Beehiiv

Launch is free.

Current limits and features include:

• Up to 2,500 subscribers

• Unlimited email sends

• Newsletter publishing

• Website

• Podcast

• Campaign analytics

• Recommendation Network

• Custom domains

• Link-in-bio

• AI Website Builder

• API access excluding Send API

• 1 user

For a new newsletter, this is a strong starting plan because Beehiiv does not impose a monthly email-send limit.

A newsletter can therefore test:

• Publishing frequency

• Subscriber acquisition

• Content format

before paying for the platform.

Scale is Beehiiv's main growth and monetization plan.

Current annual pricing starts around:

$43/month equivalent

with approximately:

$517 billed annually

The pricing page also lists paid plans as starting around $49/month depending on billing choice and subscriber tier.

Scale adds functionality such as:

• Beehiiv Ad Network

• Paid recommendations

• Paid subscriptions

• 0% Beehiiv take rate on paid subscriptions

• Digital products

• Referral Program

• Email automations

• Surveys and polls

• Advanced website analytics

• Webhooks

• 3 team seats

Scale is generally the point where Beehiiv becomes more than a simple newsletter sending platform.

Max includes everything in Scale plus additional publishing and business features.

Current annual pricing starts around:

$96/month equivalent

or approximately:

$1,151 billed annually

Features include:

• Remove Beehiiv branding

• Sponsorship Storefront

• Audio newsletters

• Appointments through digital products

• RSS-to-send

• Up to 10 publications

• Unlimited team seats

• Dynamic content

• Priority support

• Send API

• Click-triggered automations

• Group subscriptions

Max is more relevant for established publishers, media businesses, or teams rather than a small first newsletter.

Enterprise uses custom pricing and is intended for publications with:

100,000+ subscribers

or organizations requiring functionality such as:

• Dedicated account management

• Dedicated IP addresses

• SSO

• Custom publication limits

• Enterprise onboarding

Start with the Launch plan.

Choose:

• Publication name

• Sender identity

• Branding

• Newsletter URL

Do not spend too much time customizing the website before publishing useful content.

Beehiiv allows custom domains even on Launch.

A custom domain gives the publication a more independent identity than relying entirely on a Beehiiv subdomain.

For example:

newsletter.example.com

or:

example.com

depending on the site's structure.

Subscribers can enter through:

• Signup forms

• Landing pages

• Imports

• Recommendation Network

• Referrals

• API integrations

Only import subscribers who legitimately agreed to receive email.

Create:

• Subject line

• Content

• Links

• Call to action

Then send a test before publishing.

A newsletter should establish a repeatable format rather than reinventing the entire structure for every issue.

After sending, review:

• Deliveries

• Opens

• Clicks

• Subscriber growth

• Unsubscribes

Over time, focus less on one issue's metrics and more on trends.

Beehiiv accounts can contain one or more publications depending on the plan.

A publication includes:

• Newsletter

• Website

• Subscriber list

• Analytics

• Monetization

• Growth features

Scale currently supports up to 3 publications, while Max supports up to 10.

Do not create several publications simply to organize topics if one publication with good content structure is sufficient.

Subscribers are the core asset.

Beehiiv pricing uses subscriber tiers, so subscriber count directly affects paid-plan costs.

The important business metrics are not only:

Total subscribers

but also:

• Active subscribers

• Engagement

• Growth rate

• Churn

• Revenue per subscriber

A newsletter with 20,000 unengaged subscribers can be less valuable than a smaller highly engaged audience.

New subscriber → Recommendation screen → Related newsletters shown → Subscriber chooses additional newsletters

Beehiiv's Recommendation Network allows publications to recommend each other.

Free recommendations are available on all plans.

This creates a network-based growth channel rather than relying entirely on:

• SEO

• Social media

• Paid advertising

The recommendation should still be relevant to the subscriber.

Recommending unrelated newsletters simply for growth can weaken audience quality.

Subscriber receives referral link → Shares newsletter → Friend subscribes → Referral count increases → Reward unlocked

Referral programs are available on paid plans.

Possible reward milestones might be:

3 referrals → Bonus article
10 referrals → Digital product
25 referrals → Merchandise

Beehiiv automatically tracks referrals and milestone progress.

This can turn existing subscribers into an acquisition channel.

The reward should be valuable enough to motivate sharing without creating excessive fulfillment cost.

Free subscriber → Reads newsletter → Upgrade offer → Stripe checkout → Paid subscriber → Premium content

Beehiiv currently takes:

0% of paid subscription revenue

The publisher still pays Stripe processing fees.

Beehiiv's current pricing page references standard Stripe processing around:

2.9% + $0.30 per transaction

For example:

100 subscribers × $10/month = $1,000 gross subscription revenue

Beehiiv platform take:

$0

Stripe processing still applies.

This differs significantly from Substack, which uses a revenue-share model.

Launch already supports:

• 2,500 subscribers

• Unlimited sends

• Custom domain

• Basic analytics

• Recommendations

A small newsletter does not need Scale immediately.

Upgrade when you specifically need:

• Paid subscriptions

• Ad Network

• Referral Program

• Automations

• Advanced analytics

Know where subscribers originate.

Possible sources include:

• Organic social

• SEO

• Recommendations

• Referral program

• Paid acquisition

• Existing audience

A growing newsletter can still have poor economics if most subscribers require expensive paid acquisition.

