Switching from Kit to beehiiv: what happens to your fees

The before and after

Take a newsletter that's just outgrown a free plan: 2,000 subscribers, 150 of them paying $10/month — $1,500/month gross. On Kit's Creator (up to 3,000 subs) plan that costs $146.67/month all-in (9.78% of gross). On beehiiv's Scale plan it's $131.58/month (8.77%). That's $15.09/month — about $181.08/year — for the same revenue. The full side-by-side is in beehiiv vs Kit.

The gap comes from how each platform treats your subscription revenue. Kit's Commerce charges 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction on what you sell (payment processing included), while beehiiv takes 0% and you pay only Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 processing on top of a flat plan fee. Both charge a plan fee that scales with list size, and at this size those fees are close — so the 3.5% is most of what you're saving.

Why the savings grow as you earn more

Kit's 3.5% is a percentage of revenue, so it grows with every paid subscriber; beehiiv's 0% take rate means that line is always zero. Take the top of the verified range — 2,500 subscribers with 250 paying $10/month ($2,500/month gross) — and the same two plans cost $211.67/month on Kit versus $190.58/month on beehiiv — $21.09/month, wider than the $15.09 at a smaller paid base. The more of your list you convert to paid, the more that 3.5% costs you relative to beehiiv's flat structure.

It's the same flat-fee-versus-revenue-share trade that decides most platform choices, just with a smaller share than Substack's 10% — Kit's 3.5% is a mild version of it. The general mechanics are in flat fee or revenue share, and beehiiv's own plan ladder is in beehiiv pricing explained.

When staying on Kit is the right call

The math flips at the very start, and it flips hard. Kit's free Newsletter plan can sell paid subscriptions up to 1,000 subscribers with no plan fee at all — you pay only the 3.5% + $0.30 Commerce fee. beehiiv's free Launch plan, by contrast, can't take payments, so to monetize on beehiiv you're on a paid plan from day one. At 1,000 subscribers with 80 paying $10/month, Kit's free tier costs $52/month while beehiiv's plan fee pushes it to $90.28/month — beehiiv is $38.28/month more, and switching would cost you money.

So the switch only makes sense once you've outgrown Kit's free ceiling of 1,000 subscribers and are paying for a Kit plan anyway. Below that, Kit is the cheaper home; above it, beehiiv's 0% take rate pulls ahead. If you're near that line, run your real numbers in the calculator before moving, and see the full plan detail in Kit pricing explained.

What to verify before you move

A few things to confirm directly with both platforms first, since they affect real money: that your paid subscriptions can transfer through Stripe without forcing subscribers to re-enter cards; how annual subscribers are handled mid-term; and beehiiv's current import process for your subscriber list, tags, and automations. Migration mechanics change often enough that we keep them out of our data layer — verify against beehiiv's site and Kit's docs at migration time.

One honest limit on the numbers above: we've verified beehiiv's plan pricing directly only up to 2,500 subscribers, and beehiiv scales its price with list size beyond that, so every figure here stays inside that range. Above it, check beehiiv's current pricing for your exact list before assuming the savings hold. Compare the fee profiles at Kit and beehiiv, or see the same move from a steeper revenue share in switching Substack to beehiiv.

Frequently asked questions