beehiiv for memberships
A newsletter platform with a free tier, no cut of subscription revenue, and built-in ad and referral monetisation.
What beehiiv is
beehiiv is a newsletter platform built by former Morning Brew operators. It sends email, hosts a website, runs paid subscriptions with no take rate, and offers an ad network and referral programme as extra revenue.
Who it’s best for
Newsletter publishers who want Substack's ease without Substack's 10%, and who are interested in advertising as well as subscriptions.
- Newsletters that want to keep 100% of subscription revenue
- Writers who want to start free and scale without a revenue share
- Publishers interested in ad and referral revenue as well as subscriptions
Who should avoid it
Anyone whose membership involves a community, courses, video, or a private podcast. beehiiv does none of them.
- Community, course, or coaching memberships
- Video and podcast products
- Anyone needing a documented send API below Enterprise
Membership models it supports
Not every platform suits every kind of membership. These are the models we consider it a genuine option for.
- Newsletter or written membership
- Low-cost membership
- Migrating an existing membership
- Marketplace or discovery-led membership
Pricing and fees
Read from beehiiv's own pricing page on 2026-07-28. Always check the official page before you buy.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaunchFree up to 2,500 subscribers. 0% take rate on paid subscriptions. No ad network, limited API. | $0 | $0 | None |
| Scale$517/year billed annually. Up to 100,000 subscribers, ad network, webhooks, 3 team seats. | $43 | $43.08 | None |
| Max$1,151/year billed annually. Removes beehiiv branding, up to 10 publications, unlimited team seats. | $96 | $95.92 | None |
Payment processing. beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscriptions. Stripe charges its standard 2.9% + $0.30 and that is the whole fee.
Trial. Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers
What it costs in practice
Cheapest plan that holds the member count, including the platform's cut and payment processing.
Just starting
25 members at $20 a month
$22 / month
On Launch. About 4% of your revenue.
Established
100 members at $25 a month
$103 / month
On Launch. About 4% of your revenue.
Growing
500 members at $25 a month
$513 / month
On Launch. About 4% of your revenue.
Feature support
What is included, what needs a higher plan, and what simply is not there.
Community features
Not supportedCourses
Not supportedCoaching and live events
Not supportedVideo hosting
Not supportedLivestreaming
Not supportedNewsletter and publishing
SupportedThe core product, with a website included.
Private podcast support
Not supportedPayments and monetization
SupportedPaid subscriptions with a 0% take rate on every plan, plus ad network and boosts revenue.
Branding and customization
Higher plan requiredCustom domain on every plan; removing beehiiv branding needs Max.
Branded mobile app
Not supportedAudience discovery
Higher plan requiredRecommendation network and boosts from Scale upward.
Email and marketing
SupportedSegmentation, automations, and A/B testing, stronger than most newsletter tools here.
Integrations and API
Higher plan requiredWebhooks from Scale; the Send API is Enterprise only.
Migration support
SupportedFree migration assistance from other newsletter platforms.
Customer and data ownership
SupportedYour own Stripe account, full subscriber export, 0% take rate.
Important limitations
- It is a newsletter tool only. No community, courses, video, or podcast support at all.
- The recommendation network and webhooks require the paid Scale plan.
- Removing beehiiv branding needs the $96 Max plan.
Data ownership and migration
Strong. 0% take rate, your own Stripe account, full subscriber export, and free migration help coming in.
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Sources
Every fact on this page traces to one of these official pages.