What Is The Difference Between Beehiiv and Mailchimp

So, you’ve been toying with the concept of turning your e-mail listing right into a revenue stream, yet you’re overwhelmed by all the alternatives available. Audio acquainted? You’re not the only one. If you have actually been making use of a basic e-mail solution and scraping your head about sponsorships, ads, and paid registrations, it may be time to check out beehiiv. In this overview, I’ll stroll you via every little thing you require to know about making use of beehiiv to turn your newsletter into cash money– all from my very own experience. Ready? Let’s dive in What Is The Difference Between Beehiiv and Mailchimp

Why You Could be Stuck with Your Current Email Platform

You’ve most likely tried the typical suspects: Mailchimp, ConvertKit (currently Kit), Substack, or something comparable. And if you’re like most small web content designers, right here’s what likely happened:

Minimal Monetization Alternatives

You have a handful of devoted clients– possibly 500 to 1,000 individuals– yet absolutely no simple way to earn money. Sponsorships feel like a foreign language, and you’re not keen on cold-emailing brand names each month.

DIY Automation Headaches

You wish to drip campaign new customers, send a welcome collection, and section individuals for targeted e-mails … yet establishing those automations seems like you need a computer science level.

Platform Fees Suck

Every single time you consider paid memberships, the platform takes a big portion, and the repayment setup is extra difficult than it deserves.

Development Stalls

Development hacks seem to benefit everybody else– yet except you. You desire there was a simple means to locate brand-new customers without manually chasing them down.

I remained in your shoes at the beginning of 2024. I would certainly been making use of Kit (previously ConvertKit), however it seemed like a dead end for money making. Do not get me wrong– Kit is wonderful for developing funnels and setting up standard automations. However when it came to making a couple of hundred dollars a month from a tiny list, there wasn’t an obvious “on” switch.

Enter beehiiv.

My Change to beehiiv: A Reality Examine

In January 2024, I lastly pulled the trigger and moved my e-newsletter from Kit to beehiiv. Below’s the honest truth: I didn’t have time to pursue sponsors, work out rates, or develop complicated paid funnels. I run a SEO composing organization full time, so my newsletter was constantly mosting likely to be a side project. I required something that almost ran itself.

The “Market Me” Minute

What sold me on beehiiv was easy:

Built-In Money making: Right from the start, beehiiv shouts, “Hey, you can make money right here!” It wasn’t an afterthought or a third-party add-on.
Low-Effort Sponsorships: Instead of me scouring LinkedIn for enrollers, beehiiv brings offers straight to my control panel. All I need to do is click “accept,” decrease in the advertisement copy, and struck send out.
Easy Earnings Boosts: By advertising other e-newsletters in my regular e-mail, I earn $1–$ 3 per referred customer. No heavy training, no challenging analytics– simply constant, incremental revenue.

Spoiler alert: It settled. In my first full year on beehiiv (2024 ), I drew in $940 from advertisement sponsorships and boosts alone– on a listing that never covered 1,000 subscribers. I didn’t create a paid program. I didn’t release a product and I simply let beehiiv do its point.

My Partner Program Windfall

As if that wasn’t sufficient, I also signed up with the beehiiv Partner Program– generally an affiliate program. By covering beehiiv on my blog site and sharing my experience with pals, I swiped $5,108 in referral payments with completion of 2024. Yep, you review that right: over 5 grand, simply by talking about the platform.

So if you’re questioning whether beehiiv deserves it for small creators or newbies, take my word: It’s a game-changer. Yet, naturally, it isn’t flawless. Let’s break down the good, the poor, and the cool stuff you require to know.

