000 on Pro. Beehiiv’s podcast help article, updated October 7, 2026, also limits shows: 1 per workspace on Free, 2 on Lite, and unlimited on Pro in its plan table. The same article’s FAQ says Pro supports up to 4, so confirm the show count with Beehiiv before you plan a network on Pro. Enterprise lists unlimited shows and 100,000-plus downloads.
The upload rules are strict. Beehiiv’s audio guidelines accept MP3 and WAV, cap a single episode at 500 MB, and say M4A, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, and OGG are not supported. It recommends a constant-bitrate MP3 at 44.1 kHz, 128 kbps mono for a voice show and 192 kbps for stereo with music, and says a 60-minute mono episode at 128 kbps is typically around 55 MB. Our mono or stereo guide shows why that size holds. For other hosts’ upload caps, see episode file size limits by host.
Is Beehiiv worth it for a podcast?
Yes if the newsletter is your main asset and the show feeds it. No if you only need somewhere to host audio. Look at it as a pure host. Beehiiv Lite at 1,000 subscribers is $59 a month billed monthly for 2 shows and 15,000 downloads. In our price tracker, last checked September 24, Transistor Starter is $19 a month for unlimited shows and 20,000 downloads, and Captivate Personal is $19 for unlimited shows and 30,000 downloads.
You are paying the difference for the newsletter, the website, automations, and an ad network in one login. That can be a fair trade. It stops being one when your list grows, because the price follows subscribers while most dedicated hosts price by downloads or upload hours. A show with 10,000 email subscribers pays $139 a month on Lite billed monthly before it publishes a single episode.
The honest downsides are the download caps, the 500 MB file limit, the narrow format list, and a price that rises with your list. If hosting is the whole job, read Transistor pricing and Captivate pricing first. How to choose a podcast host covers what to weigh.
What are the catches in Beehiiv pricing?
Subscriber-tier billing is the first. Beehiiv counts unique email addresses subscribed to your publication, and your tier follows that count. Cleaning out disengaged subscribers can move you to a lower tier, according to Beehiiv’s announcement, and a growing list moves you up a tier.
Branding is the second. Removing Beehiiv branding starts on Pro, so Lite publications carry it. Seats are the third: Lite includes 2 and Pro includes 10. Last, a 0 percent platform fee does not remove card fees. Beehiiv’s pricing FAQ says you keep what you earn minus Stripe’s 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction.
Lite and Pro include a free trial with no card needed to start. Free is free forever, so the cheapest way to find out whether Beehiiv suits a show is to publish on Free first.
Which Beehiiv plan should you buy?
A newsletter that is just getting started: Free, up to 2,500 subscribers, with one show and 5,000 downloads a month. Start Beehiiv free. The downside: the free plan stops at 2,500 subscribers, and the next step is $49 a month billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers, rising to $69 at 2,500.
A show that earns from the list: Lite on yearly billing. It adds paid subscriptions, ads, and automations. The downside: 2 seats, 15,000 downloads, and Beehiiv branding stays on.
A team, a network, or a list near 100,000: Pro. It removes branding, adds 10 seats and more shows (Beehiiv lists unlimited in one place and up to 4 in another), and runs to 250,000 subscribers. The downside: $95 a month billed yearly before your list grows.
A podcast with no newsletter plans: skip Beehiiv and use a dedicated host. For the newsletter question, Beehiiv vs Kit and the best newsletter platform for podcasters compare the field.
FAQ
How much is Beehiiv per month?
Free is $0. At 1,000 subscribers, Lite is $49 a month billed yearly or $59 billed monthly, and Pro is $95 or $109. The price rises with your subscriber count, to $119 for Lite at 10,000 subscribers on yearly billing.
Is Beehiiv free?
Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers. The Free plan includes unlimited email sends, the website, the podcast and community products, one show, and 5,000 podcast downloads a month. It has no card requirement.
Does Beehiiv host podcasts?
Yes, on every plan. You get an RSS feed and can submit it to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Downloads are capped by plan, and episodes must be MP3 or WAV under 500 MB.
What happened to Beehiiv’s Scale plan?
It was renamed Lite on October 1, 2026, along with Launch becoming Free and Max becoming Pro. Existing Scale customers keep their price until a renewal on or after November 1.
Does Beehiiv take a cut of paid subscriptions?
No platform cut, since Beehiiv takes 0 percent. Stripe’s standard fee of 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction still applies.
