6 free alternatives to beehiiv

Mailjet's free tier gives you 6,000 emails per month, 1,000 contacts, an advanced email editor, APIs, SMTP relay, webhooks, basic statistics, and a form builder. That makes it a better fit for teams that care more about sending infrastructure and contact management than newsletter publishing. It is weaker than beehiiv on publication-style features: there is no native publication count, podcast toolset, recommendation network, referral program, or built-in monetization stack in the free items. If you want a lightweight email platform with both marketing and transactional capabilities, this is a straightforward switch.

• Beats beehiiv: More email infrastructure and contact capacity, with 6,000 monthly emails and 1,000 contacts.
• Falls short: Less newsletter-platform depth, with no podcast, publication, recommendation, or referral features listed in the free tier.
• Who should switch: Switch here if you need both marketing sends and transactional-style developer hooks in one free account.

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SendPulse's free plan includes 15,000 emails per month, 3 sender email addresses, subscription forms, a drag-and-drop editor, basic automation, analytics, 100 email verifications, and support resources. It is the strongest option here for raw sending volume and built-in automation depth at no cost. Compared with beehiiv, it falls short on newsletter-native publishing features like publications, podcasts, recommendation network, referral program, boosts, and API access for a newsletter stack. If your main need is to send more email and automate simple flows without paying, this free tier gives you the most headroom before a bill shows up.

• Beats beehiiv: Much higher monthly send volume at 15,000 emails and more built-in automation depth.
• Falls short: Less focused on newsletter publishing, with no free publications or podcast features listed.
• Who should switch: Switch here if your priority is email volume and basic automation rather than a hosted newsletter business.

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Ghost's free trial includes a hosted site on Ghost(Pro) Starter, custom domain support with a ghost.io subdomain and one-year .link domain registration, unlimited email sends, one newsletter, up to 1,000 members, content API access, analytics, integrations, and fully managed hosting. It is the closest option for creators who want a publication site plus newsletter in one place. It loses to beehiiv on the free ceiling because it is only a trial and the card requirement is not favorable here, while beehiiv is a perpetual free plan with no card required. Choose Ghost if you value a managed publishing stack over an always-free plan.

• Beats beehiiv: Stronger hosted publishing and site management, with managed hosting and custom domain support.
• Falls short: Not a perpetual free tier, and the card requirement is not as friendly as beehiiv's free plan.
• Who should switch: Switch here if you want a publication site first and can tolerate a trial-based starting point.

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MailerLite's free tier includes up to 500 subscribers, 12,000 monthly emails, 1 user seat, 1 website, 10 landing pages, 1 digital product or booking, signup forms, pop-ups, a drag-and-drop editor, an automation builder, and comparative reporting. It beats beehiiv when you want a broader website and landing-page toolkit alongside email, plus more monthly sends. It falls short on audience ceiling, since beehiiv allows 2,500 subscribers for free, and it does not offer beehiiv's publication and podcast-oriented structure. Switch here if you are building a small marketing site with email, not a larger newsletter operation.

• Beats beehiiv: More monthly emails and more site-building surface area, including landing pages and a website.
• Falls short: Much lower subscriber ceiling than beehiiv, with only 500 subscribers free.
• Who should switch: Switch here if your newsletter is really part of a broader landing-page and site funnel.

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Brevo's free tier lets you create an account without a credit card, manage contacts, create campaigns, and send up to 300 emails per day after approval. It also includes transactional email features on all plans, plus RESTful APIs, SMTP, outbound webhooks, and unlimited log retention for transactional mail. That makes it better than beehiiv for teams that need transactional delivery and webhooks more than newsletter publishing. It falls short on free-scale audience growth because beehiiv's free plan allows up to 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sends, while Brevo's sending is day-capped. If your product needs email infrastructure, this is the better fit.

• Beats beehiiv: Transactional email features, APIs, SMTP, and webhooks in the free tier.
• Falls short: Tighter sending cap, with 300 emails per day after approval instead of beehiiv's unlimited sends.
• Who should switch: Switch here if you need transactional messaging and API delivery more than a newsletter platform.

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Mailchimp's free tier includes up to 250 contacts, 500 emails per month or 250 per day, 1 audience, 1 user, forms and landing pages, basic reports, integrations, a content studio, social posting, pop-up forms, a website builder, and free hosting on a Mailchimp domain. It is the most familiar option for small list management and basic campaign creation, with a broad set of starter tools. It loses hard to beehiiv on subscriber ceiling and sending capacity, since beehiiv gives 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sends. Choose Mailchimp only if you want a general email marketing starter with simple site tools and do not need newsletter scale.

• Beats beehiiv: Broader starter marketing toolkit, including forms, landing pages, website building, and social posting.
• Falls short: Much smaller free audience and send limits than beehiiv.
• Who should switch: Switch here if you need a general-purpose email starter and your list will stay very small.

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