Beehiiv

If you’re looking for an email marketing tool, you may have come across Beehiiv at some point. Although this newsletter software is relatively new, it has a lot of features and possibilities. I’ve been using the tool for quite some time now, a good moment for a Beehiiv review.

Beehiiv: the company

Beehiiv actually emerged from pure frustration – and we totally get that. The founders worked at Morning Brew, a successful newsletter. This is an extremely successful newsletter, but many tools they needed they had to build themselves. In 2021, they decided to take matters into their own hands and built an all-in-one platform where creators finally have everything under one roof.

And that turned out to be a bullseye. Thousands of writers and creators now use Beehiiv to send their newsletters out into the world, including well-known names like The Milk Road. The platform has raised $1 million in investments and is growing like crazy. What do they do differently? They understand that modern newsletter creators need more than just a send button and a nice design – they want to grow their community, monetize their content, and know exactly how their newsletters are performing.

Who is Beehiiv actually for?

You can say you’re ‘a newsletter platform for everyone,’ but let’s be honest: not everyone has the same needs. Beehiiv focuses mainly on creators who want to get serious with their newsletter. Think of journalists sharing in-depth analyses, experts who want to sell their knowledge through paid newsletters, or brands that want to grow their community. It’s not a Mailchimp replacement for your local sports club, or an alternative to Klaviyo for your e-commerce newsletter.

What you’ll especially notice: the platform is built by people who understand the challenges newsletter creators face. You can easily create different types of posts (think regular updates, paid content, or special offers), automatically send emails to subscribers based on their behavior, and even build your own website. This means it’s possible to use this as a website instead of WordPress. At ToolGuide, we use Beehiiv alongside WordPress, so that’s also an option.

Beehiiv features

Here’s a general overview of what’s all possible with Beehiiv. Of course, I’ll go into more detail later in the review.

• Good editor (including real-time collaboration) – Perhaps the best editor for newsletters. It actually feels like an editor from WordPress, for example, where you can collaborate in real-time.
• Built-in website – You immediately get a complete website with it. You can choose to publish all posts (newsletters) on the web as well.
• Comprehensive analytics – You don’t just see how many people open your email, but also who actually keeps reading, which links are clicked, and when people drop off. They have this in a clear overview.
• Automations – New subscriber? They automatically get a welcome email. Someone clicks on a specific link? Then you can directly put them in a special group. You can basically build any flows you want.
• Paid subscriptions – If you want to make money with your newsletter, this is also possible. Among other things, it’s possible to offer paid access to your newsletter.
• Make money with ads and boost – If you don’t want a paid newsletter, you can use ads from the network. Or Boosts, where you refer people to others’ newsletters for a fee.
• Referrals: reward readers for referrals – Beehiiv has a built-in referral system that allows you to reward loyal readers. If a reader has 5 referrals, for example, you can give them a reward (a t-shirt, free e-book, or something else).
• API – Beehiiv also has an API, which allows you to integrate many external tools. This also works together with Make and Zapier, among others. This means you don’t have to be a developer to connect your favorite opt-in software to your newsletter.
• A/B testing – Unsure about your subject line? Just test two (or more) different versions. The winner is then sent to the rest of your list.
• Integrations with other tools – Whether you use Zapier or Google Analytics, Beehiiv happily communicates with other popular tools. Saves you from manually retyping things.
• Multiple publications in 1 account – In one (paid) Beehiiv account you can manage 3-10 publications. So if you have multiple sites or newsletters, it’s easy to manage them. You can also add team members with specific access rights.

There are many more possibilities and options, such as polls in your newsletter, surveys (for additional user info), segmentation, tags, and Magic links. Below I’ll elaborate on a few features that I consider important.

The post editor

Beehiiv’s editor is truly a breath of fresh air for anyone who has ever struggled with other newsletter tools. It’s well thought out. Everything is also saved in real-time. I too have lost (parts of) newsletters more than once because this didn’t work properly.

Working with multiple people on one newsletter? Then you can simply work simultaneously in the same email, somewhat like in Google Docs. You can see exactly who is writing where, leave comments, and no longer need to email back and forth with different versions. Additionally, you can also share a draft with someone via a ‘hidden’ link, without that person needing to be logged in.

It resembles the WordPress editor somewhat, but for newsletters. I personally find it a very pleasant editor to work in!

Automations

Automations in Beehiiv are actually quite simple: you set up the basics once and then the platform does the work. And that’s exactly what you want to use it for – to save time. You essentially create a kind of flow chart that someone – who meets certain conditions – moves through.

In practice, you use it like this: new subscriber? They automatically get three emails. You can set up this sequence (or automation) with waiting times, branching if someone has (or hasn’t) opened, and then close it and add a specific tag or segment. Automation is a particularly powerful feature of Beehiiv.

