Head to head · beehiiv

beehiiv vs Buttondown in 2026: what each costs, what moves, and who switched

Moving from beehiiv to Buttondown: what Buttondown's importer carries over and 1 public account of the switch, plus how to leave beehiiv. Every item links its source.

By Stackcut · Published · Catalog of 2026-10-14 · Vendor prices checked 2026-09-25

Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Results marked Tested by Stackcut are Stackcut's own test, not a customer. Every price links the page it came from.

The short answer

  • Buttondown's official migration guide moves 2 kinds of data in full; 2 things stay behind. What moves
  • 1 public account of making this switch: 1 switched. Read them

What beehiiv and Buttondown cost

List prices from each vendor's pricing page, as stored in the Stackcut catalog. Each price links its source.

PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearly (per month)What you get
beehiiv Lite$49/mo$49/mo1,000-subscriber tier: $49/mo billed yearly; plan up to 100,000 subscribers; 2 team seats; paid subscriptions with a 0% take rate
beehiiv Pro$95/mo$95/mo1,000-subscriber tier: $95/mo billed yearly; plan up to 250,000 subscribers; 10 team seats; removes beehiiv branding; ad monetization
  • beehiiv free plan: Free: up to 2,500 subscribers, 1 team seat, unlimited email sends beehiiv.com

Buttondown's plans aren't in the Stackcut catalog yet; check Buttondown's own site.

Moving from beehiiv to Buttondown

What Buttondown's importer carries over, what it leaves behind, and any help it offers switchers.

To Buttondown

Official guide docs.buttondown.com · Tools: Buttondown CSV subscriber import, Buttondown archive ZIP import, Markdown-with-frontmatter ZIP import (Jekyll option)

Moves: Subscribers (email, join date, tags, metadata, notes) (full); Newsletter archives (full). docs.buttondown.com

Doesn't move: Paid subscription billing (not mentioned in the guide); Automation workflows (not mentioned in the guide). docs.buttondown.com

Watch out for:

  • Very large imports may temporarily deactivate the account while Buttondown verifies the data docs.buttondown.com
  • Listservs import as a single subscriber, and one unsubscribe can affect the whole listserv docs.buttondown.com

From each destination's own migration docs and switching pages, plus community write-ups where no official guide exists, each checked against its page. Confirm terms on the linked page before you rely on an offer.

People who moved from beehiiv to Buttondown

1 public accounts of leaving beehiiv: 1 switched. Summaries are ours; each links the original, and each was checked against its page before it appeared here.

Switched to Buttondown · Writer and video maker; author of The Third Something newsletter, which he ran on beehiiv from 2023 to 2025.

First-person account of leaving beehiiv (used 2023-2025) for Buttondown while relaunching an eight-year-old newsletter; subscribers carried over without action, and the author says a companion post covers the switch mechanics. Adam Westbrook

FAQ

Can I move my beehiiv data to Buttondown?

Buttondown's official guide moves: Subscribers (email, join date, tags, metadata, notes); Newsletter archives. It doesn't move: Paid subscription billing (not mentioned in the guide); Automation workflows (not mentioned in the guide). docs.buttondown.com

Keep reading

Check your own stack

Get your free stack audit

Stackcut finds every software subscription in your inbox and shows what to cancel, what to pay per use, and what AI can replace, with a spec and a cost for each. Your stack audit is free and takes about 2 minutes.

Get my free stack audit

Or ask your agent

Connect the Stackcut MCP server (https://stackcut.io/mcp, no API key) and ask: “We pay for beehiiv. Should we move to Buttondown?”

find_alternatives({"vendor": "beehiiv"})