AudienceBench

How to Import Your Newsletter Archive into beehiiv (2026)

Bring past posts into beehiiv from Substack, Mailchimp, Ghost, WordPress, or Kit: what the Content Import tool moves, what it drops, paywalls, and old links.

By AudienceBench Editorial · Published · Pricing & docs checked

beehiiv’s Content Import tool copies your old newsletter posts into beehiiv as posts, so your archive keeps living on your new site. It’s on all beehiiv plans, including Free. Officially it supports Substack, WordPress, Ghost, and Mailchimp, and beehiiv’s newer Kit guide describes a Kit option too. Everything else (HubSpot, MailerLite, and other platforms) means copying and pasting posts by hand. The importer doesn’t carry over everything. Paywall placement, comments, and some post types and blocks get dropped, depending on the platform. If your old post URLs get traffic, you’ll want a custom domain, and possibly redirects, both of which need a paid plan.

This guide is based on beehiiv’s official content import help article, its Substack, Mailchimp, Kit, Ghost, HubSpot, and MailerLite migration guides, its manual-migration and redirect articles, and beehiiv’s public pricing page. We re-checked all of them on October 16, 2026. Menu names change. If a screen looks different, those help articles are the source of truth.

How we researched this: Every step, limit, and price below comes from beehiiv’s help center and pricing page. We haven’t run a content import on our own beehiiv account for this article. We have no old archive on another platform to move, so we can’t tell you how clean the results look in practice.

About our links: beehiiv links on this page are affiliate links (/go/beehiiv). That’s the only program we earn from here. Substack, Mailchimp, Ghost, WordPress, Kit, HubSpot, and MailerLite are mentioned but not linked, and we don’t earn from any of them. Our recommendations would be the same either way.

The short version

QuestionAnswer from today’s official sources
Which beehiiv plan?Any plan. beehiiv’s content import article is labeled All Plans, and posts are Unlimited on every plan in the pricing table.
Which platforms import automatically?Substack, WordPress, Ghost, Mailchimp (plus Kit, per beehiiv’s Kit guide).
Which don’t?beehiiv’s HubSpot and MailerLite guides say there’s no content import tool for them yet. Anything not listed is copy-and-paste or a hired expert.
How long does it take?beehiiv’s guides say 5–10 minutes (Substack) or 5–15 minutes (Mailchimp, Ghost), depending on how many posts you have.
Do paywalls carry over?No. Paywall placement isn’t migrated. You re-add paywalls post by post.
What else gets lost?Depends on the platform: comments, Substack video/podcast posts and photo galleries, Mailchimp Legacy Email Builder campaigns, and code blocks. Details below.
Will old links keep working?Substack, yes, with a custom domain (same /p/ URLs). Other platforms need redirects: Lite includes 10, Pro unlimited, and Free none.

Start on beehiiv

Before you import: set your default post style

Every platform guide from beehiiv starts with the same tip. Build a newsletter template first and tick “Set as default post style.” beehiiv says that styling then applies to all imported posts, and “after migration, styling can only be adjusted on a post-by-post basis.” If you import first and design later, you may be restyling hundreds of posts one at a time.

Also decide your order. Content and subscribers are separate imports. beehiiv’s general article suggests content first, then your list. For your list, see How to import free subscribers into beehiiv, and for paying readers, How to import paid subscribers into beehiiv.

How the Content Import tool works (all platforms)

From beehiiv’s “How to import previous content into beehiiv” article (updated Oct 9, 2026):

  1. In beehiiv, click the Settings icon (bottom-left).
  2. Select Content Import in the left panel and click Start Import. (New accounts may see an Import content and list prompt during onboarding instead.)
  3. Under Content Location → Import From, choose Substack, WordPress, Mailchimp, Ghost, or Other.
  4. Click Next and follow the platform’s prompts.
  5. When it’s done, your posts appear under Posts.

Enter only the domain when the importer asks for a URL (for example example.com). beehiiv says the importer already adds https://.

