Is beehiiv free to start?

Yes. beehiiv's Launch plan is completely free up to 2,500 subscribers. It includes a custom domain, unlimited sends, the beehiiv recommendation network, and basic analytics. No credit card required to start. You'll need to upgrade to the Scale plan ($49/mo) when you want to enable paid subscriptions, the Ad Network, or Boosts passive income.

How do I make money on beehiiv?

beehiiv has three monetization pathways: (1) Paid subscriptions — charge readers a monthly or annual fee for premium content, keeping 100% of revenue; (2) Boosts — earn $1–3 per verified subscriber when your readers subscribe to newsletters you recommend, generating passive income without selling anything; (3) Ad Network — accept automatically placed sponsored content in your newsletter and earn a CPM rate. Most newsletters start with Boosts on day one, add paid subscriptions when they have an engaged audience, and join the Ad Network once they hit minimum engagement thresholds.

How many subscribers do you need to make money on beehiiv?

For Boosts: you can start earning from subscriber one — every new subscriber sees the Boosts recommendations. For the Ad Network: beehiiv requires a minimum engagement threshold (typically 1,000+ active subscribers with a 40%+ open rate) for Ad Network acceptance. For paid subscriptions: you can enable paid tiers at any point on the Scale plan. Some newsletters successfully launch paid subscriptions with under 500 highly engaged subscribers.

Can I import my existing subscribers to beehiiv?

Yes. beehiiv accepts subscriber CSV imports from any platform. You'll need a CSV file with at minimum an email column; additional columns (name, tags, subscription date) are supported. For paid subscribers migrating from Substack or another platform, you'll need to manually handle billing transition — paid subscribers must actively re-subscribe on beehiiv, which typically results in 10–30% churn.

What is the beehiiv referral program?

beehiiv's built-in referral program lets your subscribers earn rewards for referring new subscribers. You set the reward milestones (e.g., get a free PDF at 3 referrals, a discount code at 10 referrals) and beehiiv tracks and delivers them automatically. It's available on the Scale plan and is one of the most effective organic growth tools for newsletters that have an engaged audience willing to advocate.

How to Start a Newsletter with beehiiv (And Monetize From Day 1)

A step-by-step guide to launching your beehiiv newsletter — including how to enable Boosts passive income before your first subscriber. No other guide covers this.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up for beehiiv through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. beehiiv is our top newsletter platform recommendation — the analysis in this guide reflects that position honestly.

Last updated: May 2026

Most “how to start a newsletter” guides are written by people who haven’t thought carefully about monetization. They walk you through picking a platform, writing your first issue, and pressing publish. Monetization is an afterthought — something you figure out after you have subscribers.

This guide inverts that. Step 1 is enabling Boosts before you have a single subscriber — a passive income stream that every new subscriber activates automatically. Most creators who eventually enable it wish they’d done it on day one.

Here’s how to build and monetize a beehiiv newsletter from scratch.

Why beehiiv Is the Best Platform to Start On

The case for beehiiv comes down to economics. On most newsletter platforms, you earn money one way: charge readers. beehiiv adds two more:

Boosts — earn $1–3 per verified subscriber when your readers subscribe to newsletters you recommend. This is passive income that requires no paid audience.
Ad Network — beehiiv places sponsored content in your newsletter automatically and pays you a CPM rate. No selling, no sponsor relationships.

The free Launch plan includes a custom domain, unlimited sends, and recommendation network access. You start building revenue infrastructure the day you create your account.

Create your free beehiiv account — no credit card required

Step 1: Create Your beehiiv Account

Go to beehiiv.com and click Get Started.

The signup flow asks for:

Your email address and a password
Your publication name (you can change this later)
Your niche or content category
Whether you’re starting fresh or migrating from another platform

After signup, beehiiv takes you to your publication dashboard. Take a moment to recognize what you’re looking at: this is the full command center for your newsletter business — not just a writing tool.

Don’t skip the welcome checklist. beehiiv shows a setup checklist in the early view of your dashboard. It covers the most important configuration steps. We’ll go through each one in this guide.

Step 2: Set Up Your Publication (Name, Logo, Domain)

Before you think about writing, establish your publication identity. This takes 20 minutes and affects how every subscriber you’ll ever acquire perceives your brand.