The Benefit of Using beehiiv

1. Money Making Made Unbelievably Straightforward

What I love finest concerning beehiiv is exactly how simple it is to make money on auto-pilot. You do not require a significant audience. Below’s how it works:

Advertisement Network Sponsorships: As soon as you hit just 1,000 active subscribers, brands begin lining up. You get 3– 6 ad demands monthly usually. You pick the ones you like, insert the duplicate, and you’re done. They pay per click or check out– no challenging invoicing. And since beehiiv matches you with appropriate brands, your customers are more probable to click.
Boosts Referral Income: Don’t have enrollers yet? No worry. Advertise other creator newsletters for $1–$ 3 per customer. It’s like Amazon’s affiliate program, but also for e-mail lists. I earned several hundred dollars this way without breaking a sweat.
Paid Subscriptions (When You’re Ready): Down the line, if you decide to bill for superior web content, beehiiv takes a minimal charge (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction by means of Stripe). You can establish multiple pricing tiers, run free tests, or perhaps let clients “call their cost.”.
Partner Program Payments: Not in it for the short haul? Sign up for the affiliate program. Make 60% compensation on beehiiv’s monthly or annual plans when a person register with your code. It’s essentially additional money for sharing something you already enjoy.

In other words, beehiiv transforms monetization into an integrated feature, as opposed to a task you dread.

2. Analytics That Don’t Make Your Head Explode

If you’ve ever before looked at a dashboard thinking, “What does any one of this really mean?”, you’ll value beehiiv’s technique:.

Clear Client Development Charts: See precisely the amount of new people joined, the amount of left, and why your listing reduced (much more on that particular in a sec).
Open Up and Click Rates: Beehiiv breaks down efficiency over the last thirty days, so you can detect trends right now. For example, I kept an eye on my open rate (floating around 64%– okay) and my click-through (around 3.5%). If either statistics dips, I fine-tune my subject lines or calls-to-action.
Monetization Dashboards: Sponsorship revenue, boosts revenue, companion referral earnings– you get the picture. Income streams are neatly divided so absolutely nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

It resembles having a sidekick who informs you, “Hey, your January e-mail eliminated it– below’s why,” or “Uh oh, your February open rates are tanking– let’s repair this.”.

3. Growing Your List Without Selling Your Heart

The majority of e-newsletter platforms will certainly charge you for every single additional client after a limit. Not so with beehiiv– for as much as 2,500 subscribers, it’s totally free. You obtain:.

Unlimited e-mail sends.
Access to the boosts network (grow your audience by promoting your newsletter on various other beehiiv e-newsletters).
Standard analytics and forms.

If you’re a beginner or have a small audience, this is big. You can explore subject lines, send out regularity, and different lead magnets without stressing over hitting a paywall.

4. Integrated Internet Site & Custom Pages

Visualize ditching WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace entirely due to the fact that your e-newsletter platform functions as a website builder. That’s beehiiv basically:.

Newsletter Archive Pages: All your past e-mails survive a blog-like page that’s immediately SEO-optimized.
Personalized Landing Pages: Need a lead magnet page? A thank-you web page? A web page to offer an item? You can build it right in beehiiv’s website builder.
Mobile-Friendly Templates: Every little thing looks fantastic on phones– critical considering that a ton of folks read emails on mobile.

Sure, you won’t get every fancy drag-and-drop that a specialized website builder supplies, however, for many creators, it’s more than enough.

5. Referral Program to Supercharge Growth

Beehiiv’s referral program is awesome if you intend to use a community of like-minded makers. When your client clicks on “Recommend This E-newsletter” and signs up with, both you and the referring designer get credit rating. It’s a smart method to expand your list without spamming.

The Downsides: What to Look out for

No item is perfect– and beehiiv has its missteps. Before you dive in, here’s what could trip you up:.

Feature Overload initially

When you visit, there are many alternatives– Forms, Boosts, Ads, Partner Program, Analytics, Website Builder– that it can feel overwhelming. If you have actually just utilized a straightforward service that sends one-off emails, you could require a couple of days to obtain comfortable.

Unnecessary Ad Requests

Often the sponsors beehiiv matches you with have nothing to do with your specific niche. A gaming e-newsletter might obtain provided a code-review tool for designers. Ensure to decrease anything that does not jive with your audience, or you’ll container your click-throughs.

