beehiiv vs Listmonk
beehiiv and Listmonk are both popular choices in the newsletter platform space. beehiiv starts at $49/mo, while Listmonk is free. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. Both offer free plans to get started. beehiiv has the edge with marketing automation, A/B testing, landing pages.
Quick Verdict
beehiiv wins on deliverability, rating, integrations.
Best for most users: beehiiv (newsletter creators).
beehiiv
The newsletter platform built for growth
beehiiv was built by the team behind Morning Brew's growth to 4 million subscribers. It's specifically designed for newsletter businesses with built-in monetization through ad networks, paid subscriptions, and referral programs. The highest affiliate commission in the space at up to 60%.
Listmonk
Self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager
Listmonk is a free, open-source, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go. It handles millions of emails with minimal resources and is best for developers and technical users who want full control over their email infrastructure.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | beehiiv | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Starting Price | $49/mo | Free |
| Free Plan | 2,500 subscribers | Unlimited (self-hosted, open source) |
| Founded | 2021 | 2018 |
| Email Templates | 20 | 5 |
| Integrations | 40 | 10 |
| Deliverability Rate | 98% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | No |
| A/B Testing | Yes | No |
| Landing Pages | Yes | No |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | No | No |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | No |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | No | Yes |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | No | No |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
beehiiv: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Purpose-built for newsletter businesses
- + Built-in ad network for monetization
- + Referral program to grow subscribers
- + Paid subscription support
- + Founded by ex-Morning Brew team
Cons
- − Limited to newsletter use case
- − Fewer templates than established tools
- − Smaller integration ecosystem
- − No SMS marketing
- − Relatively new platform (2021)
Listmonk: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Completely free and open source with no usage limits
- + Handles 7+ million emails with minimal CPU and 57 MB RAM
- + Single binary deployment with Docker support
- + SQL-based subscriber segmentation for advanced querying
- + Zero recurring costs — self-hosted with no per-subscriber fees
Cons
- − Requires technical knowledge to set up and maintain
- − No built-in SMTP, must configure an external provider like Amazon SES
- − Lacks automation workflows, A/B testing, and landing pages
- − Community support only via GitHub
- − No managed hosting option — you handle server maintenance yourself
The Verdict
beehiiv edges ahead with a 4.5/5 rating compared to Listmonk's 4.1/5. The gap comes mainly from ease of use (4.8 vs 3.5) and feature depth (4.4 vs 3.8). On deliverability, beehiiv reports 98% compared to 97% for Listmonk — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | beehiiv | Listmonk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $49/mo | Free |
| Deliverability | 25% | 98% Winner | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.5/5 Winner | 4.1/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 40 Winner | 10 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose beehiiv if…
- + You need marketing automation
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing
Choose Listmonk if…
- + You're a developers
- + You're a self hosters
- + Completely free and open source with no usage limits