beehiiv vs Sender
Both are on our shortlist for course creators. They part company on several things that matter more than the monthly price.
beehiiv 
Sender Which one, for whom
- Starting out with no budget Sender Sender can run an automated welcome sequence on its free plan. beehiiv cannot, so a new subscriber hears nothing from you until you pay.
- Worried about being locked in Sender Sender keeps your subscribers and automations when you cancel, rather than deleting them.
- Selling the course from the same tool beehiiv beehiiv can take the payment itself, so you do not need a separate checkout.
Side by side
| beehiiv | Sender | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 2,500 subscribers | 2,500 subscribers |
| Free sends | Unlimited sends | 15,000 emails/mo |
| Welcome sequence on free | No | Yes |
| Paid from | $43/mo | $7/mo |
| At 5,000 subscribers | $78 | Not published |
| At 25,000 subscribers | $149 | Not published |
| The catch | No paid subscriptions or digital products on the free tier. | A smaller name with a smaller integration list. Check it connects to your course platform before you commit. |
Figures read off each vendor's own pricing page on 5 September 2026. Where a row says not published, that vendor does not state a price at that list size and we will not invent one.
Getting your list back out
beehiiv
We have not been able to confirm their cancellation terms, so treat this as unchecked.
Sender
The friendliest exit terms of the nine. Cancelling drops you to the free plan instead of deleting anything: their help page says subscribers, campaigns, automations, forms and reports are all retained.
Try either one
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beehiiv Best if the course sits beside a newsletter
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Start free on beehiiv Read the full beehiiv breakdown Sender The most generous free plan we found
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Start free on Sender Read the full Sender breakdownbeehiiv vs Sender, answered
- Is beehiiv or Sender better for an online course?
- Neither is better outright, and anyone who says so is guessing on your behalf. Sender if you are starting out with no budget. Sender if you are worried about being locked in. beehiiv if you are selling the course from the same tool.
- Which of beehiiv and Sender has the better free plan?
- They allow the same number of free subscribers. The difference is what you can do with them: beehiiv cannot automate a welcome sequence free, Sender can.
- Can I move from beehiiv to Sender later?
- Yes, and you should assume you will. Export your list before you cancel anything, and keep the tag that says who bought from you. We wrote the order of operations up separately.
Moving between them? Read the switching guide first, or answer four questions to check neither of these is the wrong shortlist.