Loops vs beehiiv: product email for SaaS or a newsletter you publish?

How are Loops and beehiiv really different?

• What each tool is built for

  Loops

  Email for software products: marketing campaigns, event-triggered automations and transactional email in one place

  beehiiv

  Newsletter publishing: a hosted website on every plan, and paid subscriptions and several publications from Lite up

  If your emails go to users of an app, Loops fits the job. If the newsletter is the product, beehiiv does things Loops doesn't try to do.

• Free plan

  Loops

  1,000 subscribed contacts and 4,000 sends in any rolling 30 days, with every feature included

  beehiiv

  Free: up to 2,500 subscribers, 1 seat, no automations, no paid subscriptions and no custom domain

  beehiiv's free plan holds a bigger list. Loops' free plan does more with a smaller one.

• Price as the list grows

  Loops

  One plan priced by subscribed contacts: $49/month billed monthly at 5,000, with published prices up to 1,500,000 contacts. Monthly billing only

  beehiiv

  Lite starts at $59/month billed monthly for 1,000 subscribers, or $49/month billed annually, and rises with list size up to 100,000; Pro goes up to 250,000. Past that, Enterprise is a sales call

  beehiiv offers an annual discount and Loops doesn't, but at 5,000 contacts Loops' monthly price is still below beehiiv's annual rate.

• Transactional email

  Loops

  Built in. Paid plans can send to people who aren't on your marketing list, such as password resets for any signup

  beehiiv

  beehiiv's Send API is on Pro and Enterprise only, not on Free or Lite

  A software product needs receipts and password resets. On Loops that is part of the same plan.

• Making money from the list

  Loops

  No paid-subscription feature on Loops' pricing page

  beehiiv

  Paid subscriptions from Lite up, with a 0% platform fee. Stripe's processing fees are separate

  If you plan to charge readers, only beehiiv does it natively.

What will Loops or beehiiv cost for your setup?

The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.

Loops vs beehiiv side by side

I compare email/CRM platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything; Team seats included, and the seat price past that; List segmentation depth; Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits; Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window); CRM and ecommerce integration depth; What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade).

Who should pick Loops, and who should pick beehiiv?

Loops

Desk research

• Best for solo marketers and small businesses
• Best for growing lists sending regularly
• Best for small teams sharing one account

Loops skips named tiers and prices by subscribed contacts on one scaling plan. Free caps you at 1,000 subscribed contacts and 4,000 sends in any rolling 30 days, then the paid plan starts at $49/month billed monthly for the first 5,000-contact band with unlimited sends and the branding footer removed. Every feature, including the API and workflow automation, ships on both tiers, so you're paying for audience size, not functionality.

Best for: SaaS and startup teams who want transactional and marketing email from one tool, with API access from day one.

Strengths

• The API and every feature ship on the free plan too, nothing is held back for a paid tier.
• Team seats cost nothing extra on any plan, so the whole team can have a login.
• Transactional email is built in, so there's no separate ESP or sending service to wire up.

Limits

• No annual billing option on the pricing page, so there's no discount for paying upfront.
• The free plan's transactional sends still count against its 4,000-send cap and can't reach contacts outside your subscribed list.
• Cancellation doesn't refund the current billing period. Loops' terms state payments are non-refundable, and there's no money-back guarantee at all.

Skip it if you want annual billing or a refund window; Loops bills monthly only and states plainly that payments are non-refundable.

Loops reviewLoops pricingLoops alternatives

beehiiv

Desk research

beehiiv is a newsletter platform with a free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, but that plan is a starter kit: no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations. Lite, from $59/month billed monthly, adds all three, and beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue on top of Stripe's fees. It suits a creator who wants to grow and charge readers without running their own site.

Best for: Creators who want growth and monetization tools beyond a plain newsletter, and expect to pay for Lite once they charge readers or want their own domain.

Strengths

• A permanent free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, enough to test the editor and grow a first list.
• 0% take rate on paid subscriptions on every paid plan; only Stripe's processing fee applies.
• Lite ($59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually) already includes paid subscriptions, a custom domain, automations and 3 publications.

Limits

• Free stops at 2,500 subscribers, 1 seat and 1 publication, with no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations.
• Lite includes 2 seats and caps live automations; a team of three or unlimited automations means Pro, from $109/month billed monthly.
• Lite and Pro are priced by subscriber count, so the entry price only covers the smallest list band and the bill rises in steps as the list grows.

Skip it if you want to charge readers or use your own domain without paying anything; beehiiv's Free plan allows neither, so Substack's free model fits better.

beehiiv reviewbeehiiv pricingbeehiiv alternatives

Neither Loops nor beehiiv? Try these

• 

  Customer.io

  From $100/mo billed monthly

  Pick it if you run a software product and need SMS, push or in-app messages next to email, which Loops doesn't do.

  Customer.io reviewCustomer.io alternatives

• 

  MailerLite

  From $10.80/mo billed annually

  Pick it if you're a small business sending a regular newsletter and automations, without a software product behind it and without beehiiv's paid-subscription tools.

  MailerLite reviewMailerLite alternatives

• 

  Kit

  From $33/mo billed annually

  Pick it if you're a creator who sells digital products or courses alongside a newsletter and wants the email tool built around that.

  Kit reviewKit alternatives

Loops vs beehiiv: questions people ask

Is Loops cheaper than beehiiv?

For a plain email list, yes. At 5,000 contacts Loops is $49/month billed monthly and beehiiv Lite is $109/month billed monthly, or $95/month billed annually. Under 1,000 contacts both can cost nothing, and beehiiv's Free plan stays free up to 2,500 subscribers. That price lead doesn't make Loops the better newsletter tool: for a newsletter-focused business, beehiiv is the better choice.

Which is better for a SaaS product's emails?

Loops. It puts marketing email, event-triggered automations and transactional email in one plan, and paid plans can send password resets and receipts to people who aren't on your marketing list. beehiiv only includes its Send API from Pro up and is built around publishing a newsletter.

Which is better for a newsletter-focused business?

beehiiv. For publishing, audience growth and a paid newsletter, it's the better choice. Paid subscriptions come with Lite and up, at a 0% platform fee plus Stripe's processing fees, every plan includes a hosted site, and a custom domain starts on Lite. Loops doesn't offer paid subscriptions or a publishing site at all.

Do Loops or beehiiv have a free plan?

Both do, and both are permanent. Loops' free plan covers 1,000 subscribed contacts and 4,000 sends in any rolling 30 days, with every feature. beehiiv's Free plan covers 2,500 subscribers but leaves out automations, paid subscriptions and a custom domain.

Which is cheaper for a team of three?

Loops. It doesn't charge for seats on any plan, so three people on a 1,000-contact list stay on the free plan at $0/month billed monthly. beehiiv's Free plan has 1 seat and Lite has 2, so the same team needs Pro at $109/month billed monthly.

Can I pay yearly for Loops or beehiiv?

Only beehiiv. Lite and Pro can be billed as one yearly total at a lower monthly equivalent. Loops bills monthly only, with no annual option on its pricing page.