beehiiv pricing, checked: Launch, Scale and Max at every subscriber count

Last updated 2026-09-25 · By Smart Pick Desk editors · Prices read on beehiiv's pricing page on 2026-09-20 and re-read on 2026-09-25; help centre and terms read on 2026-09-25 · We have not used beehiiv · How we checked ↓

The short answer

beehiiv lists four plans: Launch (free), Scale, Max and Enterprise. Scale and Max are priced by how many active subscribers you have; sending more email does not raise the price on any plan.

• Launch is free up to 2,500 subscribers, with a website but no automations. The FAQ says “beehiiv's Launch plan is free, forever, with no credit card required.”^[1] The comparison table lists automations, A/B testing and paid subscriptions as No on Launch.^[1]

  See beehiiv's own pricing page

• Scale starts at $43 a month billed annually, $49 billed monthly. That is the 1,000-subscriber tier. At 10,000 subscribers it is $96 a month billed annually, and at 100,000 it is $290.^[1]
• Before you pay, read one line of the terms. “All fees are non-refundable.”^[5] A monthly plan can be paused for up to 30 days; an annual plan cannot.^[2]

If you want one sentence: beehiiv charges by subscriber tier, gives Launch a website and unlimited sends for free, and keeps automations and paid subscriptions for Scale and up.

At a glance

The eight tiers on beehiiv's subscriber slider, read in both billing positions on 2026-09-20.^[1] On 2026-09-25 we re-read the default view (1,000 subscribers, annual billing) and it was unchanged: Scale $43 a month, “$517 billed annually”, “Save $71/year”; Max $96 a month, “$1,151 billed annually”, “Save $157/year”.^[1] Enterprise is “Flexible billing, 100K+ subscribers” with custom pricing.

Two patterns in the table are worth knowing. First, the tiers are wide apart at the top: 50,000, 75,000 and 100,000. Second, some prices repeat across plans. Scale at 10,000 subscribers is the same $96 a month (billed annually) as Max at 1,000. Scale at 25,000 matches Max at 5,000 ($149), and Scale at 75,000 matches Max at 25,000 ($254). So for the same money you can have more features on a small list or more subscribers on the lighter plan.

How we checked this (and what we did not check)

Last updated 2026-09-25 (first version). Every number and quotation here comes from beehiiv's own pages. Prices change — confirm on the official page before you sign up.

What we did. On 2026-09-20 we opened beehiiv.com/pricing in a browser with no account, moved the subscriber slider through all nine positions and switched billing both ways, recording each price. On 2026-09-25 we saved the page text again with the FAQ answers opened, and checked the default tier against the earlier record. The same day we saved three help-centre articles (plan types and tiers, changing plans, refunds) and beehiiv's Terms of Use. Wording in quotation marks is copied from those saved pages word for word, and a script checks every quotation against the saved text.

What we did not do. We have not used beehiiv. There is no account, no screenshot, and nothing here about how the editor, the ad network or the website builder work in practice. beehiiv has no public brand-asset terms, so we do not show its logo or screens; every image on this page is a chart we drew from the numbers. Several items on the plan cards carry an asterisk or a dagger, and the page text we saved does not include what those marks mean, so we do not guess.

What that leaves. The price list, the plan rows printed as Yes or No, and the billing rules as beehiiv writes them.

The free Launch plan

The Launch card reads “Up to 2,500 subscribers” at $0 per month, and its list of what is included starts with “Newsletters, Website, and Podcast”.^[1] The FAQ adds: “All beehiiv plans, including the free Launch plan, include unlimited email sends.”^[1]

• Website: the comparison table lists web hosting, subscribe forms, custom domains, website templates and link-in-bio as Yes on Launch.^[1] Website analytics on Launch reads “Basic metrics”.
• People: 1 team member on Launch, up to 3 on Scale, unlimited on Max.^[1]
• Podcast: the table lists 1 episode a month and 1 show on Launch.^[1]
• AI credits: 10 per day on Launch, 25 on Scale, 50 on Max.^[1]
• Not on Launch: automations, surveys, A/B testing, custom webpages, the referral program, the ad network, paid subscriptions and digital products are all printed as No.^[1]

There is also a trial. The help centre says: “Upon first creating a beehiiv account, you'll immediately receive a trial of our Scale or Max plan”, and adds “During your trial, your account is subject to the sending limits of the Launch plan, including a 2,500 active subscriber cap.”^[2] So a trial lets you use paid features, but not on a list larger than Launch allows.

In practice, Launch fits someone who wants a newsletter with its own web home and will send each issue by hand. A welcome email that sends itself is an automation, and that starts on Scale. If a hosted website is the reason you are looking, our guide to starting an email list without a website compares what each free plan hosts.

