Last updated on April 20th, 2025 at
So, you’re stuck between Beehiiv vs Mailchimp for your email marketing? You’re not alone! It’s like being caught between two amazing options, and you’re wondering which one will fit your business best. Both platforms are popular and come with their own set of shiny features, but which one is the one for you?
Mailchimp is powerful and packed with features — great for advanced email marketing. But it can be overwhelming and pricey, especially if you’re just starting out or not using all the extras.
Beehiiv is simple, clean, and built for creators. It’s easier to use, more focused on content and growth, but may lack some of the advanced tools bigger businesses might want.
In this Beehiiv vs Mailchimp post, I’m not here to declare a “winner” between Mailchimp and Beehiiv. Both tools are great in their own ways. My goal is to help you decide which one fits your needs better. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for specific features, it all comes down to what you really need.
Ready to figure out which platform deserves your love? Let’s dive in and find out!
Beehiiv vs Mailchimp: At a Glance
Feature | Beehiiv | Mailchimp |
---|---|---|
Ease of Use | Winner: Simple, intuitive interface; ideal for beginners. | Lose: Slightly steeper learning curve with more features. |
Templates & Design | Lose: Limited pre-built templates; design from scratch. | Winner: 100+ templates; more versatile for ecommerce. |
Customization | Lose: Basic customization with a code-block option. | Winner: Advanced customization with drag-and-drop editor. |
Monetization Tools | Winner: Paid subscriptions, ads, sponsored content. | Lose: Ecommerce-focused tools like promo blocks & carts. |
Audience Engagement | Winner: Boosts, Recommendations, Referral program. | Lose: Limited, focuses on email campaigns & signup forms. |
List Management | Winner: Advanced segmentation, automatic updates. | Lose: Tagging system; can become messy with multiple lists. |
Automations | Lose: Simple, flexible multi-step journeys. | Winner: Advanced workflows, customer journey builder. |
Analytics & Reporting | Lose: Quick, simple overview; 3D analytics for posts and subscribers. | Winner: Comprehensive with customizable reports and KPIs. |
Pricing | Winner: Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers; affordable paid plans. | Lose: Free plan up to 500 subscribers; paid plans with limits. |
Quick Overview of Beehiiv
Quick Overview of Mailchimp
Beehiiv
Mailchimp
Email Editor: Crafting Your Perfect Message
Beehiiv
Now, let’s talk about Mailchimp.
Design and Flexibility: Who’s Got the Creative Edge?
Beehiiv
Beehiiv
List Management: Which Platform Lets You Organize and Engage Better?
Beehiiv
Make Your Emails Smarter with Beehiiv (Even If You’re New!)
If you’re sending emails to a bunch of people, it helps to know who’s interested in what. Beehiiv makes this easy.
With Beehiiv, you can organize your audience into groups based on what they like, how they behave, or how often they read your stuff. This way, you’re not sending the same email to everyone—you’re sending the right email to the right person.
One cool thing? There’s a subscriber profile for each person. It shows you what they’ve clicked, read, or ignored. That helps you understand what’s working and what’s not.
You can also tag your readers (kind of like putting labels on them), like:
Where they signed up from
What kind of content they like
How often they read your emails
And best part? Beehiiv can do this automatically—so you don’t have to spend hours sorting people by hand.
👉 In short: Beehiiv helps you send smarter emails that people actually want to read.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp: Good Tools, But It Can Get Messy Fast
Mailchimp is a popular email tool, but when it comes to keeping your audience organized, it’s not always the smoothest ride.
Instead of letting you make multiple clean lists for different groups, Mailchimp wants you to use just one big list for everyone. Then you have to tag and segment people inside that list. It works, but once you have a lot of subscribers, it can feel like tossing everything into one messy drawer. You can find what you need—but it might take some digging.
You can make more than one list, sure—but here’s the catch: if the same person is on two lists, Mailchimp counts them twice, which means you pay more. Not ideal if you’re trying to save money.
Now, one cool feature is something called Groups. This lets you ask your readers what they’re interested in when they sign up. For example, they can choose if they want news, tips, or deals—so you don’t have to guess. That puts your subscribers in control and helps you send more relevant stuff.
👉 In short: Mailchimp can work well, but it might take more time and effort to keep things tidy—especially as your audience grows.
Automations: Who’s Doing the Heavy Lifting for You?
Beehiiv
Beehiiv’s Automations: Simple, Powerful, and Super Easy to Set Up
When it comes to automations, Beehiiv keeps things simple—no need for a tech degree. It’s like your favorite coffee order: just right, no extra fluff.
