How to Start a Newsletter With beehiiv: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Learning how to start a newsletter with beehiiv is refreshingly quick — you can go from zero to a published first issue in an afternoon. beehiiv was built by people who previously scaled a large newsletter, so growth and monetization tools are baked in rather than bolted on. In this tutorial we'll walk through the whole thing step by step: creating your account, setting up your publication, sending your first post, growing your list, and eventually earning from it. We'll also be honest about where beehiiv is and isn't the right call, and point you to Kit/ConvertKit as an alternative if your needs lean more toward complex automation.

A quick expectation-setter before we start: a newsletter is a long game. No platform can promise you subscribers or revenue — those come from consistently publishing something people want to read. What beehiiv does is remove the technical friction so you can focus on writing.

Why beehiiv for a first newsletter

beehiiv sits in a sweet spot for creators: a clean writing editor, a free tier to start, and built-in growth features (referral programs, recommendation network, a website for your archive) that most competitors charge extra for or don't offer at all. It's genuinely one of the easiest ways to start a newsletter today, which is why it's our default recommendation for beginners and growth-focused writers.

Step 1: Create your beehiiv account

Head to beehiiv and sign up with your email. There's a free plan at time of writing that's enough to launch and grow your first few thousand subscribers, so you don't need to pay to begin. Verify your email, and you'll land in the dashboard.

Create your free beehiiv account →

Step 2: Set up your publication

This is where you turn a blank account into your newsletter. Give your publication a clear name and, ideally, connect a custom domain later so your archive lives on your own URL. Work through:

• Branding: add a logo, accent color, and a short description so subscribers instantly recognize you.
• Sender details: set the "from" name and reply-to address — use a real inbox you check, because replies are gold for early feedback.
• Subscribe page: beehiiv gives you a hosted signup page out of the box. Write one honest sentence on what readers get and how often.
• Welcome email: set up an automated welcome so new subscribers hear from you the moment they join.

One compliance note that matters everywhere: use double opt-in and never buy or scrape lists. Clean, consent-based subscribers protect your deliverability and keep you on the right side of GDPR and similar rules.

Step 3: Write and send your first post

Open the editor and write your first issue. beehiiv's editor is block-based and clean — add headings, images, buttons and dividers without touching code. A few things we'd do on issue one:

• Introduce yourself and set the expectation for cadence (weekly, biweekly — pick something you can sustain).
• Deliver one genuinely useful thing so readers are glad they subscribed.
• Always send a test email to yourself first and read it on your phone before hitting publish.

When it looks right, publish and send. That's it — you're live. If a blank page slows you down, drafting your first few issues faster is exactly what the best AI writing tools are for; just edit the output into your own voice before it goes out.

Step 4: Grow your subscriber list

Publishing is the easy part; growth is the work. beehiiv gives you several levers:

• Referral program: reward existing readers for bringing friends — one of beehiiv's strongest built-in features.
• Recommendation network: get recommended by other newsletters (and recommend others) to compound sign-ups.
• Share your subscribe page everywhere: social bios, your website, email signature, guest appearances.

Consistency beats tactics. A useful issue that ships on schedule every week will out-grow any clever hack you do once.

Step 5: Monetize (when you're ready)

Once you have an engaged list, beehiiv offers a few honest paths to revenue: its ad network (beehiiv connects you with sponsors), paid subscriptions for premium content, and "boosts" where you earn for recommending other newsletters. None of these are get-rich-quick — they scale with the size and engagement of your audience, not with wishful thinking. Focus on being worth reading first; the money follows the audience, not the other way around.

The alternative: Kit / ConvertKit

beehiiv is our default pick, but it isn't the only good choice. If your priority is deep automation — tag-based sequences, complex subscriber journeys, selling digital products directly to your list — Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is more mature there. It's less focused on the built-in growth network beehiiv is known for, and its interface is more "email marketing tool" than "newsletter first," but for creators who want automation muscle it's excellent.

A realistic first-90-days plan

To make this concrete, here's the cadence we'd suggest for a new beehiiv newsletter. Weeks 1–2: set up the publication, write and schedule your first two issues, and turn on the welcome email. Weeks 3–6: publish on a fixed day every week, add your subscribe link everywhere, and switch on the referral program. Weeks 7–12: join the recommendation network, ask engaged readers for feedback by reply, and only then start thinking about monetization. The goal for the first 90 days isn't revenue — it's proving to yourself that you can ship consistently and that people open what you send. Everything else compounds from there.

Which should you start with?

If you want the fastest, lowest-friction path to a growing newsletter, start with beehiiv — the free plan means there's no reason not to publish issue one this week. If automation and selling products are central from day one, look harder at Kit. Either way, the platform is the smallest part of the equation. Ship consistently, write for a specific reader, and give the list time to compound.