No Time Zone– Based Sends Out

If your listing is global, you can not immediately arrange emails based on each client’s time zone. All sends out head out at the same time, so you could get up to low open rates if half your list is asleep.

Customized Page Builder Isn’t Incredibly Intuitive

Creating a landing page is feasible, but the UI could be smoother. I spent a couple of hours (and a handy conversation with assistance) getting a giveaway opt-in web page ideal. If you’re impatient or design-averse, you might locate it cumbersome.

Limited Integrations

If you make use of Gumroad to sell products, you’re out of good luck– no straight integration yet. You’ll have to utilize embed codes or a Zapier workaround.

All that said, beehiiv’s team is regularly turning out updates– and those cons are gradually however certainly being attended to.

Who Should Think about beehiiv?

Not every person needs a completely included newsletter platform. But if any one of the adhering to describes you, beehiiv could be a match made in heaven:.

Absolute Beginners: You have actually never ever sent an email blast, you do not intend to invest money in advance, and you need a cost-free, very easy method to experiment. Beehiiv lets you start totally free, send out endless emails to as much as 2,500 clients, and grow organically with the boosts network.
Small-List Creators: If you already have a couple of hundred or a pair thousand clients yet no hint how to transform that into revenue, beehiiv’s advertisement and boost programs are custom-made for you. In my initial 10 months, I was making regarding $92/month with a ~ 1k checklist. Not bad for coffee money, right?
Developers Who Dislike “Salesy” Stuff: You don’t wish to pitch products continuously or sling digital courses. You prefer to share value, build trust fund, and let the cash been available in on autopilot. Beehiiv’s ad network and boosts let you earn without crafting a four-part sales funnel.
Switchers Who Do Not Wish To Restore Whatever: Perhaps you get on Substack, Ghost, or Mailchimp, and your email automations are a tangled mess. Beehiiv assures a smooth migration from those platforms. Plus, if you have a big checklist (say 10k+), you can get help from beehiiv’s support team to relocate every little thing over without shedding your automations.

Getting Started: A Detailed Walkthrough

Subscribe and Discover the Dashboard

When you create an account, beehiiv drops you into a control panel where you see your subscriber matter, open prices, click-through rates, and any type of pending advertisement deals. Think about it as your mission control– whatever you require is simply a click away.

Construct Your First Subscribe Type

Browse to Audience �’ Subscribe Types �’ Produce Brand-new Type. You’ll need:

A headline that hooks visitors
A short blurb discussing what your e-newsletter has to do with
A call-to-action button (e.g., “Join My E-newsletter”)
Your logo design or a relevant image
A post-subscribe message or redirect (e.g., “Many thanks for signing up with! Check your inbox in a sec.”)

You can choose from different form designs: full-width, fixed-width, slim embed (just the e-mail area), or progressed (with monitoring codes). The customization alternatives are basic– colors for buttons and background photos– yet it’s remarkably reliable for capturing e-mails.

Establish Your Website and Custom Pages

If you want greater than just a type, hop right into Layout �’ Website Builder �’ Customized Pages �’ Internal Web Page. Use this to:

Host your newsletter archive (all past issues, searchable and SEO-friendly).

Produce a landing page for a free offer (e.g., “Download my SEO rip off sheet”).

Construct a thank-you page that goes real-time after a person subscribes.

I invested a couple of hours tweaking my very first landing page, once I mastered it, I understood exactly how powerful it is to have everything under one roof covering. As opposed to managing Leadpages, WordPress, and Mailchimp, beehiiv does it all.

Draft Your Very First E-newsletter

Click the large “Beginning Writing” button in the top-right edge. You’ll see a tidy, distraction-free editor where you can:

Create your e-mail duplicate What Is The Difference Between Beehiiv and Mailchimp
Insert images, headers, and custom HTML obstructs
Preview exactly how it’ll look in inboxes and on your website
Set up or send out right away

One catch: Customization is restricted. Every client sees “Hey there” rather than “Hello [Given name]” If you need hyper-personalization, you may miss out on that. But for a lot of folks, a pleasant, conversational intro is enough.

