If you want to start a newsletter, you’ve heard of Beehiiv.
I tested this newsletter platform for a few months and grew a small newsletter of around 500 subscribers.
In this Beehiiv review, I’ll share my opinion on the good and bad so you know what to expect and if this is a good option for your needs.
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What is Beehiiv
Beehiiv is a newsletter platform launched in November 2021 and allows you to build, grow, and monetize your newsletter.
It can also be a blogging platform because you can publish your emails as blog posts.
Getting started is simple:
- sign up for a Beehiiv account
- go through the onboarding process (they’ll help you migrate your subscribers if you have any)
- create a name and URL for your newsletter’s website
- choose the proper tags that best describe your newsletters
- upload your logo or profile picture
- choose your brand colors
- confirm your email
This is the right time to add your custom domain on Beehiiv (if you have one). The email address will have the platform’s extension without a custom domain (“.beehiiv.com”), which is not very professional.
After this, you can start to familiarize yourself with the Beehiiv dashboard and write your first email.
What you get from using Beehiiv
Let’s get to the critical part. How can Beehiiv help you grow and monetize your newsletter business?
Compared to traditional email service providers (ESPs), Beehiiv tries to be an all-in-one tool for growth and monetization.
Here’s what they offer:
Powerful editing and design tools for email
You can find the usual text editing tools like bold, italic, underline, headings, etc. What’s more interesting is that you can also play with borders, colors, thickness, font styles, and sizes.
All of these make designing a unique email newsletter much simpler. Some of the newsletters hosted on Beehiiv stand out with unique designs.
If that’s not enough, they also feature an AI writing helper to help you deal with writer’s block.
Both email and blog
If you’ve ever sent an email, you know that it feels like disappearing after people have read it. It has a short lifespan.
Well, with Beehiiv, you can choose to publish your emails as blog posts, and new subscribers can read them. It also helps convince people to subscribe. They don’t feel like they’re joining a ghost town.
This feature allowed me to get a few subscribers from the search engines because some of my emails (now blog posts) appear on Google.
Ad network
You probably want to earn money from your newsletter, right?
Beehiiv makes that easier with its ad platform. You don’t have to look for sponsors. You get access to them within Beehiiv. They can also request to get promoted in your newsletter.
Beehiiv uses a CPC (cost per click) model for their ad network. This means each time a subscriber clicks on an ad, you will earn a set amount.
Even more interesting is that you are guaranteed one ad placement per billing cycle.
Boost feature
Whether your main objective is to grow faster or earn money from your newsletter, this feature can help you do that.
You can get paid when one of your new subscribers also subscribes to other newsletters you recommend.
On the opposite side, you can get subscribers using the Boost feature because other newsletter owners can choose to recommend your newsletter.
This can be a powerful acquisition channel. You determine how much you will pay for a subscriber, and the platform will do the rest.
Analytics
Beehiiv’s 3D analytics are great if you enjoy analyzing stats. You can look at the big picture or see how each email performed.
You’ll get information like:
- acquisition channel
- demographics
- campaign reports
- and more
Another thing I found surprisingly helpful was the email reports I would get a day after sending an email. It shows how well the email I sent performed.
Subscriptions
If you want to start a paid newsletter, this is what you need. The best part is that Beehiiv doesn’t take a percentage of your earnings. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 or 10,000 paid subscribers. You only pay for the Beehiiv subscription.
Multiple newsletters on the same account
Depending on the payment plan you choose, you can create between 3 and 10 completely different newsletters using the same account. Beehiiv calls them publications.
The advantage is that you don’t have to log in and out to access them.
Constantly improving
When Beehiiv first launched, it wasn’t as impressive as today.
The team behind this platform makes running a newsletter fast and easy with all the new features they’ve added.
Beehiiv Pricing
The pricing was one of the bad parts of Beehiiv, but things have changed for the better.
Beehiiv offers four pricing plans, but only three are relevant for 99% of people.
Here’s what they look like:
When I first started using Beehiiv, the free plan was very basic. For example, you’d have to pay if you wanted to use a custom domain. These days, they are a lot more generous with their free plan.
Which plan to choose
If you’re just starting out, the Launch plan has everything you need.
It offers:
- unlimited email sends
- up to 3 publications
- custom domains
- campaign analytics
- basic website customization
- 2,500 subscriber limit
- email scheduling
But if you want to boost your growth and monetize your audience, go with the Scale plan. It allows you to use all monetization methods like Boosts, ads, and subscriptions.
You can also customize your landing pages and use email automation sequences.
Pros and cons of Beehiiv
I wrote this Beehiiv review after using it for a few months, and I found these pros and cons.
Pros
- newsletter growth tools and monetization included
- easy to set up and start sending emails
- the free plan is generous, so you can start growing a profitable newsletter for free
- email design made simple
Cons
- slightly more expensive when compared to similar tools
- monetization features are only available on the paid plans
FAQ
Is Beehiiv free?
Beehiiv has a free plan that gives you everything you need to launch your newsletter, up to 2,500 subscribers.
They also offer a 30-day free trial so you can test their paid features.
Can you make money on Beehiiv?
Absolutely! You can make money on Beehiiv using the following:
- the ads network
- boost feature
- paid subscription
- selling your own product or services
- affiliate marketing
Does Beehiiv have good SEO?
Yes, you can optimize your blog posts to rank in the search engines. I did this and received a few subscribers to my newsletters from Google.
Can you sell products on Beehiiv?
You can promote products, but you cannot host them on Beehiiv. You’ll need to host them on a different platform. For example, Gumroad if you want to sell a digital product.
Can you blog with Beehiiv?
You can post your emails as blog posts on Beehiiv. While it’s not the main purpose of this platform, it can work as a blogging platform.
I recommend using a blogging platform like Medium or WordPress to blog and get email subscribers.
Final thoughts
Beehiiv is one of the top newsletter platforms available at the moment.
What makes it so great is the built-in monetization and growth tools. It’s hard to find anything similar on the market. These features allow newsletters to grow way faster than going the traditional content marketing route.
So, stop wasting time and build your newsletter today with Beehiiv!