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beehiiv Boosts, now paid recommendations (2026): what they cost, what they pay, the 20% fee and payouts
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 31 Oct 2026
Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.
Short answer: beehiiv Boosts are now called paid recommendations. To grow, you set a price per verified subscriber and other newsletters recommend you on their signup pages; to earn, you recommend other newsletters and get paid for each verified subscriber you send. beehiiv keeps 20% (its example: a $2.50 offer pays the recommender $2.00). It needs a paid plan (Lite or Pro), Stripe identity verification and a funded Wallet. Free recommendations, with no money involved, work on every plan.
Rules from beehiiv's Recommendations page and seven beehiiv help articles (listed under Sources; most updated 20 Oct 2026, all checked 2026-10-31); plan prices from beehiiv pricing (checked 2026-10-27). beehiiv publishes no typical or average price per subscriber: the $2.50 figure is beehiiv's own fee example, not a market rate. beehiiv notes its articles are still being updated after the rename.
Boosts vs paid recommendations: what changed
| Old name | New name (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Boosts | Paid recommendations |
| Grow Boosts (you pay to grow) | Incoming recommendations |
| Monetize Boosts (you earn) | Outgoing recommendations |
| Boosts Marketplace | Recommendations Marketplace |
| Auto-clean | Removed; replaced by verification tags |
| Email Boosts, Direct Links | Retired (ones already running finish; shared links keep working) |
beehiiv says the core works as before: CPA offers, verification, the Wallet, auto-accept, auto-pause and country targeting. Subscribers now show the acquisition source Paid Recommendations (paid) or recommendation (free).
Free vs paid recommendations
| Free recommendations | Paid recommendations (ex-Boosts) | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | All plans, including Free | Paid plans (Lite or Pro) |
| Money | None: mutual promotion | Grower pays a CPA per verified subscriber; recommender gets it minus 20% |
| Where readers see it | Right after they sign up to a newsletter (and in posts for your Top 4). Up to 4 slots, up to 3 of them paid; each slot can shuffle, pin, auto-match, show your own publication, or stay empty. | |
| Setup | Turn on, pick who to recommend | Admin/Owner only; Stripe identity verification + Stripe Express account; funded Wallet to grow |
To appear in the network a publication must be public, have sent a post in the last 60 days and have a name and logo. beehiiv says there's currently no way to opt out of appearing. You can recommend a given newsletter for free or for pay, not both. Paid recommendations run through Stripe, so you must be in a Stripe-supported country.
What paid growth costs (incoming recommendations)
You pay only for subscribers who pass verification, at the CPA you set. The 20% fee is inside your CPA, not added on top. Using beehiiv's own $2.50 example:
| Verified subscribers | You pay at a $2.50 CPA | Recommenders get | beehiiv's 20% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $250 | $200 | $50 |
| 500 | $1,250 | $1,000 | $250 |
| 1,000 | $2,500 | $2,000 | $500 |
| 5,000 | $12,500 | $10,000 | $2,500 |
Example only: you pick your own CPA and beehiiv publishes no typical one. Plus your beehiiv plan (Lite from $59/month, monthly billing).
- Funding: deposit via Stripe into your Wallet: at least $20 when creating an offer per beehiiv's offer setup article and FAQ; beehiiv's Wallet article says $50 minimum and $10,000 maximum per deposit. Deposits are non-refundable; only earnings can be withdrawn.
- Keep it live: available funds must stay at or above 10× your CPA ($25 at a $2.50 CPA) or the offer may pause. Auto-deposit can top up once a week, every two weeks or once a month.
- Holds: beehiiv holds the CPA for every signup still being verified (its example: 100 pending at $2.00 = $200 held). Verification takes 3–21 days; money for failed subscribers is returned to your balance.
- Controls: one live paid offer per publication; pay only for chosen countries; auto-accept publishers by category, language or country with a quality-vs-growth slider; auto-pause partners whose subscribers' open rate drops below your threshold (rule starts after at least 100 verified subscribers); block or report a publisher.
- Your list: every paid subscriber is tagged Rec: Pending Verification, Rec: Verified or Rec: Failed Verification. Failed ones are not removed automatically any more; beehiiv offers an automation template that removes them.
What paid recommendations pay (outgoing recommendations)
In the Marketplace each offer shows Recommend for $X / subscriber (auto-accepts you, live at once) or Apply for $X / subscriber (the publication reviews you). $X is already after beehiiv's 20%. You can filter by CPA, country restrictions, category, language and size, and sort by highest CPA or most funded (beehiiv's tip: well-funded offers are less likely to pause).
