Who this move suits
MailerLite suits a beehiiv publisher who wants group-based automation at a lower entry price and can live without beehiiv's newsletter-native website. Compare at your own list size: beehiiv Lite is $59 a month, or $49 billed annually, for up to 1,000 subscribers. [9] MailerLite's pricing page lists Free up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, Comfort from $12 a month and Power from $25 a month; Free includes 1 website and 1 landing page, Comfort 10 of each. [8]
Think twice if the web archive drives most of your growth. MailerLite's own beehiiv guide covers subscribers, forms, templates and automations, but not posts, archives, redirects or paid subscriptions. [1] Those parts are yours to plan.
Step 1: export from beehiiv
In beehiiv, go to Settings, Export Data. Export All Subscribers (Full) includes email, status and tier plus custom fields and statistics; the Quick version omits custom fields. Export All Posts produces a CSV covering published, archived and draft posts. Both arrive as an email link and in Historical Exports, and beehiiv says download links are valid for 24 hours. [2]
beehiiv's export article does not list tags as a column, so check the file. If tags you rely on are missing, build a segment per tag in beehiiv and export each segment's subscribers, then import each one into a matching MailerLite group.
Step 2: import into MailerLite
MailerLite's beehiiv guide says to bring only opted-in subscribers and leave out unsubscribed, spam-complaint and inactive contacts. [1] Filter the status column on a copy of the export before upload.
In MailerLite, use Subscribers, Add subscribers, and upload the CSV saved as UTF-8 on one sheet. Match columns to fields, creating new ones where needed; if the file has Tags or Groups columns, you match them to groups on a review screen. In Additional settings, leave automation triggering off for a migration, and decide whether empty cells should update existing fields. MailerLite refuses addresses already unsubscribed, bounced or marked as spam in your account and banned role addresses such as admin@. [3]
| beehiiv data | MailerLite destination | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Email, status [2] | Subscriber; import active only | Leave unsubscribed and inactive out [1] |
| Custom fields (Full export) [2] | Custom fields | Create text, number or date fields first |
| Tier (free or paid) [2] | A field or a group | Use it to rebuild paid-only sends, not to charge anyone |
| Tags, via segment exports | Groups | One group per tag you send to [3] |
| Posts CSV [2] | Blog posts, rebuilt by hand | See the archive options below [4] |
| Subscribe forms | MailerLite forms | Rebuild and replace embeds [1] |
Step 3: decide what happens to the web archive
MailerLite websites have one blog page each, posts are written in the block editor, the website must be published before posts can be, and the post created date can be edited on published posts, which lets rebuilt issues carry their original dates. The blog article does not mention importing posts. [4] That leaves three realistic options.
| Option | What you do | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuild key posts in a MailerLite blog [4] | Recreate the issues that still earn traffic; backdate them | Time per post; old URLs change |
| Keep the beehiiv site | Stay on a beehiiv plan; beehiiv's Free plan includes a website and up to 2,500 subscribers [9] | Two tools; a custom web domain on beehiiv needs a paid plan [6] |
| Host the archive yourself | Turn the posts CSV into static pages on your own site [2] | Technical work; full control of URLs and redirects |
Step 4: domains and redirects
On beehiiv, a connected custom web domain makes your beehiiv subdomain redirect visitors to it with the path kept, and beehiiv's domain article warns, for sites moving onto beehiiv, that old page addresses won't carry over on their own; the same holds when you move away. [6] On MailerLite, connecting a custom domain to a site is a Comfort or Power feature; a root domain works only if no live site uses it, a subdomain is tied to one page, and MailerLite says it does not set up 301 redirects or canonical tags, pointing you to your DNS provider for those. [5]
In practice: list your top beehiiv post URLs from analytics before moving anything. If you rebuild posts on MailerLite or your own site, map each old path to its new one and put the redirects where your domain is served from. If you keep beehiiv for the archive, consider giving MailerLite a new subdomain for its site so the archive's URLs stay untouched.
Step 5: approval, sending domain and cutover
MailerLite's terms say a new account completes two validation steps, is approved by email if it complies, may get a disapproval email if something looks suspicious, and can have its list and past campaign performance reviewed at any time. [7] MailerLite requires domain authentication for custom-domain sending after the 14-day trial, using a DKIM CNAME record, an SPF TXT record and a domain verification TXT record. [10] Do both before the first send.
- Download the Full subscriber export and the posts CSV within 24 hours of requesting them.
- Check the export for tags; export tag segments separately if they are missing.
- Import active readers into MailerLite groups with automation triggering off.
- Complete account validation and authenticate the sending domain.
- Choose an archive option and map old URLs to new ones before moving any domain.
- Rebuild forms and replace beehiiv embeds; rebuild automations and activate them after import.
- Send a test campaign to yourself, then announce the move to readers from the new account.
Questions before you decide
Which beehiiv export should I use?
The Full export. beehiiv says both versions list subscribers by email, status and tier, and the Full version adds custom fields and statistics. Download links are valid for 24 hours, so download promptly.
Can MailerLite import my beehiiv posts?
MailerLite's blog article describes creating posts in its editor and does not mention importing by CSV or RSS. You can edit the displayed created date on published posts, which helps when rebuilding older issues.
Will MailerLite redirect my old beehiiv post URLs?
No. MailerLite's custom domain article says it does not set up 301 redirects or canonical tags. beehiiv's domain article makes the same point for sites moving onto beehiiv: old page addresses won't carry over on their own, so redirects are your job.
Is there an approval step in MailerLite?
Yes, for the account. MailerLite's terms say new accounts complete two validation steps and are approved by email if they comply, or may receive a disapproval email if something looks suspicious.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite Help: How to migrate from Beehiiv to MailerLite Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv Support: Exporting post content or subscriber data from beehiiv Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to import subscribers Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to create a blog Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to add a custom domain to landing pages and websites Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv Support: How to use a custom domain for your publication Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Terms of Use Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to verify and authenticate your domain Accessed 30 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.