For a monetized newsletter, calculate:

Monthly newsletter revenue ÷ active subscribers

For example:

$5,000 revenue
10,000 subscribers

Revenue per subscriber:

$0.50/month

This allows better comparisons between monetization strategies.

Paid recommendations can rapidly increase a list.

But acquisition volume alone is not the objective.

Monitor:

• Open rate

• Click rate

• Unsubscribe rate

• Paid conversion

• Revenue

A smaller high-quality audience can produce better economics.

Physical rewards can create:

• Product cost

• Shipping

• Customer support

Digital rewards are easier to scale.

For a new newsletter, rewards such as:

• Exclusive reports

• Templates

• Guides

• Bonus content

can be easier to manage.

A useful welcome automation might be:

Signup → Welcome email → Best content → Introduce paid product

Do not create complicated multi-step automations without a clear reason.

The goal is to improve subscriber experience, not maximize the number of automation nodes.

Beehiiv is directly designed for operating a Newsletter Business.

Potential revenue models include:

• Advertising

• Paid subscriptions

• Sponsorships

• Paid recommendations

• Digital products

The platform combines several of these inside one account.

Creators can use Beehiiv to move followers from platforms such as:

• YouTube

• X

• Instagram

• Podcasts

into an owned email list.

The newsletter can then support:

• Product launches

• Sponsorships

• Memberships

• Courses

• Services

A media publication can operate multiple newsletters covering different topics.

Max currently allows up to:

10 publications

while Enterprise supports custom publication limits.

Companies can use Beehiiv for:

• Industry newsletters

• Customer education

• Content distribution

• Thought leadership

However, businesses needing complex CRM-driven sales automation may find general email marketing tools more appropriate.

Paid subscriptions require connecting Stripe.

Publishers can create paid tiers and offer:

• Free trials

• Paid trials

• Discounts

Revenue flows through the connected Stripe account.

Beehiiv currently takes:

0% platform revenue share

on paid subscriptions for supported paid plans.

Beehiiv's Ad Network connects newsletters with advertisers.

It is currently available on:

Scale and higher

for eligible active publications.

The workflow is:

Ad offer appears → Publisher reviews offer → Accepts sponsorship → Inserts ad → Sends newsletter → Earns based on verified performance

Publishers are not required to accept every offer.

Beehiiv reports that its publishers have collectively earned tens of millions of dollars through the network, but individual publisher revenue varies widely and should not be assumed from platform-wide totals.

Paid recommendations were previously known as Boosts.

In 2026 Beehiiv moved free and paid recommendations into one unified Recommendations system.

A publisher can:

• Pay another newsletter for verified subscribers

• Earn money by recommending other newsletters

The acquisition model is typically based on verified subscriber actions rather than ordinary ad impressions.

This creates a measurable acquisition workflow:

Pay recommendation partner → Subscriber signs up → Verification → Cost charged

Launch currently includes API access with limitations.

Max adds the Send API.

This can support workflows such as:

Application → Beehiiv API → Add subscriber

or:

Internal system → Beehiiv → Publish or send content

Most normal newsletter businesses do not need custom API integration.

Running several newsletters can create portfolio economics.

For example:

Business publication
Creator publication
Technology publication

→ Shared team and operational infrastructure

However, operating multiple publications also multiplies content and audience-acquisition work.

Only launch another publication when the first one has a clear operational reason for separation.

Beehiiv uses subscriber tiers.

A growing audience can therefore increase platform costs even if revenue does not increase at the same rate.

Monitor:

Revenue growth vs subscriber growth vs software cost

Launch is generous for publishing but excludes important monetization and automation features.

Businesses wanting:

• Paid subscriptions

• Ad Network

• Referral Program

• Advanced automations

will generally need Scale or higher.

This is an advantage for newsletter businesses but can be a limitation for broader marketing departments.

A company requiring:

• Deep CRM workflows

• Sales pipelines

• Extensive transactional email

• Complex customer lifecycle automation

may prefer a broader marketing platform.

Paid recommendations can generate subscribers quickly.

Not every acquired subscriber will become an engaged reader.

Measure retention and engagement rather than assuming all subscribers have equal value.

Access to the Ad Network does not guarantee frequent or high-value sponsorships.

Results depend on factors such as:

• Audience

• Geography

• Newsletter category

• Engagement

• Advertiser demand

Treat ads as one monetization channel rather than guaranteed income.

Yes.

The Launch plan currently supports up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends.

Launch is free.

Scale currently starts around $49 per month depending on billing and subscriber tier, while annual pricing can start around $43 per month equivalent.

Max annual pricing currently starts around $96 per month equivalent.

Prices increase with subscriber tiers.

No.

Beehiiv currently includes unlimited email sends on all plans, including Launch.

No.

Beehiiv currently takes 0% of paid subscription revenue on its supported paid plans.

Stripe payment-processing fees still apply.

Boosts were renamed and integrated into Beehiiv's paid recommendations system in 2026.

Free and paid recommendations now operate within the same Recommendations area.

Neither is universally better.

Beehiiv provides stronger built-in growth, referral, advertising, and newsletter-business tooling without taking a percentage of subscription revenue.

Substack provides a large creator publishing network and simpler paid-publication workflow but takes a percentage of paid subscriptions.