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GuideHow to move from Mailchimp to beehiiv (2026)
Your subscribers, tags, past campaigns, forms and sending domain, in the right order. Straight from beehiiv's own migration guide, with Mailchimp's free-plan limits for comparison.
Summarised from official help and pricing pages. Not a hands-on migration.
Last checked 1 Nov 2026 against beehiiv's own Mailchimp migration guide (updated 21 Nov 2025) and pricing page, plus Mailchimp's pricing help page. Menu names change, so follow the official guide if anything looks different.
Disclosure (#ad): We earn a commission if you sign up for a paid beehiiv plan through links marked “paid link” on this page, at no extra cost to you. Mailchimp doesn't pay us anything, and its links here are plain links. We haven't done this migration hands-on: every step below is summarised from the official pages linked in the sources. How this works.
The short version
You move two things: your subscribers (a CSV export and upload) and your past campaigns (beehiiv connects to Mailchimp and pulls them in). Then you rebuild your sign-up forms and automations, and point your sending domain at beehiiv.[G]
The catch people miss: beehiiv's importer only brings over campaigns made in Mailchimp's New Email Builder (launched 2022). Anything built in the legacy builder has to be recreated by hand.[G]
Why people switch: Mailchimp's Free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.[MC] beehiiv's Free plan goes to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends.[B]
Mailchimp vs beehiiv: the free plans
| Mailchimp Free | beehiiv Free | |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts / subscribers | Up to 250[MC] | Up to 2,500[B] |
| Email sends | 500 a month, 250 a day[MC] | Unlimited[B] |
| Who counts toward the limit | Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't[MC] | Subscribers[B] |
| Go over the limit | Sending is put on hold until you upgrade or trim your list[MC] | Move to a paid plan; Lite starts at $59/mo, or ≈$49/mo billed annually, at up to 1,000 subscribers[B] |
| Automations | Not on Free (Essentials and up)[MC] | Not on Free (Lite: 10 live automations)[B] |
Mailchimp's paid prices depend on your contact tier and weren't readable on its pricing page when we checked, so we haven't listed them. See Mailchimp's pricing page (not a paid link). beehiiv prices are USD.
Staying on Mailchimp? Unsubscribed contacts still count toward your contact total. Archiving them takes them off it.[MC]
What moves, and what doesn't
| Thing | How it moves | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Subscribers | Export a CSV from Mailchimp, upload it in beehiiv[G] | Signup dates become the import date unless you ask beehiiv support to restore them[G] |
| Tags and custom fields | Mapped during the CSV import[G] | Create any missing custom fields as you map[G] |
| Past campaigns | beehiiv's Content Import connects to your Mailchimp account[G] | New Email Builder campaigns only; legacy-builder emails don't import[G] |
| Sending domain | Add it in beehiiv via Entri, with no manual DNS editing[G] | Custom domains are a Lite-and-up feature in beehiiv's plan table[B] |
| Sign-up forms | Rebuild as beehiiv embedded subscribe forms[G] | Swap the old Mailchimp embed on your site, or new sign-ups keep landing in Mailchimp |
| Automations | Rebuild in beehiiv Automations[G] | Needs Lite or above[B] |
Step 1: get beehiiv ready
- Pick a plan. Free covers up to 2,500 subscribers. If you need automations or your own domain, that's Lite.[B]
- Make a default post template first. When you create it, tick Set as default post style. Imported posts take that styling, and after the import you can only restyle posts one at a time.[G]
Step 2: export your subscribers from Mailchimp
- Log in to Mailchimp and go to Audience.[G]
- Click Export audience, then Export CSV.[G]
- When it's ready, open the Audience exports page and click Download. Big lists can take several minutes.[G]
Step 3: import them into beehiiv
- In beehiiv, go to Settings › Subscribers Import › New Subscribers Import.[G]
- Choose Upload a CSV file and upload your Mailchimp export. Optionally tag everyone in the file under Advanced Configuration.[G]
- Confirm that everyone on the list knowingly opted in to hear from you.[G]
- Map each CSV column to a beehiiv field. Create new custom fields where needed, and map tags to Subscriber Tags. Then click Import.[G]
- Check the results page for rejected rows, then find your list under Audience › Subscribers.[G]
Step 4: protect your deliverability
beehiiv recommends leaving unengaged readers out of your first 2–4 weeks of sends, and ideally removing them during the move. Its suggested filter: Mailchimp contacts with a Contact Rating of 1 or 2. Put them in a segment and choose it under Excluded segments when you publish.[G]
Step 5: bring over your past campaigns
- In beehiiv, go to Settings › Content Import › Start Import, choose Mailchimp and click Next.[G]
- Click Connect and log in to Mailchimp to authorise the import.[G]
- Choose All campaigns, or pick specific campaign folders.[G]
- Wait. beehiiv says imports usually take 5–15 minutes. Refresh until the status shows Completed.[G]
- Your old campaigns show up under Posts and on your beehiiv website.[G] When beehiiv launched the importer in December 2022, it said imported campaigns publish to the site without being emailed to anyone.[U]
Step 6: forms, automations and your domain
- Sign-up forms: recreate your Mailchimp embedded forms as beehiiv subscribe forms and swap the embed code on your site.[G]
- Automations: rebuild welcome emails and other Mailchimp flows in beehiiv's Automations, from scratch or from a template.[G]
- Sending domain: add your custom domain in beehiiv. It uses Entri, so you don't edit DNS records by hand.[G]
- Rather not do it yourself? beehiiv lists migration specialists in its Experts Directory.[G]
Is it worth the move?
Reasons to move
Reasons to stay
- You rely on Mailchimp's SMS add-on. We didn't find SMS on beehiiv's pricing page.[MC][B]
- You have lots of legacy-builder campaigns or complex automations, which all have to be rebuilt by hand.[G]
- You need automations but not much else: they're paid on both, so compare the exact price for your list size first.[MC][B]
Still deciding? See the best newsletter platforms in 2026 or our beehiiv review.
FAQ
Will my subscribers get an email when I import them?
beehiiv's guide doesn't say the subscriber import emails anyone. It does ask you to confirm everyone opted in before the import runs.[G] If you're unsure, ask beehiiv support before you import.
Why didn't some of my old campaigns import?
They were probably built in Mailchimp's legacy email builder. beehiiv's importer only supports the New Email Builder, launched in 2022.[G]
Can I keep my subscribers' original signup dates?
Yes, but not automatically. Finish the import, then contact beehiiv support and ask them to add the original dates.[G]
How long does it take?
beehiiv says the campaign import usually takes 5–15 minutes. The Mailchimp export can take several minutes for big lists.[G] Rebuilding forms and automations takes longer than either.
Should I delete my Mailchimp account straight away?
Our suggestion, not an official step: wait until your new forms are live and your first beehiiv sends have gone out, so no new sign-ups get stranded in Mailchimp.
Sources
- [G] beehiiv, “How to migrate from Mailchimp to beehiiv”: beehiiv.com/support (updated 21 Nov 2025, checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [B] beehiiv pricing and plan comparison (USD): beehiiv.com/pricing (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [MC] Mailchimp, “About Mailchimp Pricing Plans” and pricing page: mailchimp.com/help and mailchimp.com/pricing (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [U] beehiiv product update, “Introducing: API v2” (Mailchimp content import announcement, 2 Dec 2022): product.beehiiv.com (checked 1 Nov 2026)