Your checklist for a smooth migration from Beehiiv
Migrating your email setup from Beehiiv to Kit can seem intimidating if you're new to our platform.
Let's walk through the general process for moving everything over as painlessly as possible.
Familiarize yourself with Kit's terminology
Our names for certain Kit features are different from their Beehiiv counterparts. The table below provides an overview of what's different (and what's the same).
Check it out and take some time to understand our terminology—this knowledge will come in handy as you navigate our platform.
Definition / Feature | Beehiiv terminology | Kit terminology |
A person who joins your email list | Subscriber | Subscriber |
Your collection of email addresses | Audience list | List |
Group subscribers with shared characteristics | Tag | |
Dynamically group subscribers who match certain conditions | Dynamic segment | |
Collecting subscribers | Form | |
Design the look and contents of your emails | Template | |
Send a one-off email | Post | |
Trigger actions based on subscriber behavior | Automation | |
Feature your newsletters on a website | Publication website | |
Charge for access to your newsletter content | Paid subscriptions | |
Recommend other newsletters to your subscribers and get recommended in turn | Recommendations | |
Get paid for recommending newsletters to your subscribers | Boosts | |
Reward subscribers who refer others to your newsletter | Referral program | |
Run email ads | Ads |
Import your subscribers
To bring over your subscribers, go to the Subscribers page in Kit under the navigation's Grow tab. Click the Add Subscribers button, followed by Other provider.
Select the Click here to get your Beehiiv API key button to copy your Beehiiv account's API key. Paste it into the field provided, and then click Start import.
Your Beehiiv subscribers will be imported to your Kit account, along with any tags they have. They will also be added to a Tag named after your Beehiiv publication.
Instead of automatically importing subscribers via API key, you can export your subscriber data as a CSV file for importing into Kit. This is helpful if you want more control over the subscriber data you bring over. More details on importing subscribers via a CSV file here.
Recreate your dynamic segments
Go to the Subscribers page in Kit under the navigation's Grow tab. Then, click + Create a Segment in the right sidebar to create a new Segment.
Give your Segment a name, and then set up its conditions to match its Beehiiv counterpart.
For example, if your Beehiiv dynamic segment contains all subscribers tagged with "Newsletter," your Kit Segment condition would be "Match all subscribers subscribed to the 'Newsletter' Tag."
Recreate your subscribe forms
Select the Grow tab in the navigation, followed by Landing Pages & Forms, to launch the Landing Page & Forms screen.
From there, click the + Create new button to create a new Kit Form.
Choose your preferred Form template, and then use the Form builder to customize it.
Given the differences between our and Beehiiv's form builders, you may not be able to make your Kit Forms look the same as your Beehiiv ones. But you can make them look even better!
Then, when you're happy with your Kit Forms, publish and replace your Beehiiv ones with them. 🧹
NOTE: Instead of creating a Form, you can also create a standalone Landing Page. Learn the differences between Forms and Landing Pages here, and the steps for creating Landing Pages here.
Recreate your newsletter template
Go to Email Templates under the navigation's Send tab to create a new email template in Kit.
Our Intro, Coach, and Escape email templates resemble the default Beehiiv email template more closely. You could use one of these if you want your newsletter to have a similar look after migrating to Kit.
When you've picked your preferred email template, use our visual email template editor to customize its text, colors, fonts, and so on.
Recreate your automation workflows
Go to Visual Automations from the navigation's Automate tab. Click + New automation, followed by Start from scratch, to start a blank new Visual Automation.
First, recreate your Beehiiv automation's triggers as your Kit Visual Automation's entry points.
Then, add Visual Automation steps corresponding to your Beehiiv automation's actions (e.g., sending an email, processing data, adding a delay, or controlling the automation flow).
For example, if your Beehiiv automation sends subscribers one email per week for three weeks after they sign up via a form, you could set up your Kit Visual Automation like this:
Entry point: Subscriber joins a Form
Step: Add subscriber to a Sequence. In Kit, a Sequence is a set of one or more automated emails, including welcome emails. Here, your Sequence should be a set of three emails, with the first email being sent immediately and the next two being sent seven days after the previous email.
