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Beehiiv vs Sailthru

Beehiiv logo

Beehiiv

News

The all-in-one platform for newsletter creators

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sailthru logo

Sailthru

Email Marketing

Retail and publisher email personalisation, now one product inside the Marigold portfolio

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Beehiiv has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Beehiiv platform lacks native SMS support; requires third-party integrations via API or webhooks; Sailthru the product sits in a portfolio with several overlapping platforms under one owner, so roadmap investment is a portfolio decision rather than a product decision and is worth asking about in writing.
  • They diverge on capability: Beehiiv covers Newsletter creation, Sailthru covers Interest profiles.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Beehiiv and Sailthru actually diverge.

Attributes where Beehiiv and Sailthru differ
AttributeBeehiivSailthru
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, REST API
CategoryNewsEmail Marketing
Founded2021Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Beehiiv

  • Newsletter creation
  • Email automation
  • Subscriber management
  • Monetization tools
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Referral program
  • A/B testing
  • Spam checking

Only in Sailthru

  • Interest profiles
  • Personalisation engine
  • Prediction Manager
  • Site personalisation
  • Zephyr templating
  • Lifecycle optimiser

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Beehiiv

  • Email newsletter publishingnot Sailthru
  • Content monetizationnot Sailthru
  • Audience buildingnot Sailthru

Sailthru

  • A publisher sending a personalised daily newsletter assembled per reader from a content cataloguenot Beehiiv
  • A retailer that wants email and on-site recommendations driven by the same affinity modelnot Beehiiv
  • High-cadence sending where per-recipient content assembly matters more than journey branchingnot Beehiiv
  • Teams that want churn and lifetime value scores available as native campaign conditions rather than imported fieldsnot Beehiiv

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Beehiiv

  • Platform lacks native SMS support; requires third-party integrations via API or webhooks
  • Free Launch plan offers only read-only AI capabilities

Sailthru

  • The product sits in a portfolio with several overlapping platforms under one owner, so roadmap investment is a portfolio decision rather than a product decision and is worth asking about in writing.
  • Pricing counts stored profiles, so retained inactive readers keep costing money long after they stopped opening anything.
  • On-site personalisation requires a developer to implement the JavaScript and maintain the content feed, which puts the highest-value feature behind engineering time.
  • Zephyr is a proprietary templating language, so template maintenance skills are scarce compared with the Liquid syntax used by most competitors.
  • It is built for high-cadence content and retail sending, and B2B lifecycle programmes with long sales cycles sit poorly on the model.

Pricing, plan by plan

Beehiiv

Free
  • LaunchFree
    • Up to 2,500 subscribers
    • Newsletters, website, podcast
    • Unlimited email sends
  • Scale$43/month
    • Up to 100,000 subscribers
    • Ad Network
    • 0% take rate on paid subscriptions
  • Max$96/month
    • Up to 100,000 subscribers
    • Remove branding, sponsorship storefront
    • Audio newsletters, RSS-to-send
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • 100K+ subscribers
    • Dedicated account manager
    • Custom publication limits

Sailthru

On request
  • Sailthru$undefined/year
    • Priced on stored profiles and send volume
    • Site personalisation and prediction features licensed by module
    • Annual contract through Marigold

Which should you pick?

Choose Beehiiv if

  • You need newsletter creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want email automation.
Beehiiv review

Choose Sailthru if

  • You need interest profiles.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want personalisation engine.
Sailthru review

Questions people ask

Is Beehiiv or Sailthru better?
Neither clearly leads. Beehiiv starts at Free and Sailthru at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Beehiiv or Sailthru?
Beehiiv has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Beehiiv and On request for Sailthru.
Does Beehiiv or Sailthru run on more platforms?
Beehiiv runs on Web. Sailthru runs on Web, REST API.
Can I use Beehiiv for free?
Yes. Beehiiv has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sailthru starts at On request.
What is Beehiiv best used for?
Beehiiv is most often used for email newsletter publishing, content monetization, audience building. Of those, email newsletter publishing and content monetization are not what Sailthru is typically brought in for.
What can Beehiiv do that Sailthru cannot?
Beehiiv covers Newsletter creation, Email automation, Subscriber management, Monetization tools. Sailthru covers Interest profiles, Personalisation engine, Prediction Manager, Site personalisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Beehiiv: How much does beehiiv cost?

Launch is free for up to 2,500 subscribers. Scale plan is $43/month for up to 100,000 subscribers. Max plan is $96/month. Enterprise has custom pricing for 100,000+ subscribers.

Source
Sailthru: Who owns Sailthru now?

Marigold, formerly CM Group, which also owns Campaign Monitor, Emma, Selligent, Liveclicker and Cheetah Digital.

Beehiiv: What does beehiiv's free Launch plan include?

Free Launch plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers and includes newsletters, website builder, podcast hosting, campaign analytics, unlimited email sends, custom domains, and API access.

Source
Sailthru: Does that affect the roadmap?

It can. Overlapping products in one portfolio compete for investment, so ask which platform is the strategic one for your segment before signing multi-year.

Beehiiv: What commission does beehiiv take from subscription revenue?

beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue you collect. Only Stripe's processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) apply.

Source
Sailthru: Is it worth it just for newsletters?

For personalised daily newsletters at publisher scale it remains one of the strongest options. For simple broadcast sending it is heavily over-specified.

Beehiiv: What's the difference between beehiiv's Scale and Max plans?

Both support up to 100,000 subscribers. Scale ($43/month) includes Ad Network and 3 team seats. Max ($96/month) adds branding removal, sponsorship storefront, audio newsletters, up to 10 publications, and unlimited team seats.

Source
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