How to Clone beehiiv
Newsletter publishing platform built for growth, monetization and scale
What is beehiiv?
beehiiv is a newsletter platform built by former Morning Brew operators who were frustrated with existing tools. It does the obvious - write, design and send email newsletters - but its real pitch is everything around growth and money: a referral program, a recommendation network that swaps subscribers between publications, paid subscriptions, an ad network, and analytics that treat a newsletter like a media business rather than a mailing list.
It launched in 2021 and grew fast by positioning against Substack and Mailchimp at once: more powerful than a hobby tool, less clunky than legacy email marketing. The model is subscription SaaS priced by subscriber count, plus revenue-share from monetization features. Sending email is a commodity; beehiiv's edge is the growth flywheel - the more publications on the network, the more valuable the recommendation engine becomes.
For a builder, the full beehiiv is medium-difficulty: email sending itself is a solved problem you'd outsource (Resend, Postmark, SES), and the editor and subscriber management are standard CRUD. The realistic clone is a niche newsletter platform - for a specific community, language or vertical (local news, B2B trade, a creator collective) - where a curated recommendation network and tailored monetization beat a general tool. The honest hard parts are deliverability and the cold-start on the network effect.
Who it's for: Writers, creators and media operators who treat their newsletter as a business and care about growth and monetization, not just sending. The clone opportunity is a vertical or community-specific newsletter platform where a focused recommendation network creates real value.
How beehiiv makes money
- $ Tiered subscriptions: priced by number of subscribers (free to start, then ~$40โ$100+/month as the list grows) - the core recurring revenue.
- $ Paid-subscription cut: publishers can charge readers; the platform takes a percentage of those paid-newsletter revenues.
- $ Ad network revenue-share: matching advertisers to newsletters and keeping a slice of the ad spend.
- $ Boosts / recommendation marketplace: publications pay to acquire subscribers via recommendations, with the platform taking a fee per acquired subscriber.
- $ Premium add-ons: custom domains, polls, advanced analytics and higher sending limits bundled into upper tiers.
Rough estimate; beehiiv is private and figures are extrapolated from funding coverage and analyst notes. CloneMRR is not affiliated with beehiiv; figures are for educational purposes.
Features to build
MVP ship this first
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โ Newsletter editorA block-based editor for writing posts with headings, images, buttons and dividers - what becomes both the web post and the email.
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โ Subscriber managementImport, view and segment subscribers; track status (active/unsubscribed) and signup source.
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โ Send & scheduleSend a post to the list now or schedule it; delivery goes through a transactional/bulk email provider.
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โ Public web archiveEvery post also gets a clean, SEO-friendly web page and the publication gets a hosted home page with a signup form.
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โ Signup forms & embedsHosted subscribe pages and embeddable forms to collect emails from anywhere.
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โ Basic analyticsPer-post opens, clicks and subscriber growth over time on a simple dashboard.
Full version add later
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+ Referral programSubscribers get a unique link and earn rewards for referrals - the milestone-reward loop that drives organic growth.
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+ Recommendation networkPublications recommend each other at signup, swapping subscribers across the platform - the core network effect.
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+ Paid subscriptionsGate premium posts behind a paywall and charge readers monthly/annually via Stripe, with a platform cut.
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+ Segmentation & automationsWelcome sequences, behavior-based segments and automated sends, not just one-off broadcasts.
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+ Ad network / sponsorshipsMatch advertisers to newsletters and insert/track sponsored placements within posts.
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+ Custom domain & brandingHost the publication and web archive on the writer's own domain with full theme control.
Recommended tech stack
| Layer | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | Next.js + Tailwind CSS | Web post archives and publication pages are SEO assets that need server rendering; the editor and dashboard are logged-in React surfaces. |
| Email delivery | Resend, Postmark or Amazon SES | Don't build sending or deliverability. A managed provider handles SMTP, bounces, suppression lists and reputation - the part that actually breaks. |
| Backend / queue | Node.js + a job queue (e.g. BullMQ/Inngest) | Bulk sends and scheduled posts must run as background jobs with retries, not in a request - queueing is essential at any real list size. |
| Database | PostgreSQL (Supabase) | Publications, posts, subscribers, events and referrals are relational; Postgres handles segmentation queries and per-subscriber event logs well. |
| Payments | Stripe (Billing + Connect) | Subscriber-count-tiered plans via Billing; Connect if you let publishers charge readers and you keep a percentage. |
| Hosting | Vercel or Cloudflare | Fast global web archives, edge rendering for publication pages, and easy custom-domain mapping for writers. |
AI prompts to clone beehiiv
Pick your builder, copy the prompt, paste it and iterate. Enter your email once to unlock all prompts on every page - we'll also send you this full prompt pack.