Let’s also talk about making money with Beehiiv

Making money with Beehiiv can be done in roughly three ways: paid newsletter, boosts and ads.

The most obvious option is a paid newsletter. You can set this up in a few minutes: choose your price, determine what premium content is (for example, in-depth analyses or exclusive interviews), and you’re done. Beehiiv handles payments through Stripe and automatically tracks who has access to which content. In the editor, you simply put a lock on the sections that are only for paying members.

But there’s more. With the proprietary ad network, you earn from advertisements without having to find advertisers yourself. Beehiiv guarantees 1 advertising opportunity per month for your newsletter (you do need a paid subscription). It’s up to you whether you accept this. You then simply place it in your newsletter. Keep in mind that these ads are often in English.

And then there’s Boost – a kind of advertising system between newsletters at the bottom. Other writers pay to bring their newsletter to the attention of your readers, and you get a portion of that money. The nice thing is: you can choose which newsletters you want to ‘boost’, so it stays relevant for your readers. This generates an amount per subscriber, ranging from $1.60 to $1.

Of course, you can also combine these options. I also use Boosts, especially to give people after signing up for ToolGuide, the opportunity to also sign up for other newsletters.

Integrations and API

Let’s be honest: when it comes to ready-made integrations, Beehiiv is still somewhat sparse. Don’t expect a list of 50 apps you can connect with one click. The basics are there, but there are few external tools that offer support.

But there’s a catch: through Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat) you can still get a lot done. Because Beehiiv has an API, you can for example:

• Automatically add new subscribers from your website or opt-in tool
• Synchronize your member list with other tools
• Update tags based on what people do on your site

An important thing to know: with the API you can’t just create and send newsletters. That’s only available in the Enterprise package. What you can do: handle everything with your subscribers. Think of adding new people, updating data, or checking who’s subscribed.

So if you’re somewhat handy with no-code tools, you can get a connection (often via a webhook) fairly easily. As a non-developer, I managed to do it quite easily with Make. This way I connected Beehiiv with GetSiteControl.

Of course you can also create your own forms, which you can embed on your own website for example.

Beehiiv alternatives

Looking for an alternative to Beehiiv? There are various tools that are structured slightly differently. Some more focused on design, others specifically on automation. These are the main alternatives you should know:

• Kit – Comprehensive platform for creators with strong automation capabilities and an impressive number of integrations. Unique is the Creator Network for cross-pollination between newsletters, plus extensive API capabilities even in the free package.
• Substack – Platform specifically for writers who want to make money with a paid newsletter. Has a large discovery network and built-in community, but charges 10% commission on your revenue and is limited in technical capabilities.
• Ghost – Open-source platform that combines a blog and newsletter with paid content capabilities. You have full control over your platform and data, but need to host yourself and be technically savvy.
• MailerLite – Accessible and affordable tool with all the basic features you need. Has a good price-quality ratio, but lacks the advanced monetization features that Beehiiv does have.

Are there also things that disappoint about Beehiiv? Yes…

No tool is perfect, Beehiiv isn’t either. For example, there’s no support for the Dutch language. For most people this isn’t a problem in the dashboard and editor, but a small frustration: you can’t customize the unsubscribe button under each email. This always says unsubscribe.

Additionally, you can’t always view all statistics properly on mobile. The website is quite responsive, but when there’s a lot of data, it’s often a bit fiddly on a small screen.

As mentioned earlier, the standard integrations are also very limited. The biggest competitor, Kit (formerly Convertkit), has this much better figured out. There are a whole lot of integrations available out-of-the-box. But if you don’t need this, or can play around with no-code tools, it can be solved.

My Beehiiv review final verdict

Let’s not beat around the bush: Beehiiv is really top-notch for creators who want to get serious with their newsletter. The platform excels if you:

• Write regularly and want to grow your newsletter
• Want the ability to make money with your content
• Looking for an all-in-one solution without the hassle of different tools
• Also want to publish your content directly (and thus also get search traffic)

But there are also people who should look elsewhere:

• Do you want very specific integrations? Kit (formerly Convertkit) is then a better choice
• If you have a webshop, then Beehiiv is not the best choice.

Beehiiv is well-priced, competitive with other tools. Of course you can start for free, but if you want to get more serious, you’ll see that upgrading becomes desirable quickly. Kit is the biggest competitor (I used it before Beehiiv), with more integrations but a less pleasant editor. Substack is popular among writers, but is mainly focused on paid newsletters. Ghost is a good option if you’re looking more for a complete publishing platform. But honestly? For pure newsletters, Beehiiv is currently one of the best choices. I’m a fan!