With Beehiiv, you can create automated journeys for your subscribers. For example, you can set up automatic emails based on things they do, like:
Signing up for your newsletter
Filling out forms
Upgrading to a premium plan
It’s like having a little robot that sends the perfect content to each person at the right time—without you lifting a finger.
You can even add time delays and conditional paths (like “only send this if they clicked this link”), so your subscribers always get what they need, when they need it. And the best part? Beehiiv’s tools are super beginner-friendly. It feels like the platform is guiding you every step of the way, making sure you’re not lost.
👉 In short: Beehiiv makes automations easy and effective—even if you’ve never set one up before.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s Automations: The Ultimate Power Tool for Email Marketing
If Beehiiv is the laid-back option, then Mailchimp is the automation powerhouse—it’s like the Swiss Army knife of email automations. There’s almost nothing it can’t do!
Here’s how it works:
Classic Automations handle the basics—things like welcome emails, birthday greetings, or abandoned cart reminders (if you’re selling products).
Customer Journey Builder is where things get cool. You can create custom workflows based on how your subscribers act. For example:
If someone didn’t open your last email about your sale, you can set up an automation to send them a follow-up email.
If they clicked on a link, you can send them more content about that topic.
If you don’t want to start from scratch, Mailchimp has pre-built journeys you can just plug in and go. It’s like having a personal assistant who handles your subscriber needs—while you sit back and relax.
👉 In short: Mailchimp’s automations are powerful and flexible, but they might feel more complicated if you’re just starting out.
Analytics and Reporting: Who Gives You the Best Insights?
Beehiiv
Beehiiv Makes Tracking Your Performance Easy and Straightforward
With Beehiiv, tracking your performance is simple and quick. When you log into your dashboard, you immediately see a snapshot of how your publication is doing, based on the time frame you choose—whether it’s the last 7 days, 4 weeks, or any other period you like. Think of it as the headlines of your email marketing—everything you need in one place.
If you want to dive deeper into the numbers, you can easily switch between:
Overview mode for a quick glance
Detailed insights like:
Audience growth 📈
Engagement rates 💬
Monetization performance 💰
It’s all right there on the home screen—no digging through menus. This makes tracking your progress a lot faster and saves you time when you’ve got other things to focus on.
3D Analytics: Dig Into Your Data with Two Key Reports
Beehiiv’s 3D analytics break things into two main panels:
Posts Reports – Track how each of your posts is performing, including engagement levels (who’s reading and clicking).
Subscribers Reports – See how your subscriber count is growing, and find out which channels are bringing in the most people.
You can also check out Clicks Reports, which show you which links are getting the most attention from your readers. This near real-time data lets you adjust your content strategy on the spot—so you can keep improving.
👉 In short: Beehiiv gives you quick, clear insights to track your email performance and grow your audience without the hassle.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s Analytics: A Powerhouse for Data Lovers
When it comes to tracking your performance, Mailchimp is like the Swiss Army knife of analytics—it’s got a tool for just about everything! If you love diving into numbers and want to know everything about your email campaigns, Mailchimp is where you’ll feel right at home.
Powerful Dashboard for Quick Insights
Mailchimp’s marketing dashboard gives you a detailed overview of how your campaigns are doing. It tracks:
Open rates (how many people are opening your emails)
Bounce rates (how many emails aren’t being delivered)
Revenue (how much money your campaigns are generating)
You can even see performance metrics for each individual email—so you’ll know exactly how every message is doing.
Advanced Metrics for Data Lovers
If you want to dive even deeper, Mailchimp gives you access to advanced analytics, like:
Email forwards and opens (who’s sharing your content?)
Average revenue per automation (which automations are making you money?)
Top subscriber locations and email clients (where your audience is and how they’re reading your emails)
Customize Your Reports
What sets Mailchimp apart is that you can customize and organize your reports to focus on the data that matters most to you. Whether it’s:
Landing page performance
Automations
Social media posts
Mailchimp gives you the flexibility to view everything from a broader marketing perspective, so you’re always in control of the numbers.
👉 In short: Mailchimp’s analytics are perfect if you want to dive deep into the data and customize your reports. It’s a great tool for anyone who loves numbers!
Pricing: Who Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?