Publication name and tagline

Your name and tagline appear on your subscription page, your emails, and the beehiiv web view. Make the tagline specific — “A weekly briefing on B2B SaaS pricing strategy for founders” is better than “For business people.”

Settings → Publication → Publication Settings → Name and Description

Logo and brand colors

Upload a square logo (PNG or SVG, minimum 512×512px). Set your primary brand color — this determines button colors, header accents, and the overall visual identity of your web presence.

Settings → Publication → Design → Brand

Custom domain

Setting up a custom domain is one of the highest-leverage steps in your setup. Publishing from yourdomain.com rather than yourpublication.beehiiv.com looks more professional, builds more link equity for your newsletter’s web presence, and future-proofs you against platform changes.

To set up a custom domain:

Navigate to Settings → Publication → Domain
Enter your desired domain (e.g., yourpublication.com)
beehiiv provides DNS records to add to your domain registrar
After adding the records, click Verify — propagation typically takes 15–60 minutes

The Launch (free) plan includes a custom domain. You don’t need to upgrade for this.

Step 3: Enable Boosts Before Your First Subscriber

This is the step most guides skip. Do it now, before you share your subscription link anywhere.

Boosts is beehiiv’s cross-publication recommendation network. When a new subscriber confirms their subscription to your newsletter, they see a selection of other newsletters they can subscribe to. If they subscribe, you earn a Boost fee — typically $1–3 per verified subscriber. The fee is set by the newsletter being recommended, not beehiiv.

Why do this on day one? Because Boosts income activates with every new subscriber. Every person who ever subscribes to your newsletter is a potential Boost earner. If you wait until you have 2,000 subscribers to enable Boosts, you’ve given up potentially hundreds of dollars in passive income.

How to enable Boosts:

Navigate to Monetize → Boosts in your beehiiv dashboard
Click Enable Boosts Earning
Set your minimum fee per subscriber — we recommend starting at $1.50 to ensure recommendations are in established newsletters willing to pay fairly
Choose manual or automatic recommendations:
- Manual: You approve each newsletter before it appears to your subscribers. More work, but you control the quality and relevance.
- Automatic: beehiiv selects newsletters from the Boosts marketplace based on your niche and subscriber demographics. Less oversight, more passive.
Set your post-confirmation page — this is where your new subscribers land after confirming. beehiiv shows Boosts recommendations on this page. The visual design matters — well-designed confirmation pages see higher Boost click-through rates.

What to expect: For a new newsletter, Boosts income in the first months is small — a few dollars per month as your subscriber numbers build. At 1,000–5,000 subscribers, Boosts passive income typically ranges from $50–$300/month. At 10,000+ engaged subscribers, it can be $500–$2,000/month. None of this requires you to actively sell anything.

Step 4: Write and Send Your First Issue

With setup complete, write your first issue. Here’s what works for a first send:

The first-issue formula

Subject line: Specific, not clever. “Welcome to [Publication Name]: here’s what you’ll get” outperforms ”🎉 We’re live!” every time. Clarity beats wit for a first email.

Issue structure:

Who this is for (2–3 sentences): State your exact audience and what they’ll get. This manages expectations and starts filtering for your right readers.
Why you’re the person to write it: One paragraph establishing your credibility — relevant experience, unique perspective, or access. Not a full bio.
What to expect going forward: Cadence (weekly, biweekly), format, and typical topics.
One piece of value: Don’t make the first issue purely meta. Give readers one insight, resource, or observation that delivers value right now.
CTA: Ask them to forward to one person who’d benefit, or to reply with the question they most want answered. Replies boost your sender reputation.

Length: 400–600 words for the first issue. The goal is a positive first impression that makes people want the next one — not an exhaustive demonstration of everything you know.

Sending your first issue

Navigate to Posts → New Post
Write your issue in beehiiv’s editor
Set Subject Line and Preview Text (the text that appears in inbox previews after the subject)
Select your audience — for a first issue, send to all subscribers
Schedule or send immediately

Before you send: Send a test email to yourself (Settings → Test Send) and view it on your phone. Mobile inbox rendering matters.

Step 5: Configure the Referral Program

beehiiv’s referral program is a built-in growth tool. Subscribers who refer new subscribers earn rewards you define — it’s a way to turn your most engaged readers into advocates without paying them cash.

