How to Set Up a Newsletter with Beehiiv – Top Tool Guides – Best SaaS Tools Reviews & Comparisons

Item: How to Set Up a Newsletter with Beehiiv
Rating: 3.7
Author: TopToolGuides

Quick Verdict

Beehiiv is the newsletter platform I’d pick if you’re actually trying to build an audience and eventually make money from it — not just send updates to your mom. The free tier is genuinely usable, the paid tiers are reasonable, and it doesn’t nickel-and-dime you for basic features like some competitors (cough Substack’s weird payment setup cough). But it’s not magic. You still have to write stuff people want to read.

Beehiiv **** (4/5) — best for monetization and growth tools Substack **** (4/5) — simpler, but you’re renting your audience ConvertKit *** (3/5) — solid for creators, feels dated now

So you want to start a newsletter. Cool. Everyone does. Including me, three times, and two of those are dead in a digital ditch somewhere because I got bored around issue #4.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about newsletters: the platform matters way less than whether you’ll actually show up every week. That said, Beehiiv is the one I keep coming back to because it does the boring stuff (deliverability, landing pages, referral programs) so you can focus on the writing part. Or at least feel guilty about not writing.

Let me walk you through it like we’re on a video call and I’m screen-sharing while eating a sad desk sandwich.

Step 1: Sign Up and Pick Your Publication Name

Go to beehiiv.com, hit the signup button, and you’re in within about 90 seconds. No credit card for the free tier. They’ll ask for a publication name — this is your newsletter’s brand, not your personal name. Think "The Hustle" not "John’s Thoughts."

What can go wrong: you pick a name that’s already taken on social handles, then spend six months fighting for the @ version of it and lose. Check Twitter/X and Instagram availability before you commit. I learned this the hard way with a site called "Kitchen Chaos" — the handle was owned by a very committed sourdough blogger who never replied to my emails.

Step 2: Connect a Custom Domain

Free tier gives you a yourname.beehiiv.com URL. It works. It also screams "I started this last Tuesday." If you own any domain already, add it. Beehiiv walks you through the DNS stuff and it’s genuinely not scary — like 5 minutes of copy-pasting into your registrar.

Here’s a shortcut: if you don’t own a domain yet, buy one through Namecheap for $10 and skip GoDaddy entirely. GoDaddy’s upsell flow is a war crime.

What can go wrong: you forget to add the CNAME record and your newsletter lives at a URL that looks like a phishing site for two weeks.

Step 3: Import or Build Your Subscriber List

If you’re migrating from Mailchimp or Substack, Beehiiv has CSV import. If you’re starting from zero — welcome, most of us are — you just start with whatever email addresses you have. Your friends. Your coworkers. That one guy from college who still sends you memes.

Don’t add people without permission. I did this once. Imported my entire Gmail contacts list because I thought "they’ll just unsubscribe if they don’t want it." I got flagged as spam by three different providers and had to email Google’s abuse team to apologize. Don’t be me.

Step 4: Design the Newsletter Template

Beehiiv gives you a block editor, kinda like Notion meets Mailchimp. Drag in text blocks, images, buttons, whatever. Set your brand colors — the defaults are fine but a little "startup blue" for my taste.

The thing nobody tells you: your template should be stupid simple. Most newsletters that grow have barely any design. Text, maybe a header image, done. Fancy templates read like marketing emails and people’s eyes glaze over.

Step 5: Write Your Welcome Email

When someone subscribes, they get a welcome email automatically. Write one. Even three sentences. "Hey, thanks for subscribing. Here’s what to expect. Reply and tell me what you’re working on." That last part is huge — replies boost deliverability because Gmail sees engagement.

Shortcut nobody talks about: put a question in your welcome email that has a one-word answer. "What’s your biggest struggle with X?" People will literally reply with "time" and now you’re in their inbox forever.

Step 6: Set Up Your Signup Form

Beehiiv gives you a hosted landing page automatically. Customize the headline and description, then grab the embed code and slap it on your site. Or skip the site entirely and just send people to the Beehiiv landing page.

What can go wrong: your landing page headline is vague ("Subscribe to my newsletter!") and nobody knows why they should. Say what they’ll get and how often. "Weekly essays on X, every Tuesday" beats "Stay updated!" every single time.

Step 7: Hit Publish on Issue #1

Write the thing. Send it. Don’t wait until it’s perfect. Issue #1 is going to be your worst issue, and that’s fine — it’s supposed to be. The people who succeed at this are just the ones who didn’t quit after three sends.

Turn on the referral program in settings while you’re at it. It’s a Beehiiv feature where readers get rewards for sharing your newsletter. Free tier has a basic version. Costs you nothing to enable.

One last thing — schedule the next issue before you close the laptop. Pick a day. Tuesday’s fine. Whatever. The death of most newsletters is a vague "I’ll send it when I have something good." You won’t. Schedule it now.

Pros & Cons

Beehiiv

Free tier is actually viable, not a crippled demo
Built-in referral program and ad network if you want to monetize
Clean editor, fast sending, good analytics for the price

Mobile app is basically useless, don’t bother
Slightly steeper learning curve than Substack if you’ve never run a newsletter
Some advanced automation is locked behind the $99/mo tier, which stings

Substack

Dead simple setup, you’ll be publishing in 10 minutes
Built-in network effect — Substack recommends your newsletter to readers of similar ones
Free forever, takes 10% of paid subscriptions

You don’t own your list in a meaningful way, leaving is painful
Design options are basically "this template or nothing"
Their payment system has had weird delays that cost creators money

ConvertKit (now Kit)

Best-in-class automation and tagging for complex funnels
Great for creators selling courses and digital products alongside the newsletter
Solid deliverability reputation

Interface feels like it was designed in 2016 and never updated
Free tier caps at 10,000 subscribers but strips most useful features
Prices jump fast once you grow

Pricing at a Glance

FAQ

Q: Is Beehiiv free to use? A: Yes, up to 2,500 subscribers. You get a beehiiv.com subdomain and Beehiiv branding on emails. It’s genuinely usable, not a trial-in-disguise.

Q: Which newsletter platform is best for beginners? A: Substack if you want zero friction. Beehiiv if you care about owning your audience and eventually monetizing. I’d pick Beehiiv, but I’m biased toward people actually building a business.

Q: Can I switch from Substack to Beehiiv later? A: Yes, but it’s annoying. You’ll need to export your Substack list as CSV and import it, then tell readers the new domain isn’t spam. Do it before you have 5,000 subscribers, not after.

Q: How often should I send my newsletter? A: Weekly is the sweet spot. Daily burns you out, monthly makes people forget you exist. If weekly is too much, biweekly and stick to it religiously.