Beehiiv has quickly become a popular choice for creators looking for a dedicated platform to build, grow, and monetize newsletters. With a strong focus on audience expansion and revenue, Beehiiv attracts independent writers, brands, and content creators who want to maximize their email marketing efforts. However, Beehiiv also has limitations, especially in terms of design flexibility, branding options, and scaling costs.
In this review, I’ll cover Beehiiv’s core features, pros and cons, pricing, and my personal experience with its writing tool to give a complete view of the platform.
Beehiiv was founded in 2021 by Tyler Denk, a former product designer at Morning Brew. Since its launch, Beehiiv has rapidly expanded, reaching over 20,000 active creators within its first year. The platform is designed to manage email marketing for growth-focused creators, with tools tailored to help boost audience engagement and monetize effectively. Beehiiv reports that its users have collectively reached 15 million subscribers through its growth features and monetization options.
Beehiiv includes several growth-focused features that help creators attract and retain subscribers:
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Boost Cross-Promotion: The Boost feature allows users to cross-promote newsletters within the Beehiiv network. According to platform data, newsletters using Boost have seen an average 20-30% increase in subscribers within three months, making it an effective tool for organic growth.
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Referral Program: Beehiiv’s referral program incentivizes subscribers to share the newsletter with their networks. This program has proven effective, with Beehiiv reporting a 15-20% increase in new subscribers for newsletters utilizing referrals. It’s ideal for creators looking to grow through word-of-mouth.
Beehiiv offers several monetization paths, enabling creators to diversify revenue streams:
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Paid Subscriptions: Beehiiv supports paid subscription models, allowing creators to offer exclusive content to paying subscribers. According to Beehiiv, nearly 40% of newsletters on the platform leverage the paid subscription model to monetize.
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Ad Network: Beehiiv’s ad network connects creators with advertisers, allowing them to earn ad revenue without needing to rely on subscriptions alone. Data suggests newsletters in the ad network earn an average of $0.05 - $0.15 per subscriber per campaign, depending on the audience and engagement levels.
To know how much money you can earn from each campaign, visit our earning calculator tool here.
Beehiiv provides templates and design tools for creating visually appealing newsletters, but they are somewhat limited:
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Templates: Beehiiv’s templates are polished and mobile-optimized, making it easy to create professional-looking newsletters. However, the limited customization options mean that many newsletters can end up looking similar. In a user survey, 60% of Beehiiv creators expressed interest in more design options to help differentiate their newsletters.
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Landing Pages: Beehiiv’s customizable landing pages allow for subscriber capture, although they lack the depth of customization advanced users might need for on-brand experiences.
Beehiiv provides useful analytics for tracking growth, engagement, and performance. However, advanced marketing users might find the depth of insights lacking compared to other tools.
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Basic Analytics: Beehiiv reports that newsletters actively using its analytics for optimization see 25% higher open rates on average. The dashboard offers clear insights into subscriber activity, which is helpful for understanding audience engagement.
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API Access: Beehiiv’s API offers limited third-party integrations, which can feel restrictive for those who need specific tools. 70% of premium plan users have expressed interest in additional integrations to broaden Beehiiv’s functionality.
While Beehiiv has strengths, the writing experience left me frustrated. The editor felt clunky, unintuitive, and occasionally annoying to use. Simple tasks that should be straightforward, like adjusting formatting or embedding elements, were more challenging than they needed to be. Unlike other platforms, Beehiiv does not support video embedding in newsletters, which limits the types of content you can deliver.
Although some creators praise Beehiiv’s minimalist approach, I found the editor lacking flexibility, especially for those used to more robust writing tools. This was a major downside for me, as a smooth, intuitive writing experience is essential when producing frequent content.
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Growth-Focused Tools: Beehiiv’s Boost and referral features make it easy to expand your audience organically, with the platform reporting that these tools increase subscriber growth by up to 30% within three months.
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Multiple Monetization Options: With both paid subscription models and an ad network, Beehiiv provides a versatile monetization structure, giving creators more ways to earn.
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User-Friendly Interface: Beehiiv’s setup is highly regarded, with 80% of users finding the platform easy to manage and navigate. However, based on my experience, the platform's design has become less intuitive over time, particularly following the recent design overhaul in late 2024.
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Limited Design Customization: While Beehiiv’s templates are functional, 60% of users desire more advanced customization options to better align with their brand identities.
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Scaling Costs and Branding Limitations: Beehiiv’s free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, but costs rise significantly for larger audiences. Removing Beehiiv’s branding is only possible on premium plans, which are 25-30% more expensive. This can feel cost-prohibitive for creators focused on long-term branding.
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Clunky Writing Experience: The writing tool feels counterintuitive and doesn’t support video embeds, which can be a drawback for creators who want flexibility in their content.
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Pressure to Produce Content: The monthly subscription cost can create a sense of urgency to produce content consistently. 45% of part-time users reported that the platform’s costs were high compared to the amount of content they could realistically produce each month.
Beehiiv’s pricing is competitive for small newsletters but becomes costly as audiences grow. The free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, suitable for beginners, but paid plans start at $49 per month once this limit is exceeded.
Beehiiv reports that over 50% of users upgrade to paid plans as their subscriber bases grow, though many find the pricing model challenging at higher tiers. Removing Beehiiv branding or accessing advanced features increases costs by 25-40%, which may feel restrictive, particularly for creators not yet seeing consistent revenue.
Beehiiv’s customer support team is often praised for responsiveness and knowledge. With live chat for premium users, email support, and a thorough knowledge base, Beehiiv provides reliable support for users. 85% of users report satisfaction with response times and the assistance provided by the support team, making Beehiiv’s support one of its strong points.
Beehiiv’s growth features and monetization tools have made it popular among creators focused on scaling their newsletters. The platform’s data shows that creators who consistently use Boost and referral tools see up to 30% faster growth in their subscriber counts. However, Beehiiv’s limited design options, costly scaling, and clunky editor have been noted as common downsides by users who value customization and an intuitive writing experience.
For those who find Beehiiv’s limitations significant, there are several alternative platforms that might be better suited to specific needs:
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Substack: Known for its simplicity and community-driven approach, Substack is ideal for writers who prioritize ease of use without advanced growth tools.
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ConvertKit: Designed with advanced email marketing needs in mind, ConvertKit is a good choice for creators who rely on segmentation and automation.
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Mailchimp: Offering extensive customization and integration options, Mailchimp is ideal for those who need an all-in-one marketing suite beyond just newsletters.
Beehiiv is a powerful tool for creators focused on scaling newsletters and maximizing monetization. Its growth tools like Boost and the referral program make it easy to expand your audience, and the platform’s paid subscription and ad network options provide diversified revenue channels. However, Beehiiv’s clunky writing experience, high scaling costs, limited design customization, and branding requirements may feel restrictive to some.
If your focus is on frequent content production, audience growth, and revenue, Beehiiv’s tools make it a strong choice. However, creators who prioritize flexibility, a seamless writing experience, or extensive branding options might find Beehiiv’s limitations significant.
Beehiiv has established itself as a solid choice for creators serious about building and monetizing a newsletter. Its tools, including Boost cross-promotion, referral programs, paid subscriptions, and an ad network, make it one of the more growth-oriented platforms available.
However, Beehiiv’s cost structure, clunky editor, branding limitations, and limited customization are worth considering. For those focused on growth and frequent publishing, Beehiiv is a strong choice. But if your priorities include a highly customizable, branded experience and a smooth writing process, it may be worthwhile to explore alternatives like ConvertKit or Mailchimp.