Recreate your publication website
Go to Creator Profile under the navigation's Grow tab to recreate your Beehiiv publication website as a Kit Creator Profile.
For example, you can customize your creator business name, colors, and fonts.
When you're done, publish your changes. Then, open your Creator Profile, grab its link from your browser address bar, and replace your old Beehiiv publication website links with it.
NOTE: If you'd like, you can feature your past Beehiiv posts on your Kit Creator Profile. More details in our guide to migrating a newsletter archive to your Creator Profile.
Recreate your paid subscriptions
To recreate your paid subscriptions, create a paid newsletter product using our Kit Commerce feature.
Set up payments for your Kit account first. After that, follow the steps in this guide to creating a paid newsletter in Kit to set up your paid newsletter product.
At this time, there is no convenient method of migrating your paid subscriptions' subscription periods and payment details to Kit.
Here's a workaround:
Cancel all your paid subscriptions in Beehiiv, and then
Ask your paid subscribers to re-subscribe to your Kit paid newsletter.
We also recommend informing your paid subscribers of your migration plans in advance.
This way, they won't get a rude shock when their subscriptions are canceled. You'll also have time to sort out any refund requests you get as you switch platforms.
Recreate your recommendations and boosts
Join the Kit Creator Network to set up Recommendations to recommend other newsletters to your subscribers and get recommended by others in turn. You can also set up Paid Recommendations—our equivalent of Beehiiv's boosts for getting paid for newsletter referrals.
To join the Creator Network, go to the navigation's Grow tab, followed by Recommendations. Then, use this guide to get set up and select your Recommendations.
To set up Paid Recommendations, follow the instructions here.
Since the Creator Network runs separately from Beehiiv's newsletter recommendation network, you may not be able to find the same newsletters you're recommending via Beehiiv. Use this opportunity to recurate your recommendations to keep them fresh.
It may take time for newsletters in the Creator Network to discover and start recommending yours. These tips can help speed up the process.
NOTE: If you're on the Newsletter Plan, you'll be auto-enrolled in the Creator Network and will have one Kit-managed Recommendation slot enabled by default. Upgrade your plan to enjoy full customization of your Recommendations or turn them off.
Recreate your referral program
If you are on our Creator Pro plan, you'll get complimentary access to SparkLoop's Referral Program feature for rewarding subscribers who recommend your newsletter. Use it to recreate your Beehiiv referral program for your Kit email setup.
Recreate your ads
Join the waitlist for Kit Ads, which is our closed beta feature for running email ads.
If you receive a beta invite, follow these steps to set up Kit Ads. Once you're set up, you can add ads to your emails.
Since our Ads network runs independently from Beehiiv's, the selection of brands you can run ads for may differ. Take the chance to recurate your brands list to keep it fresh.
Test your migrated email setup
After recreating your Beehiiv email setup in Kit, test that it works.
You can do this by:
Previewing your Forms and Creator Profile to confirm they look good. Preview your Forms on your website, if possible.
Testing your Visual Automations. Enter your Visual Automations from one of their entry points (such as subscribing to your own Form) and check what happens after that.
Sending a test edition of your paid newsletter to yourself before you start sending to paid subscribers.
Checking if you are sending and receiving Recommendations (and/or Paid Recommendations). To do this, review your Creator Network reports.
Testing your Referral Program. Send yourself a test email containing your referral section and referral links to ensure they look and work as intended.
Previewing your ads. After adding an ad to your email, preview the email to check if there's an empty ad placeholder at the place you added the ad.
If you're having trouble with your Beehiiv migration, reach out to our migrations team and they'll be happy to help out!
Otherwise, if all is good, you could start sending newsletter posts to your subscribers.
We call these posts "Broadcasts," and you can find out more about sending them in this article 👇