While an import runs, beehiiv’s platform guides say its status shows Pending or Processing in a Historical Imports table. Refresh the page to check. When it’s finished, the status changes to Complete with the number of posts created.

“Other” isn’t a real importer. beehiiv says that if your platform isn’t listed, contact support, or copy and paste your posts into new beehiiv posts (see the manual section below).

Substack

Substack is the best-documented path. beehiiv’s guide (updated Jun 22, 2026) has two routes.

Free posts only: Content Import → Substack → Free content, paste your Substack publication URL (find it under Settings → Website in Substack), then Finish import. No export file needed.

Free and paid posts:

  1. Connect Stripe and create at least one paid tier in beehiiv first. beehiiv warns that if you don’t, “all paywalled content will be fully visible on the imported posts to non paid subscribers.” That needs a paid beehiiv plan (Lite or higher). See How to set up paid subscriptions on beehiiv.
  2. In Substack, go to Dashboard → Settings → Import/Export → New export and download the zip.
  3. Safari users: beehiiv says to turn off Open “safe” files after downloading (Safari → Settings → General). The file has to stay zipped to upload.
  4. In beehiiv, choose Substack, select Free content and Paywalled content, paste your URL, upload the zip, then Finish import.

Paywalls after import: beehiiv says the exact paywall placement doesn’t carry over. No part of an imported paid post is visible to free readers until you add a Paywall block to that post and click Update web. Imported paywalls show default wording (“Subscribe to Default”) until you customize them.

What beehiiv says won’t migrate from Substack:

  • Video posts and podcast posts. beehiiv has a separate guide for rebuilding audio and video posts with its Audio block, a YouTube block, or an HTML snippet. Podcasts have their own episode import.
  • Photo gallery elements
  • Comments
  • Category structures
  • Code blocks, which come in as plain text. You’d rebuild them with an HTML Snippet.

Old links: beehiiv uses the same /p/post-name URL structure as Substack. So if you move your Substack custom domain to beehiiv, links to old posts keep working without manual redirects. Custom domains are Lite and up on beehiiv’s pricing table.

Full Substack walkthrough (subscribers, paid members, podcast, domain): Migrate Substack → beehiiv.

Mailchimp

From beehiiv’s Mailchimp guide (updated Nov 21, 2025):

  1. Content Import → Mailchimp → Next, then click Connect and log in to Mailchimp to authorize it.
  2. Under Select campaigns to import, pick All campaigns or Customized by campaign folders if you only want certain folders.
  3. Click Next. beehiiv says imports typically take 5–15 minutes.

The big gap: beehiiv says the importer supports campaigns built with Mailchimp’s New Email Builder (launched in 2022). Campaigns made with the Legacy Email Builder won’t import. If your archive goes back further than that, expect to recreate older issues by hand or leave them behind. beehiiv also warns, in general terms, that “complete accuracy isn’t always possible” with its importers.

Full Mailchimp walkthrough: Migrate Mailchimp → beehiiv.

WordPress (RSS feed)

This is the one that trips people up. From beehiiv’s content import article:

  • The importer reads your posts from yourdomain.com/feed automatically. You don’t enter the feed URL yourself.
  • In WordPress, go to Settings → Reading and set “For each post in a feed, include” to Full text. beehiiv says that if your feed shows summaries or excerpts, imported posts will be truncated or arrive empty.
  • FeedBurner or other feed-redirect plugins stop the importer from validating your feed. Turn the redirect off before you import.
  • Custom RSS plugins that change the feed’s structure can cause partial imports or failures. beehiiv suggests testing with them disabled.
  • Yoast SEO is “generally compatible,” according to beehiiv.

beehiiv’s FAQ says empty or incomplete WordPress posts are “usually” the Full text setting. If that doesn’t fix it, look at your plugins.

