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FlockStack vs beehiiv
By FlockStackPublished
| FlockStack | beehiiv | |
|---|---|---|
| What the price follows | The emails you send in a month, with a cap on active subscribers | The size of your list, with no limit on sends |
| Free plan | 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with 2 automations and paid subscriptions | Up to 2,500 subscribers, with no automations and no paid subscriptions |
| Cut of paid subscriptions | 0%. Stripe's fees apply | 0% on Lite and Pro. Stripe's fees apply |
| Automations | 2 on Free; up to 50 a newsletter on a paid plan | None on Free, 10 live on Lite, more on Pro |
| Paid tiers | Up to 3, on every plan including Free | None on Free, 1 on Lite, more on Pro |
| Ads and sponsorships | None built in | An ad network from Lite, a sponsorship storefront on Pro |
| API | REST API on every plan | API on every plan; the Send API on Pro and Enterprise |
| MCP server for agents | Read and write tools on every plan, the Free plan included | Read access on Free, write access from Lite |
| Dedicated IP | An add-on from Pro | On Enterprise |
| Code | Open source (AGPL-3.0); run it yourself or use FlockStack Cloud | Hosted by beehiiv |
The short version
beehiiv has more built in for earning from a list: an ad network and a sponsorship storefront. Its price follows the size of your list, so you can send as often as you like. FlockStack is priced by the emails you send, has its API and MCP server on every plan, and its code is open source.
On monthly billing, a weekly newsletter costs less on FlockStack at every list size in the table below, per beehiiv's pricing page read on October 20, 2026. For a large list emailed every day the gap closes. If you earn from ads or sponsors inside your platform, beehiiv has the tools and FlockStack does not.
Choose beehiiv if
- You want to earn from advertising or sponsors inside the platform. beehiiv's pricing page lists an ad network from its Lite plan and a sponsorship storefront on Pro. FlockStack has neither.
- You email a big list every day. beehiiv's price follows subscribers, not sends, so a daily sender pays for no extra volume. FlockStack counts every email, and a daily issue to a large list uses a plan's emails quickly.
Choose FlockStack if
- You send on a schedule a plan holds, such as a weekly issue. You pay for the emails, and FlockStack's plan counts active subscribers: readers who stop opening are set aside as dormant and don't count toward the cap.
- You want to start with automations and paid subscriptions at no cost. FlockStack's Free plan has 2 automations and sells subscriptions. beehiiv's pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, lists neither on its Free plan.
- You want the code. FlockStack is open source under the AGPL-3.0 at github.com/ankurmans/flockstack. You can run it on your own server and keep publishing if you ever leave FlockStack Cloud. Self-hosted newsletter software covers what that takes.
- You want agents to run it, from the Free plan. The REST API has 234 endpoints and the MCP server lets ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or Codex use the same actions, with write access on every plan. beehiiv lists MCP too, but its pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, shows read access on Free and write access from Lite. See the newsletter API and the MCP server.
What each costs at the same list size
beehiiv sells Lite and Pro plans by the size of your list and puts no limit on sends. FlockStack sells plans by the emails you send. The table shows beehiiv Lite's monthly price, billed monthly, beside the FlockStack plan that holds the same list when you send one issue a week to every subscriber. beehiiv's prices were read from its pricing page on October 20, 2026. beehiiv counts a list by its own definition of a subscriber; FlockStack's cap is on active subscribers. Lite includes 10 live automations and 1 paid tier; the FlockStack plans in the table include the features listed on the pricing page.
| Active subscribers | FlockStack plan | FlockStack per month | beehiiv Lite per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | Starter | $9 | $109 |
| 25,000 | Growth | $29 | $199 |
| 50,000 | Pro | $59 | $299 |
| 100,000 | Scale | $109 | $469 |
| 400,000 | Max | $299 | Enterprise (custom) |
Both companies discount yearly billing. A FlockStack yearly plan costs 10 months' price instead of 12. Lite is beehiiv's first paid plan, with 10 live automations and 1 paid tier. Its Pro plan lifts both limits and costs more at the same list size. The pricing page has every plan and the price of each billing period, and the newsletter cost calculator works out your own list, sends and paying readers.
Three months, worked out
The same three months as on the comparison page, each with its assumptions in the first cell. Card fees are left out of every column, because they come with taking payments anywhere.
| Publication | Emails a month | FlockStack | beehiiv Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 subscribers, a weekly issue | 25,000 | $9: Starter plan | $109 |
| 25,000 subscribers, a weekly issue, 5% paying $8 a month; readers pay $10,000 a month | 125,000 | $29: Growth plan | $199 |
| 100,000 subscribers, a daily issue | 3,000,000 | $449: Max plus 1,000,000 extra emails ($150.00) | $469 |
In the last row, a daily issue to a large list, FlockStack's price is close to beehiiv's: the more often you send, the smaller the difference. A FlockStack paid plan lets you go past its emails and charges $0.15 per 1,000 extra, up to a monthly limit you set.
