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Email newsletter API access by plan: which ESPs gate it and what each tier covers
Short version: Most email platforms hide the API access picture inside their pricing pages. Here is what the comparison shows for developer-accessible tiers as of August 2026.
Kit gates all API access behind its paid Creator plan ($33 per month billed annually, $39 per month billed monthly). The free Newsletter plan has no API.
beehiiv gives read-only API access on the free Launch plan — you can read subscriber and publication data but cannot trigger sends. Webhooks and write access arrive with Scale at $49 per month. The Send API, which lets you trigger email sends programmatically, is exclusive to Enterprise.
MailerLite offers API access on its free plan but blocks email sending through the API until you move to the Comfort plan at $9 per month. That makes MailerLite Comfort the cheapest entry point across this comparison for a plan that lets you send programmatically.
Brevo includes RESTful API access, SMTP relay, and outbound webhooks on every plan, including the free tier. This is the broadest free-tier API offering in the comparison.
GetResponse has no free plan. All paid plans include API access, starting at Starter for $19 per month (or $15.58 per month billed annually).
API access at a glance
| Platform | Free plan API | Cheapest plan with send API | Webhooks | Rate limit (documented) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | None | Creator — $33/mo annual, $39/mo monthly | Creator+ (not listed on free) | |
| beehiiv | Read-only (excl. Send API) | Send API: Enterprise only (custom pricing) | Scale — $49/mo | |
| MailerLite | Access but no sending via API | Comfort — from $9/mo | Comfort+ included | 120 requests/minute |
| Brevo | Yes — RESTful API + SMTP + webhooks | Free plan (300 emails/day) | All plans | |
| GetResponse | No free plan (14-day trial) | Starter — $19/mo ($15.58/mo annual) | Starter+ (all paid plans) |
Kit: no API on the free plan
Kit's pricing page lists API documentation as a Creator-plan feature. The free Newsletter plan does not include API access. If you want to manage subscribers, read segments, or use Kit's webhooks via the API, the minimum entry point is Creator at $33 per month billed annually ($39 per month on monthly billing).
Both Creator and Pro plans list identical API access descriptions on the pricing page. Kit's developer documentation (developers.kit.com) covers subscribers, tags, segments, sequences, broadcasts, custom fields, forms, and webhooks: a full subscriber-management API. No rate limit is published on the pricing page; check developers.kit.com for current documentation.
For a developer building a tool that reads or writes subscriber data for their own newsletter, Kit's API is capable but not cheap to access. The $33 per month entry price reflects Kit's positioning as a paid creator product, not a developer sandbox.
Our first-hand Kit free plan guide covers what the Newsletter tier includes outside the API.
beehiiv: read API on free, Send API on Enterprise only
beehiiv's API tier structure is the most layered in this comparison. The free Launch plan includes read API access: you can query subscriber counts and publication data, but cannot trigger sends. The beehiiv MCP integration is also read-only on Launch.
Webhooks and write API access arrive with Scale at $49 per month (monthly billing, $43 per month billed annually). This is enough to build subscriber sync tools, form integrations, and event-driven automations. The one capability missing from Scale is the Send API: the ability to programmatically trigger email campaigns or transactional sends. That capability is exclusive to the Enterprise tier at custom pricing.
If your use case is read-only (syncing subscriber data to another system, querying publication stats, building a dashboard), beehiiv's free Launch plan covers it without payment. If you need webhooks or write access, Scale is the entry point. If you need to trigger sends via API, such as driving a drip campaign from your own application, you are looking at Enterprise pricing.
For the subscriber pricing and platform comparison, see our Kit vs beehiiv comparison.
MailerLite: cheapest entry for full API sending at $9/month
MailerLite's API access picture is split at the free tier boundary. The free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers) includes API access and MCP server access, but the pricing page explicitly states that email sending via the API is not available on the free plan. You can read subscriber data and interact with the API for management tasks, but you cannot trigger sends.
The Comfort plan, starting at $9 per month, covers full API functionality including sending, plus webhooks. Comfort is also the cheapest entry point in this comparison for a plan with complete send API capability — cheaper than Kit Creator ($33/mo), beehiiv Scale ($49/mo for read-write, still no Send API), and GetResponse Starter ($19/mo).
MailerLite publishes a rate limit of 120 requests per minute across all plans, with a tighter limit of 5 requests per minute for import operations. The documentation recommends exponential backoff for high-volume automations.
One context note: MailerLite's acceptable-use policy distinguishes between newsletters that include affiliate links (permitted on a case-by-case basis) and newsletters whose primary business model is affiliate marketing (not permitted). If affiliate marketing is your primary model, verify MailerLite's current terms before building on their API. Our affiliate policy comparison covers this in detail.
Brevo: API on every plan, including free
Brevo is the outlier in this comparison. The pricing page states that all Brevo plans include transactional email features: RESTful API, SMTP relay, outbound webhooks, and unlimited log retention. This applies to the free plan as well as every paid tier (Starter at $9/month, Standard at $18/month, and Professional at $499/month).