Can it pay for your beehiiv plan? Only paid plans can earn, so at beehiiv's $2.00 example payout you'd need this many verified subscribers sent per month to cover Lite:
| Your subscribers | Lite, per month | Verified subscribers needed at $2.00 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $59 | 30 |
| 2,500 | $79 | 40 |
| 5,000 | $109 | 55 |
| 10,000 | $139 | 70 |
| 25,000 | $199 | 100 |
Monthly billing, USD; yearly billing is cheaper (see beehiiv pricing). Real offers can pay more or less than beehiiv's example. Recommendations show to new subscribers right after they sign up, so what you can send depends on how fast your own list grows, not its size. Add Ad Network income and paid subscriptions for the full picture.
How and when you get paid
- Verification: beehiiv checks each subscriber using engagement, geolocation and behaviour signals (methods not disclosed). You earn only for verified ones.
- Wallet: earnings land in your beehiiv Wallet as each subscriber is verified (Ad Network earnings, by contrast, arrive on the 20th of the next month).
- Withdraw: any time to the bank account on your Stripe Express account; beehiiv says 3–5 business days. Earnings still pay out if you downgrade or close your account.
- Or reinvest: move earnings into your growth budget. beehiiv warns transfers can't be reversed or withdrawn.
Withdrawals can be paused while beehiiv reviews your paid recommendations; access can be disabled by its abuse review. The Wallet exports a CSV of all transactions for your accounts.
Related: How much beehiiv ads pay · beehiiv referral program · Is beehiiv worth it? · beehiiv free plan · beehiiv pricing · beehiiv vs Substack · Paid newsletter supported countries
Sources
- beehiiv: Recommendations feature page (free on all plans, paid on Lite and Pro, "What happened to Boosts?")
- beehiiv: FAQs about the Recommendations Network (fee, $20 minimum, 10× balance rule, slots, network requirements, verification)
- beehiiv: Boosts to paid recommendations, what changed (renames, retired features)
- beehiiv: Growing your audience with paid incoming recommendations (offer setup, fee example, Marketplace display)
- beehiiv: Monetizing your newsletter with paid outgoing recommendations (Marketplace, filters, one type per publication)
- beehiiv: Automating your paid incoming recommendations (auto-accept, auto-deposit, auto-pause)
- beehiiv: Verification outcomes for paid recommendation subscribers (tags, no auto-clean)
- beehiiv: Using the beehiiv Wallet (deposits $50–$10,000, holds 3–21 days, withdrawals, transfers)
- beehiiv pricing (Lite prices; checked 2026-10-27)
All beehiiv pages checked 2026-10-31.
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Links marked “paid link” earn us a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. They never change our numbers or rankings. Disclosure.
FAQ
What happened to beehiiv Boosts?
beehiiv renamed Boosts to "paid recommendations" and moved them next to free recommendations (Grow > Recommendations, or Monetize > Paid recommendations). Grow Boosts are now incoming recommendations, Monetize Boosts are outgoing recommendations and the Boosts Marketplace is the Recommendations Marketplace. beehiiv says how paid growth works hasn't changed. Email Boosts and Direct Links were retired, and Auto-clean was replaced by verification tags.
How much do beehiiv Boosts cost?
You choose the price: a cost per verified subscriber (CPA) when you create your offer. beehiiv publishes no typical or minimum CPA. A 20% fee is already inside that price, so at beehiiv's own example of a $2.50 CPA you pay $2.50 per verified subscriber and the recommending newsletter gets $2.00. You also need a paid beehiiv plan (Lite from $59/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, monthly billing) and a funded Wallet.
How much do beehiiv Boosts pay?
Whatever each offer says on its button ("Recommend for $X / subscriber"), which is the advertiser's CPA minus beehiiv's 20% fee. beehiiv publishes no average. You're paid only for subscribers who pass verification, into your beehiiv Wallet as they're verified, and you withdraw to your bank via Stripe Express (beehiiv says 3–5 business days).
Can I use beehiiv Boosts on the free plan?
Free recommendations (recommending other newsletters and being recommended, no money involved) are on every plan, including Free. Paid recommendations (the old Boosts) need a paid plan: beehiiv's recommendations page says Lite or Pro.
What is the minimum deposit for beehiiv paid recommendations?
beehiiv's offer-setup article and FAQ say $20 when you create a paid offer; its Wallet article says the minimum deposit is $50 and the maximum is $10,000 per transaction. Deposits are non-refundable. To keep an offer live, your available funds must stay at or above 10x your CPA.
How long does beehiiv hold Boost funds?
While subscribers are being verified, beehiiv holds the CPA for each pending signup (its example: a $2.00 CPA with 100 unverified signups holds $200). Verification takes 3 to 21 days; money for subscribers who fail goes back to your available balance.
Are beehiiv Boosts worth it?
beehiiv publishes no average cost per subscriber or quality data, so we can't say. What its tools let you control: which countries you pay for, auto-accept conditions on a quality-vs-growth slider, auto-pause by open rate after at least 100 verified subscribers, and blocking or reporting partners. Failed subscribers stay on your list, tagged, so you can see what you paid for.
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