Beehiiv
Beehiiv Pricing: Generous Free Plan and Affordable Options for Growth
Let’s talk pricing. Beehiiv is super generous, especially if you’re just starting out. Their free plan lets you manage up to 2,500 subscribers—which is a big deal compared to other platforms. And you still get features like:
Audience segmentation (organize your subscribers)
Custom emails (send personalized content)
It’s a great option for creators and small publishers who want to try things out without spending a cent.
Ready to Grow? The Paid Plans
When you’re ready to scale up, Beehiiv’s Scale plan is a fantastic next step. For just $39/month, you can manage 1,000 contacts and send unlimited emails. Plus, you get access to awesome features like:
Beehiiv AI (helping you optimize your content)
Audio newsletters (add a new dimension to your content)
Recommendation network (helping you grow your audience)
If you’re looking to go all out with all the features, the Max plan is available for $99/month. It’s a solid price for everything you get, and it’s more affordable than many other platforms as you scale up.
👉 In short: Beehiiv offers a super generous free plan and affordable paid plans that make scaling easy without breaking the bank.
Mailchimp Pricing: Free Plan and Paid Options, But Watch Out for Limits
Mailchimp also offers a free plan, letting you manage up to 500 subscribers with 1,000 email sends per month. It’s a decent way to get started, but once you hit those limits, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Paid Plans: The Standard Plan and Beyond
Mailchimp’s Standard plan costs $20/month for 500 contacts, and it comes with 50,000 sends per month—which sounds like a lot, right? But keep in mind, depending on how often you send emails, you might hit that limit sooner than you think.
The Standard plan gives you advanced features like:
Abandoned cart recovery (ideal for eCommerce stores)
Customer journey building (set up automated workflows)
MMS marketing (Multimedia messaging)
However, if you’re not running an eCommerce business, these tools might feel like overkill for your needs.
Scaling Up: Mailchimp’s Premium Plan
If you want to scale up, Mailchimp’s Premium plan starts at a hefty $350/month—which is a pretty big leap compared to Beehiiv’s $99/month Max plan. So, scaling with Mailchimp can get expensive fast!
👉 In short: Mailchimp’s free plan is fine for small lists, but as you scale, the pricing can get pricey quickly—especially compared to Beehiiv’s more affordable options.
Beehiiv vs Mailchimp – Pros and Cons
Beehiiv: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Easy to Use: Clean, beginner-friendly interface.
Great Free Plan: Up to 2,500 subscribers for free.
Monetization Tools: Paid newsletters, ads, and sponsorships.
Personal Support: Fast, personalized help from a smaller team.
Audience Growth: Boosts, referrals, and recommendations to grow faster.
Cons:
Few Templates: No pre-designed email templates.
Limited Customization: Basic design options unless you code.
Simple Automation: Lacks advanced automation features.
Paid Features: Monetization tools require a paid plan.
Mailchimp: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Feature-Rich: Full marketing suite with ecommerce tools.
24/7 Support: Help anytime (on paid plans).
In-Depth Analytics: Advanced reports and insights.
Tons of Templates: 100+ email templates included.
Advanced Automation: Smart customer journeys and workflows.
Cons:
Harder to Learn: More complex for beginners.
Gets Expensive: Costs rise quickly with list size.
Ecommerce Focused: Not ideal for pure content creators.
Free Plan Limitations: Key features locked until you upgrade.
Contents
- 1 Ease of Use: Which Platform Is Simpler to Navigate?
- 2 Email Editor: Crafting Your Perfect Message
- 3 1. Classic Builder
- 4 2. New Builder
- 5 Design and Flexibility: Who’s Got the Creative Edge?
- 6 👍 Pros:
- 7 👎 Cons:
- 8 Want more control?
- 9 Monetization Options: Which Platform Helps You Earn?
- 10 List Management: Which Platform Lets You Organize and Engage Better?
- 11 Automations: Who’s Doing the Heavy Lifting for You?
- 12 Analytics and Reporting: Who Gives You the Best Insights?
- 13 3D Analytics: Dig Into Your Data with Two Key Reports
- 14 Powerful Dashboard for Quick Insights
- 15 Advanced Metrics for Data Lovers
- 16 Customize Your Reports
- 17 Pricing: Who Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?
- 18 Ready to Grow? The Paid Plans
- 19 Paid Plans: The Standard Plan and Beyond
- 20 Scaling Up: Mailchimp’s Premium Plan
- 21 Beehiiv vs Mailchimp – Pros and Cons
- 22 Beehiiv: Pros & Cons
- 23 Mailchimp: Pros & Cons
- 24 Beehiiv vs Mailchimp – Which One’s Right for You?
- 25 Quick Recap: