Beehiiv

Beehiiv was founded in 2021 by Tyler Denk, Benjamin Hargett, and Jake Hurd. The trio brought a unique "insider" perspective to the table, as they were the early engineers and product minds behind Morning Brew—one of the most successful newsletters in history. They didn't just guess what creators needed; they built the exact tools they used to scale a media brand to a multi-million dollar exit. Tyler Denk, the CEO, is a former Google product manager known for his "build in public" philosophy and relentless focus on growth features.

The company is headquartered in New York City but operates with a distributed global team. In early 2026, Beehiiv remains one of the fastest-growing startups in the publishing space, having secured significant Series B funding to expand its AI capabilities and ad infrastructure. Despite its rapid growth—serving over 135,000 publishers—the founders remain deeply connected to the community, frequently participating in webinars and workshops to help the next generation of creators achieve "newsletter-market fit."

Beehiiv is built specifically for Serious Newsletter Creators and Digital Media Brands who view their newsletter as a business, not just a hobby. It is the ideal home for writers, journalists, and niche experts who want to monetize their knowledge through multiple streams—including ads, sponsorships, and paid subscriptions. If you are frustrated by the lack of customization on Substack or the complexity of enterprise tools like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Beehiiv is the perfect middle ground.

It is also a favorite for Agencies and Startups that use content as their primary acquisition channel. Because Beehiiv handles the website hosting, SEO, and email delivery in one package, it's perfect for teams that want to launch a "community-first" brand without hiring a developer. However, if you are an e-commerce store primarily focused on abandoned cart emails and product catalogues, you might find that specialized retail tools like Klaviyo are a better fit. Beehiiv is for those who live and die by the quality of their editorial content.

• • Independent Journalists: Who want full control over their branding and revenue.
• • Corporate Publishers: Managing multiple niche newsletters under one umbrella.
• • Niche Experts: Scaling a paid community around specific professional insights.

Beehiiv is an all-in-one publishing ecosystem. Its core feature is a Distraction-Free Editor that feels more like a modern writing tool than an email builder. You can write your post, drop in a "paywall" block to lock premium content, and embed a survey or a poll—all in one flow. The platform automatically generates a beautiful web version of your post, handles the SEO tags, and triggers your email blast.

For growth, Beehiiv offers Boosts and Recommendations. Boosts allow you to pay other newsletters to recommend yours (on a per-subscriber basis) or get paid to recommend others. This marketplace approach to growth ensures you can scale as fast as your budget allows. Meanwhile, the Ad Network automatically pairs you with vetted sponsors like Huel or BetterHelp, letting you earn money even if you don't have a large enough list to land direct sponsorships.

In 2026, Beehiiv has also pioneered AI-Powered Workflows. Its AI writing assistant can help you brainstorm headlines, translate your content into five different languages, and even generate unique images for your headers. Combined with "3D Analytics"—which provides deep insights into subscriber attribution and revenue—Beehiiv gives you the data intelligence of a 100-person newsroom in a single dashboard.

• • Referral Program: Reward your readers with physical or digital perks for growing your list.
• • Surveys & Polls: Collect first-party data directly from your emails to understand your readers.
• • Webhooks & API: Connect to 500+ apps to build custom workflows and membership sites.

Beehiiv’s pricing is built on a transparent, flat-fee model that encourages growth. The Launch Plan is $0 and is arguably the best free tier in the industry, allowing you to have up to 2,500 subscribers and send unlimited emails. This is perfect for new creators who want to build an audience without any financial pressure. Once you reach 2,500 subscribers or want to start making money, you move to the Scale Plan.

The Scale Plan starts at **$49 per month** (for 1,000 subscribers) and scales based on your list size. This tier unlocks the Ad Network, the Referral Program, and AI writing tools. For those who want to remove the "Powered by Beehiiv" branding and manage up to 10 separate publications, the Max Plan starts at $109 per month. While this jump seems steep, it's important to remember that Beehiiv takes 0% of your subscription revenue, meaning you keep roughly $10 more per month for every $100 you earn compared to other platforms.

Choosing annual billing on any paid plan saves you roughly 12-20%, effectively bringing the Scale plan down to around **$42/month**. For professional creators with 100k+ subscribers, Beehiiv offers Enterprise pricing with dedicated account managers and custom publication limits.

The most important thing to watch on Beehiiv is the Pricing Jump. Moving from the $0 free plan to the $49 Scale plan is a significant monthly commitment for a new creator. You should ensure you have a monetization strategy (like using the Ad Network or launching a paid tier) ready to cover that cost as your list grows. Additionally, pay attention to the Learning Curve. Beehiiv is packed with features; beginners can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the "3D Analytics" and segmentation options. Start with the basics—writing and growing—before diving into the complex automation flows.

You should also monitor your Email Clipping. Because Beehiiv’s newsletters are feature-rich, the code can sometimes become large. If your email exceeds 102KB, Gmail may "clip" the end of it. Always send a test email to yourself to ensure your content is displaying fully. Lastly, remember that Beehiiv is a Publishing Platform first. If you need deep marketing automation (like complex tags based on clicking specific product links in a retail store), you might find the automation triggers a bit more limited than specialized email marketing software.

The most common alternative is Substack. While Substack is free to start, they take a 10% cut of your revenue, making it significantly more expensive than Beehiiv once you have a few hundred paid subscribers. Substack also offers much less customization and fewer growth tools. Ghost is another popular choice; it’s open-source and provides total design freedom, but it lacks the built-in ad network and referral systems that make Beehiiv so powerful for growth.

For those coming from a traditional blogging background, WordPress + MailerLite remains a solid budget-friendly alternative, though it requires "stitching" different tools together. If you are a high-level creator who needs maximum automation and a massive visual workflow builder, Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the top rival. Kit offers superior automation but often feels more "email-first" and less like a modern web publishing platform compared to Beehiiv.

• • Substack: Best for those who want zero technical setup and don't mind the 10% fee.
• • Ghost: The choice for tech-savvy writers who want a self-hosted, open-source platform.
• • Kit: The best alternative if you need advanced marketing automations for digital courses and launches.

Frequently asked questions