How to Create Automation Workflows on beehiiv (2026)
Create beehiiv automation workflows: paid plans + free trial, Lite 10 / Pro unlimited live automations, templates, triggers, re-entry, and live edits.
beehiiv automation workflows—also called automated journeys—let you run sequences triggered by subscriber actions. Each workflow starts with a trigger, then continues with actions, delays, and branches so you can tailor onboarding, upgrades, re-engagement, and more without sending every email by hand.
Automations are not on Free as a lasting plan feature. beehiiv’s create-workflows help article is scoped to All Paid Plans, and beehiiv notes the feature is also available on the Free Trial. This guide walks through what beehiiv’s official help center and pricing feature table documented on October 11, 2026: plan limits, templates vs from-scratch builds, publishing, and editing live automations. Menu names change, so if a screen looks different, beehiiv’s help article is the source of truth.
How we researched this: Every step below comes from beehiiv’s help center (how to create automation workflows; automations overview of triggers, actions, and builder features) and beehiiv’s public pricing feature table. We haven’t built or published automations on our own beehiiv account for this article.
About our links: beehiiv links on this page are affiliate links (/go/beehiiv). Our recommendations would be the same without them.
What you need before you start
From beehiiv’s docs and pricing feature table (checked October 11, 2026):
- A paid beehiiv plan (Lite or higher), or beehiiv’s Free Trial. The create-workflows article is marked for All Paid Plans and states the feature is available on the Free Trial (beehiiv links to its free-trial inclusions article). Free’s lasting plan does not list live custom automations on the pricing feature table.
- A clear journey goal—welcome email, lead magnet follow-up, paid upgrade nudge, Discord invite, 90-day re-engagement, and similar. beehiiv ships Quick start templates for many of these.
- Clarity on plan caps for live automations (see below)—live automations count across all publications in your workspace.
Plan prices (context only). On October 11, 2026, beehiiv’s pricing page showed Lite at $59/mo monthly or $49/mo billed yearly at 1,000 subscribers, and Pro at $109/mo monthly or $95/mo billed yearly. Free remains $0 up to 2,500 subscribers but without live custom automations on the feature table. Full tier tables: beehiiv pricing explained.
Plan limits for live automations
beehiiv’s automations overview (updated October 1, 2026) and the pricing feature table (checked October 11, 2026) agree:
| Plan | Live custom automations | Click-triggered automations |
|---|---|---|
| Free | — (not included) | — |
| Lite | 10 live automations (counted across all publications in the workspace) | — |
| Pro | Unlimited | Yes (plus A/B testing per overview) |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Yes (plus A/B testing per overview) |
The create-workflows article repeats that the number of live automations depends on your plan and that live automations count across all publications in your workspace. For paid-subscription upgrade/downgrade templates, you’ll also want Stripe and tiers set up—see How to set up paid subscriptions on beehiiv. Branding the site readers land on is covered in How to set up a custom domain on beehiiv.
Source: Automations overview (updated Oct 1, 2026); How to create automation workflows (updated Oct 2, 2026); beehiiv pricing feature table, checked October 11, 2026.
Step 1: Open Automations and pick a template or start from scratch
beehiiv’s create-workflows help article (updated October 2, 2026) describes this path:
- From your account dashboard, go to Automations.
- What you see next depends on whether you’ve created automations before:
- First automation: click Create your first automation.
- From scratch: click Create automation to open your Automations Library, then choose New automation.
- Template: scroll to Quick start templates, click the three dots on a template, and select Use template.
Quick start template examples
beehiiv lists pre-built templates with a short description and node count. Examples in the help article include:
- Complete survey reminder
- Discord free / paid subscription invite emails
- Lead magnet automation
- Paid subscription downgrade retention flow
- Paid subscription reminder
- Paid subscription upgrade welcome email
- Partner moneymaker
- Re-engagement automation flow (90-day inactivity)
- Welcome email (with re-entry)
After you select a template, the automation opens on the Workflow tab with the trigger inactive. You must activate and customize it before publishing.
Source: How to create automation workflows for your subscribers, checked October 11, 2026.
Step 2: Activate the trigger (and optional conditions)
When you use a template, the trigger starts inactive. Click the trigger to open the Properties panel on the right. From there you can:
- Activate the trigger (required before publishing).
- Optionally Add condition (as many as you like); duplicate or delete individual conditions, or Delete all conditions.
- Click Save, then close the panel or click off the trigger to return to the canvas.
To add another trigger, click the + icon to the right of the first trigger. beehiiv’s overview says you can add up to three triggers per workflow; multiple triggers are an OR relationship (one matching trigger is enough to enter). Triggers sit at the start of the workflow and cannot be added later in the flow.
From scratch: choosing New automation opens the Workflow tab with available triggers listed. Every automation needs at least one trigger and one action before it can be published. Configure the trigger in Properties (activate if required), then return to the canvas.
For the full catalog of triggers and actions (subscription events, paid subscription events, send email, tags, branches, and more), see beehiiv’s companion article: Automations overview: Triggers, actions, and builder features.