What Scale adds

The Scale card opens with “Everything on Launch +” and lists, among others, the ad network, recommendations, “0% Take Rate on Paid Subscriptions*”, digital products, community, “Email Automations”, surveys and polls, advanced website analytics, webhooks, “Teams (3 Seats)*” and “Human Support”.^[1]

On paid subscriptions, the FAQ says “beehiiv takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue” and that you keep what you earn minus “Stripe's standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction”.^[1] That is beehiiv's statement of its own fee; we have not checked Stripe's pricing for your country.

What changes in practice when you move from Launch to Scale:

• automations become available (the table's Automations row turns from No to Yes);
• you can charge for a newsletter (Paid subscriptions: No on Launch, Yes on Scale);
• up to 3 people can work in the account;
• website analytics shows “All data; filters not supported”.^[1]

What does not change is the publication limit: the table lists 3 publications on both Launch and Scale.^[1]

What Max adds, and what it costs over Scale

The FAQ describes the difference in its own words: “Max adds several key upgrades: the ability to remove beehiiv branding from your newsletter and website, dynamic content, priority support, and up to 10 publications per account (vs. 3 on Scale).”^[1] The Max card also lists “Remove beehiiv Branding*”, “Up to 10 Publications*”, audio newsletters, RSS to Send, click-triggered automations and “Priority Human Support”.^[1]

Billed annually, Max costs this much more than Scale per month at each tier: $53 at 1,000 subscribers, $70 at 2,500, $71 at 5,000, $97 at 10,000, $105 at 25,000, $115 at 50,000 and 75,000, and $114 at 100,000.

So Max is roughly double Scale's price on a small list and much closer to it on a large one: at 1,000 subscribers $96 against $43, at 100,000 $404 against $290.^[1] The case for Max on the page is branding removal, more publications and a set of sending features; if none of those are on your list, the price gap is the main difference you will notice.

Plan type vs plan tier: why Scale can show a smaller number than Launch

This is the part of beehiiv's pricing that confuses people most, and the help centre has an FAQ entry for it: “Why does my paid Scale plan show a lower subscriber limit than the free Launch plan's 2,500 subscribers?”^[2]

The answer separates two things. The plan type decides what you can use; Launch has a total limit of 2,500 active subscribers, and the pricing table lists 100,000 for Scale and Max.^[1] The plan tier decides what you pay inside a paid type. In the help centre's words: “If you're on Scale with 800 active subscribers, you would be on the 1,000-subscriber plan tier.” and “This means you're paying for capacity up to 1,000”, not that you are limited to it.^[2]

Two more definitions from the same article decide your bill:

• “Active Subscriber: A subscriber who you are sending to that has not unsubscribed or been marked as inactive.”^[2]
• The 100,000 limit on Scale and Max “applies collectively to all publications within a workspace”.^[2] Your tier is set by the total across publications, not per newsletter.

What this means if you are on Launch with, say, 1,800 subscribers and want automations: moving to Scale puts you on the 2,500 tier ($61 a month billed annually), not the 1,000 tier.

Monthly or annual

The pricing page opens on annual billing and prints the saving in dollars, for example “Save $71/year” on Scale at 1,000 subscribers.^[1] It does not print a percentage. The FAQ quotes the monthly figure instead: “paid plans start at $49/month”.^[1] Both are correct; they are the same plan on the two billing switches.

Monthly and annual prices from the pricing page.^[1] The 12-month and difference columns are our arithmetic. The saving works out at about 12% at every tier we checked (for example $71 of $588).

Three rules to weigh against that saving, all from the help centre: the pause option exists only on monthly billing (“The pause option is not available on annual billing plans.”); moving from annual to monthly takes effect later (“Changing to monthly will begin as soon as the existing plan ends.”); and upgrading from monthly to annual is charged at once, with prorated changes applied.^[2][3] Add the terms' line that all fees are non-refundable,^[5] and paying annually is a commitment for the year.

Going past your tier on a paid plan

Unlike some tools, beehiiv lets you choose what happens when your list outgrows its tier. The setting is named in the help centre: “Auto-upgrade my plan tier when I reach my subscriber limit”.^[3]

• Switch on: “You will automatically be charged a prorated amount for the next tier of your current plan when you surpass your current subscriber limit.”^[3]
• Switch off: “By opting out, sends to subscribers may be delayed if you exceed your plan limits.”^[3]

The article does not say how long a delay can last or how much over the limit triggers it, so we do not either. For a newsletter with a fixed send day, the choice is between a larger bill arriving without a click and an issue that may not go out on time.

Manual upgrades have one detail worth knowing before you click: “Clicking confirm automatically charges the card on file.”^[3] And one payment detail from the plan FAQ: “At this time, we aren't able to allow payment by pre-paid credit card.”^[2]

Downgrading, pausing and cancelling

The help article on changing plans covers three ways to spend less.

