Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you sign up through my links, at no extra cost to you.
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up through my links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I’ve personally tested or thoroughly researched.
Beehiiv Review: The Email Marketing Tool That Actually Works in 2025
I spent $247 on Mailchimp last month for an email list of 8,000 people.
Then I switched to Beehiiv and cut that bill to $99. Same list size. Better features. Less time wrestling with clunky interfaces that feel like they were designed in 2012.
Look, I’m Will Buckley, and I’ve been in the email marketing trenches for years. I’ve used everything from ConvertKit to ActiveCampaign to whatever that weird platform was that kept flagging my perfectly normal emails as spam. When I wrote The 4 Minute Workday, the whole premise was about building systems that run themselves. Email is the backbone of that. But most email tools? They’re time vampires dressed up as marketing platforms.
Here’s the thing: Beehiiv is different. And I don’t say that lightly.
Why I Actually Switched (And Why You Should Care)
Real talk, I wasn’t looking to switch email platforms. Switching is a pain. You’ve got to migrate lists, rebuild automations, pray nothing breaks. But three things pushed me over the edge:
First, my Mailchimp bill kept climbing. They have this sneaky pricing model where you hit a subscriber threshold and suddenly you’re paying double. I went from $99 to $247 in two months because I gained 3,000 subscribers. That’s punishing growth, not rewarding it.
Second, I wanted to actually monetize my newsletter without jumping through hoops. Mailchimp doesn’t have native ad network features. ConvertKit makes you bolt on third-party tools. I was duct-taping solutions together like some kind of email Frankenstein.
Third, the analytics were garbage. I couldn’t see what was actually working. Which emails drove revenue? Which ones got people to click through to my 4 Minute Workday resources? No idea.
Then a friend (who runs a newsletter pulling in $12K/month) told me to check out Beehiiv. I rolled my eyes. Another email tool. But I looked anyway.
What Beehiiv Actually Does Better
Bottom line: Beehiiv was built by the folks who grew Morning Brew to millions of subscribers. They understand newsletter economics in a way legacy email platforms don’t.
The Pricing Makes Sense
Let me be straight with you. Beehiiv’s pricing is simple:
- Launch Plan: Free up to 2,500 subscribers
- Grow Plan: $49/month for up to 10,000 subscribers
- Scale Plan: $99/month for up to 100,000 subscribers
Notice something? You can 10x your list (from 10K to 100K) and your bill only doubles. With Mailchimp, that same growth would cost you $800+/month. I did the math because I’m obsessive about this stuff.
For someone building passive income systems (the whole philosophy behind my book and the free resources at 4minutestart.com), pricing that doesn’t punish growth is huge.
The Editor Doesn’t Make You Want to Scream
I’ve written 400+ emails across different platforms. Most editors are either too simple (plain text only, like it’s 1999) or too complicated (17 buttons to change font color).
Beehiiv’s editor is clean. Drag-and-drop blocks. Easy to add images, buttons, dividers. You can bang out a professional-looking email in under 10 minutes. I timed myself: my average email now takes 7 minutes to write and format. That’s very on-brand for the 4 Minute Workday philosophy.
Built-In Monetization (This Is The Big One)
Here’s where Beehiiv separates itself from every other platform: they have a native ad network and premium subscription tools baked in.
Want to run ads in your newsletter? You can join the Beehiiv Ad Network and they’ll connect you with advertisers. No cold outreach. No rate negotiation. They handle it.
Want to charge for premium content? Built-in paywall features. Stripe integration. Done.
I tested this with my own list. I added a $9/month premium tier with bonus automation templates. Within two weeks, I had 47 paid subscribers. That’s $423/month in recurring revenue from a feature that took me 20 minutes to set up.
Other platforms would require Memberstack, Patreon, or some other third-party integration. More tools, more subscriptions, more things to break at 2am.
Referral Program That Actually Works
Beehiiv has a built-in referral system. Readers can share your newsletter and unlock rewards when their friends subscribe. Morning Brew used this exact strategy to grow to millions of subscribers.
I set mine up in about 15 minutes. Offer some free templates at 3 referrals, a strategy call at 10 referrals, and access to my full automation library at 25 referrals. In the first month, I gained 340 new subscribers through referrals alone. Zero ad spend.
This is passive growth. The system does the work while I’m doing literally anything else. That’s the whole point of The 4 Minute Workday approach.
Analytics That Don’t Require a PhD
Every email platform has analytics. Most of them are useless.
Beehiiv shows you:
- Open rates (obviously)
- Click rates by link
- Subscriber growth trends
- Revenue per email (if you’re monetizing)
- 3D audience insights (where your subscribers are, what they click, engagement patterns)
I can see exactly which emails drive action. Last week, I sent an email about automation tools. It had a 41% open rate and drove 127 clicks to my free resources at 4minutestart.com. I know this because Beehiiv tracks it cleanly.
Compare that to Mailchimp where I had to export CSV files and cross-reference Google Analytics like some kind of data archaeologist.
The Stuff That’s Not Perfect
Look, no tool is flawless. Here’s what Beehiiv could improve:
Automations are basic. If you’re running complex email sequences with 47 different triggers and branches, you might find it limiting. For most newsletter creators? It’s fine. But if you’re doing hardcore funnel stuff, ConvertKit still has an edge here.
Migration takes effort. Moving my list from Mailchimp took about 3 hours. Beehiiv has import tools, but I had to manually rebuild some segments and double-check everything. Not their fault, just the reality of switching platforms.
It’s newsletter-focused. If you’re running an e-commerce store and need abandoned cart emails, Klaviyo is probably better. Beehiiv is built for content creators, newsletter operators, and people building audiences. That’s me, so it works. But know what you’re getting.
Who Should Actually Use Beehiiv
Real talk: Beehiiv is perfect if you’re:
- Building a newsletter as a business (not just a side thing)
- Wanting to monetize through ads, subscriptions, or both
- Growing fast and don’t want pricing to murder you
- Focused on content and audience, not complex e-commerce funnels
- Tired of duct-taping together 6 different tools
It’s not ideal if you need super complex automation sequences or you’re primarily doing e-commerce email marketing.
For me and the systems I teach in my work at 4 Minute Workday, it’s exactly right. Build the audience, monetize simply, automate what you can, and spend your time on high-leverage activities (or, you know, not working).
The Bottom Line
I switched to Beehiiv four months ago. My email costs dropped by 60%. My time spent on email dropped by about 40%. My newsletter revenue went up because the monetization tools actually work.
I’m not saying it’s magic. You still need good content and a real strategy (all of which I cover in the free resources at 4minutestart.com). But the tool itself? It gets out of your way and lets you build.
If you’re serious about email, especially if you want to turn your newsletter into actual income, try Beehiiv. They have a free plan up to 2,500 subscribers. Test it. Import 100 people and send a few emails. See if the editor feels better. Check if the analytics actually help you make decisions.
Worst case? You learn something and go back to your current platform. Best case? You cut your costs, save time, and finally have an email system that supports growth instead of punishing it.
That’s what I did. Four months in, I’m not switching back.
Will Buckley is the author of The 4 Minute Workday. For free tools and strategies, visit 4minuteworkday.com.
Want more strategies like this? Visit 4MinuteStart.com for free resources, tools, and guides from Will Buckley, author of The 4 Minute Workday.
📖 Also read: How I Replaced 6 Expensive Tools With ONE Platform and Cut My Monthly Software Bill by $347 — While Actually Making More Money Online
Will Buckley is the author of The 4 Minute Workday. Free starter stack at 4MinuteStart.com. More at 4MinuteWorkday.com.
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