Turn On Money making

As soon as you strike 1,000 energetic clients, beehiiv will certainly welcome you to:.

Join the Ad Network: Immediately obtain sponsorship requests that match your particular niche. Choose which ones to accept, put the ad duplicate into your e-newsletter, and get paid per click/view.
Set Up Boosts: Apply to advertise various other newsletters. If a person joins via your web link, you make $1–$ 3 per client.

For paid e-newsletters, navigate to Monetization �’ Paid Memberships. You’ll attach your Stripe account (beehiiv doesn’t bill added costs beyond Stripe’s processing), set your pricing plans (monthly, yearly, or “Name Your Cost”), and determine what material goes behind the paywall.

Screen and Enhance

Examine your analytics weekly. If open prices drop below 40%, reassess your subject lines. If a sponsorship obtains absolutely no clicks, it might be unnecessary to your audience– decline similar future ads. When a boost converts well, submit more boost requests or fine-tune your deal.

It may feel like a great deal in the beginning, however I guarantee you’ll get the hang of it within a few days. And the incentives– both financial and in regards to your audience’s development– are worth the preliminary curve.

Deep Dive: beehiiv’s Money making Options

If you’re serious about transforming your e-newsletter into an economic device, let’s break down each revenue stream thoroughly.

1. beehiiv Partner Program (Affiliate Revenues)

Think about this as beehiiv’s affiliate program. Right here’s the lowdown:.

How It Works: You sign up for the Partner Program, order your one-of-a-kind referral link, and share it on your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, any place. When a person clicks, signs up for a paid plan (Range or Max), you gain a commission.
Compensation Rates: Up to 60% of their first-year payment. If they pay $100, you may see $60. Cha-ching.
Payout: Beehiiv pays regular monthly via PayPal. No minimum threshold, no hoops to jump through.

In my instance, I published a Medium article walking people with my beehiiv experience (spoiler: this overview right here belongs to that effort). Through a mix of blog site website traffic and word-of-mouth, I made over $5,000 in affiliate compensations by December 2024. All I did was share my genuine experience.

2. Boosts: Make by Assisting Others Grow

Boosts are basically funded promos– beehiiv’s spin on a “send for pay” model. Right here’s the scoop:.

Become a Boost Sponsor: If you think your e-newsletter can assist others grow, apply in the Boosts control panel. You’ll clarify why your audience is a great fit and set a rate you ‘d spend for a brand-new customer.
Relate to Boost Others: If you want quick subscribers, you can pay to boost your e-newsletter on other designers’ lists. Yet what a lot of little developers love is the reverse: you apply to be a boost partner for other newsletters. When someone signs up via your boost, you obtain $1–$ 3
Limitations:
- You can send up to 25 boost supplies each month, however beehiiv only surface areas 3 offers each time to prospective companions.
- If a boost is carrying out well, other designers will choose it up promptly.

Below’s a quick instance: In October 2024, I promoted a fellow SEO designer’s newsletter for $1.75 per client. Over 2 weeks, I produced 200 brand-new customers for them– and earned concerning $350 at the same time. Win-win.

3. beehiiv Ad Network (Sponsored Ads)

This is where the huge bucks can can be found in, even if your listing is “small.” Right here’s how it goes:

Eligibility: You require at least 1,000 active customers and a consistent send out routine (at the very least one email monthly, though weekly is perfect).
Automation: When authorized, you’ll begin getting 3– 5 sponsorship requests monthly. Beehiiv matches you with brands based upon your audience’s rate of interests– so a marketing SaaS firm could come close to an SEO-focused e-newsletter, as an example.
Payment Design:
- Cost Per Click (CPC): You generate income every single time somebody clicks the advertisement in your email.
- Cost Per Mille (CPM): You gain based on a thousand impressions.
Reduce of Use: You can accept or decline each offer right from your dashboard. Beehiiv manages all the invoicing. All you do is copy-paste the ad into your newsletter.