Build a newsletter publishing platform web app called HiveMail, modeled on beehiiv.
## Core concept
Writers create a publication, write posts in an editor, and send them to their email subscribers. Each post also becomes a public web page. The platform helps grow the list with signup forms and a referral program.
## User roles
- Writer: owns a publication, writes and sends posts, sees subscribers and stats
- Subscriber: receives emails and can read the public web archive
- Admin: sees all publications and platform-wide totals
Tools to build your beehiiv clone
Describe your app in plain English and Lovable builds a full-stack web app with auth, database and deployment included.
Best for: Full-stack web apps without writing code
StackBlitz's AI builder. Prompt, run and edit full-stack apps directly in the browser, then deploy in one click.
Best for: Rapid prototypes and web apps
AI app builder with built-in database, auth and hosting. Strong for internal tools and CRUD-heavy products.
Best for: Dashboards, marketplaces and internal tools
The AI code editor. Full control over your codebase with AI agents that write and refactor code for you.
Best for: Developers who want full code ownership
Generates production-grade React + Tailwind UI from a prompt, deployable to Vercel instantly.
Best for: Polished UI and front-ends
Workers, Pages, R2 and D1 - host your clone on a global edge network with a generous free tier.
Best for: Serverless apps and APIs
Cheap VPS and managed hosting with an AI website builder. Easiest way to put a clone online on a budget.
Best for: Budget VPS and WordPress-style sites
How to make money with a beehiiv clone
Own a niche network
beehiiv's flywheel is the recommendation network. You can't beat its scale, but you can build a tight network for one vertical - local news, a B2B trade, a creator collective - where recommendations between relevant publications convert far better than a generic swap.
Price by subscriber count
Tier plans by list size, like the original. Free to start removes friction; as a writer's list grows, the price rises automatically with their success - usage-based pricing that aligns your revenue with theirs.
Take a cut of monetization
Beyond the SaaS fee, take a percentage when publishers make money on your platform - paid subscriptions, sponsorships, or a boosts marketplace where publications pay to acquire subscribers via recommendations.
Sell deliverability as a feature
Reaching the inbox is the thing that actually breaks for writers. A clone that nails deliverability - warm IPs, authentication, suppression hygiene, plain-text fallbacks - can charge a premium tier purely on 'your emails land'.
Frequently asked questions
How much money does beehiiv make?
beehiiv is private and doesn't publish exact figures. Based on its 2024 $33M Series B, reported subscriber-count pricing and analyst extrapolations, a rough public estimate puts revenue somewhere around $1.5Mโ$3M/month and growing quickly. Treat this as an outside estimate, not an official number.
How hard is it to build a beehiiv clone?
Medium. The editor, subscriber management and analytics are standard CRUD, and email sending is something you outsource to a provider like Resend or Postmark rather than build. The genuinely hard parts are deliverability (staying out of spam at scale) and the network effect - the recommendation engine is only valuable once you have many publications.
Is it legal to clone beehiiv?
Yes. Newsletter platforms are a crowded, legitimate space - Substack, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Ghost and beehiiv all coexist. You can copy the model but not beehiiv's name, logo, designs or code. Build your own brand and write your own product and you're competing fairly.
What tech stack should I use for a beehiiv clone?
A solid 2026 stack: Next.js + Tailwind for the app and SEO-friendly web archives, Supabase (Postgres) for data and auth, a managed email provider (Resend, Postmark or SES) for delivery, a job queue (Inngest or BullMQ) so bulk and scheduled sends run as retry-safe background jobs, and Stripe Billing for subscriber-count-based plans. Never send email inside a web request.
How much does it cost to build and run a beehiiv clone?
MVP tooling is under $100/month, but email volume is the variable cost - providers charge per email sent, so costs scale with subscribers ร frequency. Budget for that and for the time spent on deliverability. A production build with custom development typically runs $15,000โ$60,000 depending on scope.
Do I have to build my own email-sending infrastructure?
No, and you shouldn't. Running your own SMTP and IP reputation is a full-time job and a common reason clones land in spam. Use a managed provider (Resend, Postmark, Amazon SES) that handles authentication, bounces and reputation; your job is the editor, subscribers, scheduling and the growth features on top.
More apps to clone
CloneMRR is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to beehiiv. Revenue figures are rough estimates based on public reports and are provided for educational purposes only. "Cloning" here means building an original product inspired by a proven business model - never copy a brand's name, logo, content or code.