To set up the referral program:

Navigate to Grow → Referral Program
Click Enable Referral Program
Set reward milestones. Common starting points:
- 3 referrals → access to a resource (PDF, template, bonus content)
- 10 referrals → a discount on a paid tier or a physical item if relevant
Set up the referral tracking link that appears in every issue
Configure the referral mention in your email footer

How to promote it: Add a “Refer a friend” section at the bottom of every issue. Keep it short — the social proof of “X other readers have already referred friends” outperforms lengthy explanations of the program.

beehiiv’s referral tracking is built in — you don’t need a third-party referral tool.

Step 6: Upgrade to Paid Subscriptions (When You’re Ready)

Paid subscriptions are available on the Scale plan ($49/mo). You should upgrade when:

You have 200+ engaged free subscribers and consistent open rates above 35%
You have content that’s clearly valuable enough to pay for
You’ve surveyed or asked your audience if they’d pay, and gotten positive signals

Setting up paid subscriptions:

Upgrade to Scale plan
Navigate to Monetize → Subscriptions
Set your pricing — most newsletters use $7–10/mo or $70–100/year
Configure what’s free vs. paid (which posts are locked behind the paywall)
Customize your upgrade CTA in issues

Pricing psychology: Annual plans convert at lower rates but dramatically improve your economics — an annual subscriber paying $80/year is worth more than a monthly subscriber at $7/month who might churn after three months. Most successful newsletters push annual plans aggressively.

The $5 test: Some newsletter writers launch paid subscriptions at $5/month initially — low enough to get early paid subscribers who prove the concept, with a plan to raise prices as the audience and perceived value grow.

Step 7: Join the beehiiv Ad Network

The Ad Network accepts applications once you meet minimum thresholds. As of 2026, beehiiv looks for:

Minimum subscriber count (varies by niche — generally 1,000+ active subscribers)
Strong engagement (40%+ open rate recommended for competitive niches)
Content quality and niche clarity

To apply:

Navigate to Monetize → Ad Network
Click Apply to Ad Network
Fill out the application with your publication stats

Once accepted, ad placements happen automatically. You’ll see sponsored posts appear in your email workflow — you can review and approve/reject individual ads, or set category-level approval rules.

Ad Network income math: A newsletter with 5,000 subscribers and a 45% open rate (2,250 opens) at a $25 CPM earns approximately $56/issue in Ad Network revenue. At two issues per week, that’s $448/month purely from ads — before subscriptions or Boosts income.

The Monetization Timeline: What to Expect

Here’s a realistic view of the monetization progression for a new beehiiv newsletter:

Milestone	Boosts income	Ad Network	Paid subs	Total monthly
0–100 subscribers	$5–20	Not eligible	Optional	$5–20
100–500 subscribers	$20–80	Not eligible	$0–200	$20–280
500–2,500 subscribers	$80–400	Borderline	$200–1,000	$280–1,400
2,500–10,000 subscribers	$400–1,600	$200–800	$500–3,000	$1,100–5,400

These are estimates — income varies significantly by niche, engagement, and content quality. The point is that beehiiv’s three-channel model means you’re never dependent on just one revenue source.

The Setup Checklist

Before your first subscriber arrives, confirm:

Publication name, tagline, and logo set
Custom domain connected and verified
Boosts earning enabled with minimum fee set
Welcome email/automation configured (Scale plan)
Social links and about page filled in
First issue drafted and proofread
Test email sent and checked on mobile
Referral program enabled (if on Scale plan)
Paid subscription plan chosen (if launching paid from day one)

beehiiv vs Substack (2026): Which Platform Pays Creators More? — how the two platforms compare on economics
Best Newsletter Platforms for Creators in 2026 — how beehiiv compares to all major platforms
7 Best Substack Alternatives in 2026 — if you’re migrating from Substack

Final Word

The most important thing to know about starting a newsletter on beehiiv is that the monetization infrastructure is built in — you don’t have to figure out sponsorships, build a membership system from scratch, or wait until you’re “big enough” to think about revenue.

Boosts passive income starts on day one. The Ad Network joins as you grow. Paid subscriptions activate when your audience is ready. Build it right from the start and the revenue compounds with every subscriber you add.

Start your beehiiv newsletter now — free plan, no credit card required