How Heartbeat and Outseta compare
Heartbeat is a friendly place to start a paid community without a big budget. For $49 a month you get channels, threads, chat, voice rooms, DMs, unlimited courses and events, a custom domain, checkout pages, five automation workflows, and Pulse, an AI that actually sets up channels, offers, and pages for you. Grow adds unlimited workflows, DM rules, an affiliate program, and white-label email; Scale adds a branded app. For a founder with a small group who wants courses and calls next to the conversation, Heartbeat covers a lot for the price.
Outseta is the quiet workhorse behind many paid memberships and small SaaS products. Subscription billing, authentication and gated content, a CRM, email marketing, and a support desk come together so a founder can add a paying membership to any site they already have. It is well designed, honest, and built by people who use it.
Where they are different
Heartbeat
- Heartbeat's landing page is the door to a private space.
- Heartbeat emails members through workflows and a weekly digest.
- Heartbeat's events sync to members' calendars.
- Heartbeat charges 5% to 1.25% on payments.
Outseta
- Outseta attaches to a site you build elsewhere.
- Outseta bills subscriptions.
- Outseta's support desk handles tickets.
Choose Heartbeat when a small paid community with courses, calls, and member chat is the product.
Choose Outseta when you sell a subscription and need billing, logins, CRM, and support in one place behind your own site.
Compare features
What's on Heartbeat and Outseta
A check means that capability is available. Heartbeat and Outseta are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.
Site and brand
- Workspace siteHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Not included
- Custom domainHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Not included
Audience and email
- AudienceHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
- Email on your domainHeartbeat: Not includedOutseta: Included
- Marketing emailsHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
- Campaign workflowsHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
Messaging
- Built-in chatHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
- Messaging CenterHeartbeat: Not includedOutseta: Included
Commerce
- Shop paymentsHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
Team
- Admin usersHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
- Per-admin permissionsHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Included
- AI AssistantHeartbeat: IncludedOutseta: Not included
* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Heartbeat or Outseta, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Heartbeat or Outseta may add or remove features that are not shown here.
Heartbeat vs Outseta pricing
Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.
Heartbeat
Current plans and prices
See what Heartbeat charges on their pricing page.
Outseta
Current plans and prices
See what Outseta charges on their pricing page.
Cardel: An alternative to
Heartbeat and Outseta
You don't pay until you publish.
Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own.
Common questions
Is Cardel an alternative to Heartbeat or Outseta?
Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Heartbeat or Outseta when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Heartbeat and Outseta are marked.
Can I use Cardel with Heartbeat or Outseta?
Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Heartbeat or Outseta for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.
How much does Cardel cost compared with Heartbeat and Outseta?
You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Heartbeat and Outseta set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.
How do I switch from Heartbeat or Outseta to Cardel?
Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.