The newsletter platform built by Morning Brew alumni. Create, grow, and monetize newsletters with built-in ad network, referral programs, and paid subscriptions with 0% take rate. Get 20% off for 3 months + 14 days free through our link.
beehiiv launched in 2021, built by Tyler Denk and ex-Morning Brew operators. Morning Brew scaled to millions of subscribers and sold for $75 million. These are people who ran a newsletter at scale before building software for it.
The platform is a newsletter and media company OS: publishing, monetization, growth tools, and audience analytics in one place. It is not a general-purpose email tool. It is purpose-built for people who want to build a newsletter business, not just send email blasts.
Over 750,000 newsletter creators use the platform, including The Ringer, Milk Road, and Vice. That growth reflects product-market fit, not marketing spend.
Setup took under 20 minutes: custom domain, import from another provider, first post published. The editor is clean and stays out of your way. No wrestling with blocks that collapse or formatting that breaks on mobile.
The analytics dashboard is the strongest in this category. Open rates, click rates, subscriber growth, acquisition source breakdown. You can see exactly which referral channels drive subscribers and which posts convert free readers into paid ones. Most newsletter tools make you export a CSV and figure it out yourself.
The referral and boost network is where beehiiv pulls ahead. Boosts let you get paid when your subscribers sign up for other newsletters, or pay to grow your own list through other publishers' recommendation slots. It turns your newsletter into a two-sided growth engine.
Automations cover welcome sequences, tag-based segmentation, and drip content. Competent and complete for most newsletter businesses. Everything lives inside one tool rather than bolted on through a third-party integration.
Clean WYSIWYG editor with drag-and-drop blocks and custom HTML support. Every newsletter is also published as a web page automatically.
Built-in marketplace connecting your newsletter with brand sponsors. Available on Scale and Max plans. No manual sponsor outreach required.
Earn money recommending other newsletters, or pay to appear in other publishers' recommendation slots. Paid audience acquisition with real controls.
Charge subscribers a recurring fee via Stripe. beehiiv takes 0% of revenue on Scale and Max plans. You keep everything the platform charges nothing.
Built-in referral system with milestone rewards. Readers share your newsletter and unlock perks at subscriber thresholds. No third-party tool or custom code needed.
Subscriber-level data, post performance, and acquisition attribution in one dashboard. Open rate tracking, UTM attribution, and subscriber growth over time.
No-code website builder with AI design tools, custom domains, and built-in SEO. Every newsletter gets a public web archive automatically.
Max plan supports up to 10 publications under one account. Media operators and agencies skip separate accounts and billing.
$0
Up to 1,000 subs
Unlimited sends
Custom domain
Website builder
Recommendation network
API access
Unlimited sends and a custom domain at zero cost. A stronger free tier than most competitors.
$43/mo
Everything in Launch +
Ad network
Boosts
Paid subscriptions (0%)
Automations
Surveys and polls
3 team seats
The plan most serious newsletter operators need. The 0% take rate on paid subscriptions pays for itself fast once you have paying readers.
$96/mo
Everything in Scale +
Remove branding
Priority support
Unlimited seats
Podcast sites
Audio newsletters
Up to 10 publications
Built for media operators running multiple brands or teams. White-label and audio newsletter support make this worth it at that scale.
Prices increase with subscriber count. Enterprise pricing available for 100K+ subscribers.
| Feature | beehiiv | Substack | ConvertKit | Mailchimp |
| Free Plan | ✅ 1K subs | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ 1K subs | ✅ 500 subs |
| Custom Domain on Free | ✅ Free | ❌ Paid | ❌ Paid | ❌ Paid |
| Paid Sub Take Rate | 0% | 10% | 3.5%+ | N/A |
| Built-in Ad Network | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Referral Program | ✅ Built-in | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Website Builder | ✅ Full | ⚠️ Basic | ⚠️ Basic | ✅ Full |
| Automations | ✅ Scale+ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multiple Publications | ✅ Up to 10 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
The Substack comparison matters most. Substack is free with no subscriber cap and has built-in distribution, a real advantage early on. But the 10% cut on paid subscriptions is brutal at scale. A newsletter doing $10,000/month loses $1,000 to Substack. beehiiv takes none of it. The math favors switching once you have paying readers.
beehiiv is the best newsletter platform for creators building a media business. The 0% take rate on paid subscriptions, the Boosts network, and 3D Analytics are features no competitor has matched. The free tier includes a custom domain and analytics that most platforms lock behind paid plans.
Real limitations exist: no discovery network, no landing page builder, automations locked behind paid tiers. For creators past the bootstrapping phase, those are acceptable trade-offs. The monetization infrastructure alone justifies switching from Substack or ConvertKit at the Scale tier or above.
If your newsletter is your business, beehiiv is the right tool. If it is one piece of a larger marketing stack, look elsewhere.
Sign up through our affiliate link to get a 14-day free trial on any paid plan, plus 20% off your first 3 months. Ea-Nasir.co earns a commission if you sign up.
Claim 20% Off. Get Started Free.Yes, the Launch plan is free for up to 1,000 subscribers. But most serious creators upgrade to Scale ($43/mo) within the first month to unlock the ad network, automations, and paid subscriptions at 0% take rate. Our link gives you 20% off for 3 months + a 14-day free trial on any paid plan.
beehiiv has more features (ad network, boosts, referral program, website builder, automations) and takes 0% on paid subscriptions vs Substack's 10%. Substack has a larger built-in reader network though.
Yes. beehiiv has built-in migration tools for Substack, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and most other platforms. You can import subscribers with their full history.
A cross-promotion marketplace where newsletters recommend each other for a fee. You can earn money by recommending newsletters, or pay to get recommended and grow faster.
Absolutely. The editor is intuitive, you don't need any technical skills, and most people are up and running in under 30 minutes. Start on the free Launch plan, then upgrade to Scale when you're ready to monetize.
Yes, from the Scale plan ($43/mo). beehiiv takes 0% commission — you keep 100% of subscriber revenue minus Stripe's processing fee.
What real users are saying about beehiiv
“We built beehiiv because every other newsletter platform was stuck in the past. Creators deserve tools that actually help them grow and make money.”
“We've been working with beehiiv for a year now and can't recommend the product and their team more. It's an intuitive, easy-to-use, and all-inclusive product.”
Affordable CRM with marketing and service desk. The budget-friendly alternative.
The 'kitchen sink' platform. Everything but the kitchen sink—for $20/month.
Email marketing with landing pages. The complete small business package.