The important qualifier is the free plan's send volume limit: 300 emails per day (roughly 9,000 per month). This is enough for a developer building and testing an integration, but insufficient for a newsletter of any meaningful size — a list of 1,000 subscribers would take more than three days to reach. Once you move to a paid plan, the daily cap lifts and volume scales with your tier.
Brevo's positioning is primarily transactional email infrastructure rather than newsletter-first. For developers who want to send both transactional emails (order confirmations, notifications) and newsletter campaigns through one API, Brevo's free tier is a low-friction starting point. For a newsletter-first operation, the daily send cap on free is a hard constraint.
GetResponse: no free tier, API on all paid plans
GetResponse offers a 14-day free trial but no permanent free plan. All four paid plans (Starter at $19/month, Marketer at $59/month, Creator at $69/month, and Enterprise) include API access. The pricing page lists API docs at apidocs.getresponse.com.
The Starter plan at $19 per month is GetResponse's entry point for API access. This is more expensive than MailerLite Comfort ($9/month) but includes broader features including landing pages, forms, and basic automation. No rate limits are published on the pricing page.
Which plan is right for your use case
You want to build a subscriber sync or read-only integration for free
beehiiv's free Launch plan gives you read API access: subscriber counts and publication data. Brevo's free plan gives you RESTful API, SMTP, and webhooks with a 300-email-per-day cap. MailerLite's free plan gives you API access for subscriber management, but not sending. If read-only is enough, beehiiv and MailerLite free are both options. If you also want to test send infrastructure, Brevo's free tier is the only one here that lets you send via API at no cost.
You want the cheapest paid plan with full API sending
MailerLite Comfort at $9 per month is the lowest-cost entry point for a plan that includes complete API access including sending and webhooks. GetResponse Starter at $19 per month is next. Kit Creator at $33 per month follows.
You want to trigger sends programmatically (transactional or campaign sends via API)
Brevo free tier covers this with the 300-email-per-day limit. MailerLite Comfort ($9/month) covers it with no stated send cap at the plan level. GetResponse Starter ($19/month) covers it. Kit Creator ($33/month) covers campaign broadcasts via API. beehiiv's Send API (true programmatic send triggering) is exclusive to Enterprise.
You need webhooks for real-time event data (subscribes, unsubscribes, opens)
Brevo gives webhooks on all plans including free. MailerLite gives webhooks on Comfort ($9/month) and above. Kit gives webhooks on Creator ($33/month) and above. beehiiv gives webhooks on Scale ($49/month) and above. GetResponse gives webhooks on all paid plans.
You want to use Kit's API with our affiliate link
Kit Creator at $33 per month billed annually is the entry point. Start a paid plan via our Kit affiliate link — we earn a commission if you do, at no extra cost to you. See the disclosure at the top of this page.
Sources
Kit pricing and API feature listing: kit.com/pricing, retrieved August 5, 2026 (API documentation listed under Creator and Pro only; not listed under the free Newsletter plan). Kit developer documentation overview: developers.kit.com, retrieved August 5, 2026 (API endpoints: subscribers, tags, segments, sequences, broadcasts, custom fields, forms, webhooks). Kit Creator pricing at 1,000 subscribers ($39/month monthly billing, $33/month annual): kit.com/pricing, August 2026, verified via Kit affiliate link — we are a Kit affiliate, see disclosure above.
beehiiv pricing and API tiers: beehiiv.com/pricing, retrieved August 5, 2026 (Launch: read API excluding Send API, MCP read access; Scale: full API excluding Send API, webhooks, MCP write access, $49/month monthly billing; Enterprise: Send API, custom pricing). beehiiv pricing cross-referenced against a July 2026 first-party pricing page fetch (verified monthly rates: Scale $49/mo, Max $96/mo).
MailerLite pricing: mailerlite.com/pricing, retrieved August 5, 2026 (free plan: API access without sending; Comfort: full API access including sending and webhooks, from $9/month). MailerLite API rate limit: developers.mailerlite.com/docs, retrieved August 5, 2026 (120 requests per minute general rate limit; 5 requests per minute for import operations).
Brevo pricing: brevo.com/pricing, retrieved August 5, 2026. Quote: "All Brevo plans give you access to transactional email features, including RESTful APIs, SMTP, outbound webhooks, unlimited log retention, and more." Free plan: 300 emails/day. Starter: $9/month. Standard: $18/month. Professional: $499/month.
GetResponse pricing: getresponse.com/pricing, retrieved August 5, 2026 (no free plan; 14-day trial; Starter $19/month, $15.58/month annual; Marketer $59/month; Creator $69/month; Enterprise custom; API listed on all paid plans linking to apidocs.getresponse.com/v3).
Affiliate disclosure: the Kit links in this Sources section and in the "Which plan" section are affiliate links. See disclosure at top of page for full terms. We earn nothing from beehiiv, MailerLite, Brevo, or GetResponse.