If you're ready to move from Beehiiv to Substack and experience growth with Recommendations, engage with other writers and readers in Notes, or start a paid podcast, this guide will show you what you need to do to transition your subscribers and posts to your new publication seamlessly.
In this guide, we'll explain:
What do I need to do on Beehiiv?
To get started, you'll need to export your Beehiiv subscribers and find your Beehiiv URL.
Exporting all subscribers
On your Beehiiv dashboard, select Settings and then Export Data. Click on the "Export Subscribers (Full).
Once the export is complete, you can download a .csv file of your Beehiiv subscribers in the Historical Exports section on the same page.
Finding your Beehiiv URL
On your Beehiiv dashboard, select Settings and then Domains. Copy the address under "beehiiv Subdomains".
If you're using a custom domain on Beehiiv, make sure to grab the website URL that has your Beehiiv root domain such as the one in the picture below (subdomain.beehiv.com).
How do I get started on Substack?
Start your move to Substack by first creating an account. Head to the Import/Export section on your publication's Settings page: https://your.substack.com/publish/settings#import-export-settings
How to import your posts
Click "Import posts" and you'll be prompted to enter your Beehiiv URL and also upload a .csv of your posts. Beehiiv will only export your free posts and previews of your paid posts.
To export your posts from Beehiiv, head to your Settings and click "Export Data". Then click "Export all Posts."
Once your Beehiiv archive has been imported to your Substack publication, you can view the posts in the Home or Archive tabs.
Can I import premium articles from Beehiiv to Substack?
Option 1: Manually copy and paste your Beehiiv premium articles as a new post on your Substack publication. Before you publish the post on Substack, set the audience to "Paid subscribers only" and uncheck the box next to "Delivery- Send via email and the Substack app". This will only publish the post to the web version of your publication.
If you'd like to change the date of a post, click "Edit post" and select "Settings". Scroll to the date picker under Displayed publication date and change it to your preferred date.
Option 2: Make your Beehiiv premium articles available to free subscribers and start the import posts process on Substack. Once your posts have been imported, you can automatically paywall your archive. If you paywall your archive on Substack but would like to offer some free posts, you can just head to the post's settings and remove the paywall.
How to import your free Beehiiv subscribers
On your publication's Settings page, scroll to "Import email addresses" and click on "Import emails". Upload the .csv file of subscribers you downloaded from your Beehiiv account. Subscribers will have a "free" status on your Substack Subscribers dashboard.
Tip: After you've added your Beehiiv subscribers, you can view them on your Substack Subscribers page.