In 2024, I ran 37 sponsored ads, including a few top-level brands like HubSpot. I made $632 from ads alone, with my leading campaign generating $112 from 35 clicks (4.5% click-through). Remember: importance is king. Irrelevant ads storage tank click-through prices, so be discerning.

4. Paid Subscriptions (” Costs Material”)

If you produce genuinely unique material– deep dive records, special tutorials, or expert analyses– you could think about a paid tier. Below’s the 101:

Configuration: Go to Monetization �’ Paid Subscriptions, connect Stripe, and select your pricing:
- Regular monthly
- Annual (normally marked down)
- Single settlement (for a single guide or program)
- Name Your Rate (your customers select what they can pay for)
Income Split: Beehiiv doesn’t charge you a platform charge; they just pass Stripe’s handling fee (2.9% + $0.30) on to you.
Examples: If you have 100 customers paying $7/month, that’s $700/month = $8,400/ year (minus Stripe charges). Okay, appropriate? Of course, reaching 100 paid subscribers suggests you require a devoted, involved base.

Now, be reasonable: Paid subscriptions are a work. You need consistent, high-value web content that makes people comfortable taking out their wallets. If you’re just beginning, the advertisement network and boosts may be quicker wins.

Pricing Plans: What You’ll Pay (and Obtain)

I recognize pricing is a large question mark when you’re thinking about changing systems. Here’s the break down as of mid-2025:.

Free Plan (approximately 2,500 subscribers): Great for pet projects or if you’re checking the waters. You still obtain boosts for checklist growth, basic analytics, and endless sends– simply no advertisement network or paid registrations yet.
Scale ($ 39.20/ month): Ideal if you’re serious about generating income from. You obtain ad network access, boosts, paid registrations, and the AI Writing Aide to quicken your newsletter creation.
Max ($ 87.29/ month): If AI devices (picture generation, grammar dealing with, translation) issue to you, and you want top priority support, this is the pleasant spot. And also, you can launch a mobile app for your subscribers.
Enterprise (100k+ customers): For brand names and mega-creators who require customized movements, service-level arrangements, and progressed safety. Very few tiny designers need this.

My suggestion? Begin on the Free plan. Obtain a feel for the dashboard, grow your checklist to 1,000, after that update to Scale once you know you classifieds earnings and boosts.

Distinct Features What Is The Difference Between Beehiiv and Mailchimp

You may be assuming, “Okay, advertisements and boosts are great. However what else can beehiiv do that others can not?” Let me highlight a couple of standout features:.

1. Sound Newsletters

Ever thought about transforming your email into a podcast-like experience? Beehiiv’s built-in audio e-newsletter feature automatically converts your e-mails into spoken-word sound. No extra editing and enhancing software program, no outsourcing to Fiverr– just toggle it on, and your subscribers can listen on the go. For busy audiences who drive or exercise, this is a convenient way to remain connected.

2. Custom-made Mobile Apps for Visitors

Most platforms offer you a “mobile-optimized internet site.” Beehiiv goes one step additionally: you can launch a custom mobile application for your subscribers. Once they add it to their home screen, your newsletter comes to be a one-tap experience– no inbox mess. Envision waking up and seeing app notices when you drop a new concern. Talk about engagement.

3. “Name Your Rate” Registrations

As opposed to requiring everyone right into $5 or $7 tiers, let your most dedicated followers decide what to pay. It’s a trust-building move and can lead to greater life time value. I haven’t examined this feature personally yet, but for creators who really feel a bit anxious concerning rate factors, it’s a sweet alternative to experiment with.