Source: create-workflows help + automations overview, checked October 11, 2026.
Step 3: Build actions, delays, and branches
- Click the + icon under the trigger to open the list of actions.
- Select an action and configure it in the Properties panel. Some actions (like Send email) must be saved before the step counts as complete.
- Keep adding steps until the journey is complete.
beehiiv’s overview groups actions into messages, data updates, delays, and flow control (including branches). Branch types (True/false, Multi-split, Random cohort) reconnect at a shared exit after paths complete—unless you add an Exit automation node on a path that should end early.
UI note from beehiiv’s FAQ: only inactive triggers need activation before publishing. Individual steps no longer require activation; incomplete steps show an Incomplete status until required settings are filled in.
Step 4: Name the automation and set re-entry
- Click the pencil icon at the top of the canvas.
- Update the automation name (required) and description (optional).
- For Allow re-entry? (required), choose one option, then Save:
- No re-entry — subscribers enter only once.
- Unlimited re-entry — they can enter again whenever they meet acceptance criteria.
- Conditional re-entry — they can re-enter when they meet criteria and extra conditions; you must also set Maximum re-entries per subscriber and a Cooldown period.
Step 5: Publish (or save as draft / template)
- Click Publish to make the automation live. Subscribers begin entering as they meet your trigger and conditions.
- Or use the 3 dots menu for Save as template, Duplicate, or Delete.
- Exit with the arrow in the top left; beehiiv says progress is saved.
Once published, a green Live label appears at the top. If you see Inactive instead of Live or Draft, beehiiv says to confirm the trigger is activated and all action steps are fully configured before publishing again.
Source: create automation workflows, checked October 11, 2026.
Managing changes to a live automation
Once an automation is live:
- Edits show an Unpublished changes badge.
- When you’re ready, click Publish. beehiiv asks whether updates should apply to subscribers already in the automation or only to subscribers entering going forward. You can discard changes instead.
- Before editing a step, check the Activity tab on that step to confirm no subscribers are waiting there. Modifying a step while subscribers are actively on it can cause them to get stuck.
- Only subscribers still in progress or newly entering move through steps added after go-live. Subscribers who already completed the automation are not affected.
FAQ (from beehiiv’s help article)
Can I end an automation when a subscriber replies?
Not currently. beehiiv says automations cannot be triggered to end based on subscriber replies; the functionality is being explored with no timeline shared.
Can I reorder steps after I’ve built my workflow?
Yes. Grab any action node and drag it; a placeholder shows where it will land.
Can I delete multiple steps at once?
Yes. Use bulk actions to select steps (or Select All) and delete them together.
What happens after a branch completes?
Branch paths reconnect at a shared exit unless you add Exit automation on a path that should end early.
Why aren’t subscribers automatically enrolling?
If the automation uses a Manual trigger, subscribers are not enrolled automatically unless that trigger is linked to a subscribe form in the Website Builder. Otherwise you enroll them individually from a profile or in bulk via a segment. Other trigger types enroll automatically when conditions are met.
Why don’t existing subscribers move into a newly added step?
Subscribers who already completed the automation (received the final email available at the time) will not get new steps. Only in-progress or newly entering subscribers will.
Can I save an automation as a template?
Yes—3 dots next to Publish → Save as template (also Duplicate / Delete).
Will beehiiv add more templates?
Yes. beehiiv says it continues to expand Quick start templates over time.
Why do I see different numbers on workflow steps?
After live edits, a tooltip may say some subscribers completed the current step and others completed a previous version. Open the step’s Properties panel for last published date and status.
Source: FAQ section of How to create automation workflows for your subscribers, checked October 11, 2026.
Our recommendation
Based on beehiiv’s published docs:
- Plan for Lite if you need automations at all—Free’s feature table does not include live custom automations; Lite allows 10 live workflows across the workspace.
- Move to Pro when you need more than 10 live automations, click-triggered automations, or automation A/B testing (per the overview + feature table).
- Start from a Quick start template for common journeys (welcome, lead magnet, paid upgrade/downgrade, re-engagement), then customize the trigger and emails.
- Activate the trigger and finish Incomplete steps before you hit Publish.
- Set re-entry deliberately—welcome flows often allow re-entry; one-time onboarding usually should not.
- Check Activity before editing live steps so subscribers don’t get stuck mid-journey.
- Pair automations with paid subscriptions and a custom domain when those journeys depend on upgrades or branded landing pages.
Try beehiiv · beehiiv pricing explained · Kit sequences vs beehiiv automations · Paid subscriptions setup · Custom domain setup
Sources
All checked October 11, 2026.
- beehiiv: How to create automation workflows for your subscribers (updated Oct 2, 2026)
- beehiiv: Automations overview: Triggers, actions, and builder features (updated Oct 1, 2026) — canonical ID
13080928484887 - beehiiv: Pricing — plan cards at 1,000 subscribers and feature table rows Live custom automations (Free —, Lite 10, Pro/Enterprise Unlimited) and Click-triggered automations (Pro and Enterprise only)