• A lower tier on the same plan. “The new subscriber amount will begin at the start of your next billing cycle.” The same note warns that “automations can also be affected if your subscriber count is more than your plan tier”.^[3]
• Pausing (monthly plans only). The plan FAQ says you “can pause your subscription for up to 30 days, beginning at the end of your current billing cycle”, that the account uses Launch's feature set meanwhile, and “When the pause period ends, your paid plan and features are automatically restored.”^[2]
• Moving to Launch. “Downgrading to the free Launch plan keeps your account and all your content intact.”^[3] After a downgrade, “You will still have access to your current plan until the end of your current billing period.”^[3]

Moving a website back to Launch changes more than the price. For accounts created on or after July 15, 2025, the article lists what happens, including “Custom Pages: Any published custom pages will be unpublished.”, “Pages with pricing blocks will stay live” but cannot be changed, and “Automations: Automations linked to subscribe forms will automatically become unlinked.”^[3] If your site relies on custom pages, a downgrade takes them off the live site.

Refunds, tax and the terms

beehiiv's Terms of Use (the page reads “Date last modified: July 16, 2026”) are short on this point: “All fees are non-refundable.”^[5] The help article on refunds says the same in its first lines, “All sales are final upon subscription, in accordance with our Terms of Use.”, and lists cases it cannot refund, including “Non-usage of the platform.”, “Failure to cancel your account before the next billing cycle.”, “Lack of features or functionality on your subscribed plan.” and “Purchases made in error.”^[4] It ends by noting that submitting a support ticket does not mean an exception or a refund will follow.^[4]

The terms do describe one route to a partial refund: if beehiiv makes a material reduction in core functionality during your term and you are materially adversely affected, you may cancel and receive a pro-rated refund of prepaid fees for the unused part.^[5] On cancelling in general, the terms say you keep the plan to the end of the term but “you will not be eligible for a prorated refund”.

• Tax: “All fees payable by you for use of the Services are exclusive of taxes and similar assessments.”^[5] The pricing page prices do not include tax.
• Price changes: beehiiv may change fees “at any time on a going forward basis by providing not less than thirty (30) days advance notice”, and “we do not provide price protection or refunds in the event of a price drop or promotional offering”.^[5]
• Free accounts that go quiet: “If you have a free account, we may cancel your account and reclaim the subdomain after a period of inactivity.” The terms add that beehiiv will generally give not less than 30 days' notice by email.^[5] If a Launch site on a beehiiv subdomain is your only web address, keep the account in use.
• Discount codes: the plan FAQ explains how to apply a promotion code, and says “If you received a discount through an affiliate link, apply the link directly” rather than typing a code.^[2] We have no code to offer.

Which plan fits which situation

See beehiiv's own pricing page

Weighing beehiiv against Kit? Kit vs beehiiv finds the list size where the cheaper one changes. The other price lists: Kit pricing, checked and MailerLite pricing, checked. All free plans side by side: what free means on 8 platforms.

Questions people ask

Is beehiiv free?

The FAQ says “beehiiv's Launch plan is free, forever, with no credit card required.”^[1] Launch is listed with up to 2,500 subscribers and unlimited email sends; automations, paid subscriptions and A/B testing are listed as No.

How much does beehiiv cost per month?

At 1,000 subscribers, Scale is $49 a month billed monthly or $43 billed annually ($517 a year); Max is $109 or $96 ($1,151 a year).^[1] The full ladder is in the table above.

Why does Scale show a lower subscriber number than the free plan?

Because paid plans are priced in tiers that start at 1,000, while Launch has a total limit of 2,500. On Scale with 800 subscribers you are on the 1,000 tier, paying for capacity up to 1,000.^[2]

What happens if I go over my beehiiv tier?

With the auto-upgrade setting on, you are charged a prorated amount for the next tier; with it off, sends may be delayed.^[3]

Can I get a refund from beehiiv?

The terms say “All fees are non-refundable.”^[5] The refund help article lists cases in which beehiiv cannot refund; the terms describe an exception for a material reduction in core functionality.^[4][5]

Can I pause a beehiiv plan instead of cancelling?

Only on monthly billing, for up to 30 days from the end of the current cycle.^[2]

Do you get paid if I sign up?

Not from this page — it has no affiliate links today. If that changes, it will say so at the top, and each link will be marked.

Sources and check log

Change log

• 2026-09-25 — First version. Price ladder from 2026-09-20; the default tier re-read unchanged on 2026-09-25; help centre and terms read on 2026-09-25.
• Previous check: none for this page (beehiiv's prices also appear in our Kit vs beehiiv comparison, checked 2026-09-20).
• What we will re-check: all eight tiers in both billing positions, the auto-upgrade wording, and the refund and pause rules.

Who writes this

Smart Pick Desk is an independent site that compares tools for people who work online. We are not employed by, or partnered with, beehiiv, and we do not run beehiiv in our own business. What we do is read what each company publishes, write down the date we read it, and say plainly which parts we could not check. More: who the editors are and how we check a page.

We do not promise results. Nothing here is a prediction about what a tool will do for your list.