4. beehiiv AI Suite

For those on Scale and Max plans, beehiiv’s AI devices are a blessing:

AI Composing Aide: Produce e-newsletter drafts based upon bullet factors or subjects. For days when you’re staring at a blank web page, this jumpstarts your creative thinking.
AI Text Device: Grammar, punctuation, tone checks– no requirement for Grammarly. You obtain a clean, refined draft that feels human What Is The Difference Between Beehiiv and Mailchimp.
AI Photo Device: Produce personalized header pictures or images without buying supply pictures. Simply type a punctual, and voila.
AI Translator: Want to send your e-newsletter in multiple languages? Convert your content right into Spanish, French, German, Italian, or Portuguese promptly.

These features can cut hours off material production and aid you experiment with new styles.

Pro Tips For Being successful on beehiiv

Since you know what beehiiv can do, below are some insider hacks to make the most of it:

Tidy Your Listing for Better Performance

In August 2024, I reduced my customer count in half (from concerning 2,400 down to 1,200) by removing non-active emails– people who had not opened anything in 6 months. My open prices leapt from ~ 45% to over 60%, which indicated marketers paid even more per click. It injured to lose subscribers, but a lean, engaged listing deserves more than a puffed up, easy one.

Explore Topic Lines Like a Pro

Subject lines make or break open prices. Do A/B examinations on little segments before sending out to your entire checklist. Short, punchy, question-based topics (” Ready to increase your web traffic?”) usually outperform common ones (” April Newsletter”).

Be Pickier with Advertisement Offers

If an ad doesn’t reverberate with your niche, say no. Irrelevant ads frustrate viewers and storage tank click metrics. In time, beehiiv’s formula will certainly discover what fits your target market– decrease sufficient off-topic offers, and they’ll stop sending them.

Use Boosts to Test New Audiences

Got a brand-new classification you want to check out? Attempt increasing your e-newsletter in a relevant particular niche. The expense per customer standards $1.63– but if those subscribers stay, it’s worth it. I once boosted a SEO e-newsletter in a digital marketing audience and obtained a shocking uptick in retention.

Utilize AI for Faster Production

On evenings when I’m stressed out, I ask the AI Writing Assistant to draft a rough outline: introductory, 3 bottom lines, verdict. Then I flesh it out with my own stories and style tweaks. It’s not best, yet it’s a strong structure that conserves me 30– 45 mins per e-mail.

Take Advantage of the Mobile Application

Motivate customers to mount your e-newsletter’s mobile application. In your next email, write a fast “Exactly how to Include Our Newsletter to Your Home Screen” tutorial. More application sets up imply more exposure, and press alerts defeat inbox sound.

Offer Occasional Paid-Only Web Content

As opposed to making every problem cost-free, tease a “bonus report” once a quarter behind a paywall ($ 5–$ 7). Promote it heavily to your listing. Even if you only offer 20 copies, that’s $100–$ 140 that offsets your month-to-month beehiiv bill.

Wrapping Up: Is beehiiv Right for You?

If you’ve stuck to me this much, you possibly fall into among these camps:

You’ve never ever sent a newsletter, yet you’re itching to start– beehiiv’s free plan and instinctive tools are ideal for learning the ropes.
You have a little listing (< 2,500) and want to monetize without migraines-- beehiiv's advertisement network and boosts pay you for doing nearly nothing additional.
You’re a mid-sized maker (1k+ customers) looking to range– beehiiv’s analytics, AI tools, and referral program aid you grow much faster and make extra.
You hate complex email platforms– beehiiv strikes a balance between effective features and easy to use layout.

Certain, the feature collection can really feel intimidating in the beginning, and you may get a few unnecessary advertisement requests. But consider this: in under a year, I made practically $1,000 on a small list and over $5,000 in associate payments simply by sharing my experience. I’ve seen enough to understand that if you spend a little time learning the system, the returns can be significant.

So, what are you waiting on? Enroll in beehiiv, explore the dashboard, and let the monetization engines turn. Your future self will thanks when the checks roll in.