How to migrate from Kit to beehiiv

This guide walks you through the full migration from Kit to beehiiv in two parts: exporting and importing your subscriber list, and bringing over your newsletter content. 

Free subscriber migration is straightforward with a CSV export and import. Paid subscribers and newsletter archives take a bit more planning, so we've outlined the best approach for each below.

If you'd rather not handle it yourself, beehiiv's Experts Directory offers migration specialists who can manage the whole process for you.

1. Log into your Kit account.
2. Go to Subscribers. 
3. Click the Status button and select 'Confirmed' to export your active subscriber list.
4. Click the checkbox at the top of the subscriber list to select all the subscribers on the current page. To select all subscribers in your account, click the Select all option.
5. Click the icon that looks like three dots (⋮), then Export.
6. Click Bulk Actions > Export.
7. A modal will pop up to confirm that your export file is now processing and letting you know that you will receive an email when the export is complete. Click Done. 

8. When completed, you can download the CSV two ways: 

Email: Check the email of the account owner to retrieve the download link to the exported CSV file. 

In the app: Click the Notifications tab in the bottom left hand corner of the screen and then select the Download link on the Notifications panel that appears on the right hand side of the screen.

1. In beehiiv, go to Settings > Subscribers Import, then click the Import Subscribers button. 
   
   
   
2. You’ll be prompted to choose an import method. Select Upload a CSV file, then choose your file. Once uploaded, click Next.
   
   
3. Under Advanced Configuration (Optional), you can apply tags to all subscribers in the CSV. You’ll also be able to map any tags from your CSV in the next step. When ready, click Confirm subscribers import.
4. A confirmation will appear asking you to verify that all contacts in the import have knowingly opted in to receive emails from you. Click the Import button to proceed.
5. Next, you’ll start mapping out the fields. Match the columns from your CSV file to fields in beehiiv. For any fields that don’t already exist, you can create new ones under the Custom Field column by selecting Create new custom field. Tags can be assigned to the Subscriber Tags option. When done making your selections, click on the Import button. 

6. After processing, you’ll see how many subscribers were successfully imported.
7. If some were rejected, refer to the FAQs in our guide, How to import free subscribers and map custom field or tags for common reasons and troubleshooting steps.
8. To view the subscribers from your newly imported list in your account, go to Subscribers from the left panel in your dashboard.
9. To view custom fields for a specific subscriber, click their email address, then scroll to the Custom Fields section on the left side of the subscriber profile.

If your paid subscriptions are managed through Kit + Stripe Express, there is not a way to migrate over paid subscriptions to beehiiv. This is because Kit does not expose the customer profile, payment method data, or subscription details required to securely transfer paid subscribers to another platform.

With this limitation in mind, there are two recommended approaches:

Cancel or refund existing Kit subscriptions, then email your paid subscribers with:

• A link to your beehiiv Upgrade page, or
• A discount offer link to encourage re-subscription.

Give existing paid subscribers complimentary access in beehiiv for the remainder of their current billing period. Then email them to notify:

• Their paid access will continue until their current period ends.
• They’ll need to re-subscribe via beehiiv to continue access moving forward.

With either option, active paid subscriptions in Kit can be canceled by deleting the associated subscription product. When the product is deleted, Kit automatically emails subscribers at the end of their billing cycle letting them know that the product is no longer available and they will not be charged again once a subscription product is deleted.

Kit does not currently support pro-rated refunds or bulk refunds. Any refund must be issued individually. Follow Kit’s instructions here: How to refund a purchase.

If your Kit setup uses an external Standard Stripe account and your Customers tab contains full subscription and payment details, then you can migrate paid subscriptions to beehiiv.

In this case, follow the standard paid migration guide: How to import paid subscribers.

Before moving your content into beehiiv, set up your template and styling so your imported posts look the way you want from the start.

Before migrating your content, it’s best to create a newsletter template in beehiiv with your preferred styling. When setting up the template, select Set as default post style so those design choices automatically apply to all imported posts.

After migration, styling can only be adjusted on a post-by-post basis.

beehiiv offers several pre-built templates you can use as a starting point. For step-by-step instructions on creating templates and setting a default post style, see: Creating and using newsletter templates.

To import your newsletter archive from Kit, navigate to Settings > Content Import and select the Kit option. You'll need your newsletter site URL from Kit.

If you have paywalled content on your website on Kit, you'll need to temporarily set your posts to public before completing the content import and then manually add the paywalls post by post in beehiiv. Read our guide on how to add a paywall to a post in beehiiv.

For hands-on help with your migration from Kit to beehiiv, you can work with a specialist from the beehiiv Experts Directory. These trusted partners offer professional migration services to help ensure a smooth transition to your new platform.