WordPress post URLs usually don’t follow beehiiv’s /p/ pattern, so old links would need redirects (see below). beehiiv’s WordPress section doesn’t say whether images, authors, or categories come across, so check a few imported posts before you rely on it.

Ghost

From beehiiv’s Ghost guide (updated Jul 30, 2026):

  1. Content Import → Ghost. beehiiv asks for a Content API key and API URL. In Ghost, go to Settings → Integrations → Add custom integration to get them.
  2. Ghost Starter plans don’t allow custom integrations. beehiiv describes a workaround: find the data-key value in a published post’s page source and use your Ghost homepage as the API URL.
  3. Choose whether to import authors and tags (both can be toggled off).

Paywalls are the risky part. Ghost’s Content API only exposes public posts, so beehiiv says to temporarily set paid posts to Public in Ghost before importing. That has two consequences:

  • Your paid posts are public on Ghost until you switch them back to Paid-members only (or make the Ghost site private).
  • They arrive on beehiiv as free posts visible to anyone until you add paywalls. beehiiv strongly recommends turning on Private Publication in beehiiv until every paywall is back.

Won’t migrate, per beehiiv: paywall placement and comments. Code blocks don’t carry over. Internal links between posts may break, and blockquote styling may look a little different.

Old links: Ghost URLs don’t include beehiiv’s /p/, so beehiiv says backlinks to past posts won’t work unless you set up bulk 301 redirects.

Kit

beehiiv’s Kit guide (updated Sep 3, 2026) says to go to Settings → Content Import, choose the Kit option, and enter your Kit newsletter site URL. If you have paywalled posts on your Kit site, beehiiv says to temporarily make them public before importing, then add paywalls back post by post in beehiiv.

One inconsistency to know about: beehiiv’s general content import article (updated Oct 9, 2026) still lists only Substack, WordPress, Mailchimp, Ghost, and Other in the importer’s menu. We can’t tell from the docs alone which one matches the current screen. If you don’t see Kit, contact beehiiv support or fall back to copying and pasting.

Full Kit walkthrough (subscribers, the Stripe Express limit on paid members, forms and automations): Migrate Kit → beehiiv. We don’t earn from Kit.

HubSpot, MailerLite, and everything else: manual migration

beehiiv’s HubSpot and MailerLite guides (both updated Nov 7, 2025) say there’s currently no direct integration or automated tool for their newsletter content. beehiiv says it’s working on one but gives no date. Your options are copying and pasting, or hiring someone from the beehiiv Experts Directory.

beehiiv’s “Manually migrating post content” article (updated Nov 11, 2025) lays out the steps for each post:

  1. Open the original post in one tab and beehiiv’s Post Builder in another (Start writing).
  2. Paste in chunks. Buttons, embeds, polls, and other interactive elements may not paste cleanly. Rebuild them with beehiiv’s blocks (type / on the canvas). Add authors, content tags, and a thumbnail by hand.
  3. On the Audience page, uncheck every Email Audience option so the post goes to the web only and doesn’t email your subscribers. Leave at least one Web Audience option checked.
  4. Backdate it: on the Web page, go to Advanced settings and click the calendar icon, then pick the original publish date. The time zone comes from your browser.
  5. Match the old URL slug in Post URL if you used a custom domain and want backlinks to work. beehiiv post URLs always include /p/, so a different old format still needs a redirect.
  6. Publish now from the Review page.

This is fine for a few dozen posts. For hundreds, it’s slow, and that’s where beehiiv points you to its experts.

What beehiiv’s docs and pricing page say (checked October 16, 2026):

  • Substack: same /p/ structure, so a moved custom domain keeps old links working without redirects.
  • Everyone else: beehiiv’s migrate page says “redirects can be configured to preserve SEO.” Its “Website redirect options” article is labeled All Paid Plans and lists redirect limits of Lite 10, Pro Unlimited, Enterprise Unlimited. The pricing table agrees: Site redirects are — on Free, 10 on Lite, and Unlimited on Pro. The article covers simple one-to-one redirects, wildcard patterns, and a 404 fallback, and its redirects dashboard shows each redirect’s type (for example, a 301 permanent redirect).
  • Custom domains are — on Free and Yes on Lite, Pro, and Enterprise. Setup guide: How to set up a custom domain on beehiiv.

