Beehiiv

Beehiiv is built for publishing a newsletter as a business, not just sending email. It combines a writing tool, a website for your posts, subscriber growth features, paid subscriptions and ad revenue in one place. If you want to grow an audience and earn from it, it saves you stitching several tools together.

Yes if your core activity is a newsletter, such as a founder, consultant or small media brand. Setup is quick and the free plan covers a decent start. It is a weaker fit if you need heavy automation, product-based ecommerce emails or a CRM, as reviewers call automation and customisation basic.

Beehiiv has a free plan for up to about 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans we found quoted from about $49 a month (Scale) and $109 (Max), based on subscriber count, with annual discounts. These come from a review and the vendor, so confirm on the pricing page. Reviewers note a big jump from free to paid, and Stripe fees apply on paid subscriptions.

You can write and send newsletters, host a public archive site on your own domain, grow with referral programs and recommendation networks, sell paid subscriptions, and earn from a built-in ad network on higher plans. Analytics are detailed, including revenue tracking and bot-click filtering. Complex multi-step automations are limited.

It helps rather than replaces. Beehiiv gives you tools and some AI writing help, but the newsletter's value still comes from your content and audience building. It does not hire out your writing or strategy. Think of it as a publishing platform that lets one person do what used to need a small team.

Only partly. Native connections are limited and reviewers say Zapier is the main route to other tools, which adds cost and setup. Stripe handles payments. If your business depends on a particular CRM or ecommerce platform, check that a Zapier route exists and test it before moving your list.

Reviewers raise mixed support experiences and, in one case, readers who stopped receiving emails after a few months. The editor is also said to be hard to learn, with no drag-and-drop layout. Free plan support is documentation and an AI assistant only. Test by importing a small segment, sending to several inbox providers, and asking support one real question.