Fees on paid subscriptions
Neither takes a percentage. FlockStack sets no application fee on a sale, and beehiiv's pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, lists a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions for Lite and Pro. On both, readers pay your own Stripe account and Stripe's processing fees apply. What you keep is your revenue less Stripe's fees and your monthly plan.
What differs is the plan underneath. Per the same page, beehiiv's Free plan has no paid subscriptions, Lite has one paid tier, and Pro has more. On FlockStack, selling works on every plan, the Free plan included, with up to 3 paid tiers. The paid newsletter platform page has the details.
Automations
Per beehiiv's pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, its Free plan has no automations, Lite has 10 live custom automations, and Pro has more. FlockStack's Free plan has 2 automations besides the welcome email, and a paid plan can have up to 50 a newsletter. They start from 15 triggers and use 10 kinds of step, among them waits, branches, splits and webhooks. Newsletter automation lists them.
What writers say
Examples, not a survey. PPC Land reported on October 8, 2026 on creators' reaction to beehiiv's October 2026 price change, which, citing The Verge, it put at $30 a month more for Lite at a list of ten thousand subscribers. It quotes Matt Lombardo, who writes Between the Hashmarks, calling it frustrating to raise prices before video podcasts or a reliable on-platform growth tool exist. It also quotes Matt Brown, who writes Extra Points and still calls beehiiv a good deal against Substack, though not for publishers who don't charge for subscriptions. Read the report.
FlockStack's plans are set by the emails you send, and it gives 90 days' written notice before a price rises.
What this page leaves out
It compares what beehiiv publishes on its pricing page and what FlockStack's plans and docs say. It does not compare editors, deliverability, templates, analytics, recommendation features or support, which we haven't tested side by side. beehiiv ships often, so check its pricing page for the current plans before you decide. For more options than one rival, see beehiiv alternatives. FlockStack is not affiliated with beehiiv.
Moving from beehiiv
FlockStack reads a beehiiv subscriber export as it is and imports your published posts as sent issues dated as before, with no email going out. Paying readers don't move over as paying subscribers: they subscribe again through your FlockStack subscribe page. Switch from beehiiv has the steps in order.
Sources
- PPC Land's report of creators' reactions to beehiiv's October 2026 price change (October 8, 2026), citing The Verge: ppc.land, checked
- beehiiv's plans, prices by list size, Free plan limits, automation and paid tier limits, 0% take rate, Ad Network, sponsorship storefront, API and MCP access and dedicated IPs: www.beehiiv.com, checked
Questions
- Does FlockStack cost less than beehiiv?
- It depends on how often you send. On monthly billing, at the list sizes in the table with one issue a week, a FlockStack plan costs less than beehiiv Lite, per beehiiv's pricing page read on October 20, 2026. The plans differ in what they include. For a large list emailed every day the two come close, because FlockStack counts emails and beehiiv does not.
- Is beehiiv free?
- Per its pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, beehiiv has a Free plan for lists up to 2,500 subscribers, without automations or paid subscriptions. FlockStack's Free plan holds 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with 2 automations and paid subscriptions.
- Does FlockStack take a percentage of my subscription revenue?
- No. FlockStack sets no application fee, so it takes no percentage of what you sell. beehiiv's pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, lists a 0% take rate on Lite and Pro. On both, readers pay your own Stripe account and Stripe's processing fees apply.
- Can I move from beehiiv to FlockStack?
- Yes. FlockStack reads a beehiiv subscriber export as it is and imports your published posts as issues dated as before, with no email sent. Paying subscribers do not move over as paying readers and subscribe again.
- Does FlockStack have an ad network?
- No. beehiiv's pricing page, read on October 20, 2026, lists an ad network and a sponsorship storefront, which FlockStack does not have. If advertising inside the platform is how you plan to earn, beehiiv is the better fit.
- Which one has more features?
- That depends on what you need, and this page compares only what beehiiv publishes on its pricing page. beehiiv lists an ad network and a sponsorship storefront that FlockStack doesn't have. FlockStack is open source, and its REST API and MCP server have write access on every plan.
Move your list from beehiiv
Export your subscribers from beehiiv, then import the file on the Contacts page. FlockStack reads it as it is.
Import your list