What that means in practice: 10 one-to-one redirects won’t cover a big WordPress or Ghost archive. If your old URLs follow a single pattern, a wildcard rule might handle many of them at once. We couldn’t confirm from beehiiv’s docs that one wildcard can map every old post URL to its new /p/ address, so test that before you rely on Lite. Otherwise budget for Pro, or redirect your most-linked posts first. Our beehiiv site redirects guide walks through what beehiiv’s docs do show about wildcard rules and when one rule can cover an archive.

Plan prices (context)

From beehiiv’s pricing page, checked October 16, 2026:

SubscribersLite (billed yearly / monthly)Pro (billed yearly / monthly)
1,000$49 / $59 per month$95 / $109 per month
2,500$69 / $79 per month$129 / $149 per month
5,000$95 / $109 per month$169 / $199 per month
10,000$119 / $139 per month$199 / $239 per month

Free is $0 up to 2,500 subscribers and can run the content import, but it has no custom domain, redirects, or paid subscriptions. beehiiv’s pricing FAQ says Lite and Pro include a free trial with no credit card needed. Full tables: beehiiv pricing explained.

What we couldn’t confirm

These aren’t answered in today’s official docs, so check a few imported posts, or ask beehiiv support before a big move:

  • Images: whether images are re-hosted on beehiiv or still load from your old platform. If they still load from the old platform, they could break when you close that account.
  • Original publish dates for posts brought in by the importer. The manual article covers backdating, and beehiiv’s Mailchimp guide points to it “for details on backdating your imported posts.” That suggests you may need to fix dates yourself.
  • Re-running an import (for example, after fixing a WordPress feed) and whether that creates duplicate posts.
  • Post-count limits on a single import.
  • Whether importer posts are ever emailed. The docs describe imported posts appearing under Posts and on your website, and don’t mention a send. Still, check your first import before you assume anything.
  • The Kit option in the importer menu (see the Kit section).

A sensible order of operations

  1. Pick your plan. Free works for the import itself. Choose Lite or Pro if you need a custom domain, redirects, or paid posts.
  2. Build your default post style template.
  3. For paid posts, connect Stripe and create a paid tier first (Substack), or plan for posts arriving public (Ghost, Kit). Turn on Private Publication if paid posts might be exposed.
  4. Fix the source: WordPress feed set to Full text, Ghost API key ready, Mailchimp legacy campaigns identified.
  5. Run the Content Import and wait for Complete in Historical Imports.
  6. Spot-check posts: images, embeds, code blocks, internal links, dates, and paywalls. Re-add paywall blocks where needed.
  7. Import your free subscribers, then your paid subscribers.
  8. Connect your custom domain and add redirects for non-Substack URLs.
  9. Restore paywalls on the old platform (Ghost, Kit) or close it down once you’re sure nothing is missing.

Our take

For Substack and recent Mailchimp archives, beehiiv’s importer looks like it does most of the heavy lifting. You paste a URL or connect an account and wait a few minutes. The work is in the clean-up. Paywalls have to be re-added by hand everywhere, and Ghost and Kit paid posts sit briefly in public during the move, which is the step most worth planning around. WordPress depends entirely on your feed settings and plugins. For HubSpot, MailerLite, and other platforms, it’s copy and paste. If your archive brings in real search traffic, the plan you need is set by redirects, not the import itself: Free has none, Lite has 10, and Pro is unlimited.

Try beehiiv · Substack → beehiiv · Mailchimp → beehiiv · Kit → beehiiv · Import free subscribers · Import paid subscribers · beehiiv pricing explained

Sources

All sources below were re-checked October 16, 2026.