Writer’s Review: “Beehiiv is the fastest-growing newsletter platform on the market and it’s not even close. Built by the team behind Morning Brew, it does things no other email tool does — built-in ad network, recommendation engine, web publication. But it’s VC-funded, the paid plans are expensive, and some users report deliverability issues. It’s brilliant if newsletters are your business. Overkill if they’re not.”
Built by people who actually scaled a newsletter
Most email tools are built by software engineers solving a technical problem. Beehiiv was built by Tyler Denk, Benjamin Hargett, and Jacob Hurd — the team that helped Morning Brew grow to 1.5 million subscribers before it sold for $75 million. They took everything they learned and turned it into a product. That matters. It’s the difference between a tool designed around what sounds good on a feature list vs. one designed around what actually grows a newsletter.
Where it wins
Newsletter growth tools9.4
Monetisation options9.0
Built-in publication / website8.8
Free plan features7.8
Email design flexibility7.5
Deliverability reliability6.8
Value for money (paid plans)6.5
The good and the bad
+ Recommendation network lets other newsletters promote you for free — no paid ads required
+ Built-in ad network (Netflix, HubSpot, Roku) — you can monetise with zero subscribers
+ Boosts let you pay to acquire subscribers OR get paid when others acquire yours
+ Web publication layer turns your newsletter into a browsable website automatically
− Deliverability complaints — multiple users report emails landing in spam or not arriving
− $49/mo just to unlock monetisation features — steep jump from the free plan
− VC-funded ($50M raised) — long-term pricing and direction controlled by investors, not users
− Boosts takes a 20% cut of your earnings from the cross-promotion marketplace
Pricing breakdown
All prices at the 1,000 subscriber tier. Annual billing saves ~16%.
$0/mo forever
Launch (Free)
SubscribersUp to 2,500
EmailsUnlimited
Website✓ Yes
Recommendations✓ Yes
Monetisation✗ None
AI tools✗ None
$49/mo monthly
$43/mo (annual)
Scale BEST VALUE
Subscribers1,000 (scales up)
Ad network✓ Yes
Boosts✓ Yes
Paid subscriptions✓ Yes
AI tools✓ Yes
A/B testing✓ Yes
$109/mo monthly
$96/mo (annual)
Max
Everything in Scale✓
Remove branding✓ Yes
Priority support✓ Yes
10 publications✓ Yes
NewsletterXP course✓ Yes
Extra team members✓ Yes
Watch out: The free-to-paid jump is brutal. You go from $0 to $49/mo with nothing in between. And as mentioned above, every monetisation feature — ads, Boosts, paid subscriptions — is locked behind that paywall. Beehiiv wants you to taste growth for free, then charges you to profit from it.
Category ratings
Growth & Acquisition Tools9.4
Monetisation (ads, subs, Boosts)9.0
Ease of Use8.5
Analytics & Reporting8.2
Deliverability6.8
Value for Money6.5
Should you buy it?
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Newsletter operators building a media business
Beehiiv was built for exactly this. Ad network, Boosts, recommendations, web publication — no other platform gives you this many ways to grow and monetise a newsletter under one roof.
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Creators who want to earn from day one
On the Scale plan, you can run ads, sell paid subscriptions, and earn from Boosts simultaneously. Most platforms make you choose one revenue stream. Beehiiv gives you all of them.
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Creators who sell courses, coaching, or digital products
Beehiiv’s commerce features are basic. If your business model revolves around selling to your list (not advertising to it), you need a platform built for creator commerce.
The free plan is solid for testing, but as mentioned above, every monetisation feature is locked behind the Scale plan. If $49/mo is a stretch, you’ll outgrow the free tier fast with no affordable middle ground.
If your emails absolutely cannot miss the inbox — transactional emails, time-sensitive campaigns, high-stakes sales sequences — the deliverability complaints are a dealbreaker.
Can Beehiiv replace Mailchimp? For newsletter creators — yes, it already has for 90,000 of them. It does things Mailchimp never even attempted. But it’s not trying to be an email marketing platform for everyone. It’s a newsletter growth engine. If that’s what you’re building, nothing else comes close. If it’s not, you’re paying for features you’ll never use. For a head-to-head with the main alternative, read our Beehiiv vs Kit showdown.
Try Beehiiv free — up to 2,500 subscribers
No credit card required. Unlimited sends. 30-day trial on paid plans.