How to import paid subscribers

To import paid subscriber data into beehiiv, you’ll need an active Stripe account connected to your publication, as well as an existing or previous Stripe account from which you’re migrating.

This guide walks you through using the paid subscriber import tool, outlining each step to ensure your subscribers are successfully migrated from your previous platform to beehiiv.

For the smoothest experience, keep both your beehiiv and Stripe dashboards open in separate browser tabs. This will make it easy to switch between them as you complete the migration.

1. From your beehiiv account dashboard, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
   
   Your publication settings will open on General Info. If you manage multiple publications, select the correct one from the dropdown at the top left.
    
2. From the left Settings panel, click Subscriber Import. Under Import paid subscriptions from Stripe, click Start a New Migration.  
   
   
   
3. Review the note about canceling existing subscriptions with your previous provider after migration is complete. Then click Start a New Migration to begin.
   
   
   
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to copy customer and payment information. Use the Go to Stripe link in the top-right corner to access your Stripe account.
   
   
   

What this does
This process securely copies the customer information and payment method data (PAN data) from the stripe account connected to your previous platform into the stripe account connected to your beehiiv account. More information about this Stripe process can be found here.

How to do it:
1. In Stripe, switch to your source account (used by your previous platform).
2. Initiate a full copy of your customers' PAN data into your beehiiv stripe account: [xxxxx]  
3. Switch to your beehiiv Stripe account and accept the transfer.
4. The copy may take up to 72 hours depending on size, though it is generally much faster. No charges occur.
5. When complete, customers will be visible in your beehiiv Stripe account.

After completion, click I’ve completed these steps in the bottom-right corner. 

In this step, you’ll log into your source Stripe account to retrieve the Account ID and create a Restricted API Key with read access. 

• Account ID: You can find your source ID in Stripe under Settings > Personal details > Accounts. Copy the ID that starts with acct_. 
• Restricted API Key: Access your Stripe API Keys under Developers > API Keys > Create Restricted Key. Give the new key read privileges for customers, products, coupons, and subscriptions. 

In this step, you’ll see a list of all your Stripe products. Choose which products to migrate and then map each one to a beehiiv tier.

If you’ve already created paid subscription tiers in beehiiv that match your Stripe products, select the corresponding tier from the dropdown.

Otherwise, if you haven’t created paid subscription tiers yet, click Create new tier to add one directly from this page. Any new tiers you create will appear in your paid subscription tiers settings, where you can edit pricing, benefits, and other details as needed.

In this step, you can review all of your subscriptions from Stripe, including each product’s original details and the new beehiiv tier it will map to.

To download a copy of your subscriptions from Stripe, click Download CSV above the list. 

When you’re ready, click on Start Import in the bottom-right corner.

As your migration runs, you can track progress in real time. Subscriptions are categorized into three groups:

• Uploaded: The total number of subscriptions queued for migration.
• Processed: Subscriptions successfully migrated to beehiiv.
• Skipped: Subscriptions that could not be migrated due to Stripe errors.

The process may take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending on the volume of subscriptions.

Once complete, you’ll see a success message confirming that your migration finished successfully.

• Migrated subscribers will see no changes in their pricing, access, or billing schedule.
• Subscribers will be billed on their regular renewal date and placed on a temporary trial until then to prevent double billing.
• Existing prices are preserved.
  • For example, if a $3/month Stripe product is mapped to a $5/month beehiiv tier, migrated users will remain at $3/month. Only new subscribers who sign up through beehiiv will see the $5/month pricing.

Once your migration is complete, your paid subscribers will appear under Audience > Subscribers in your beehiiv account, included in your main subscribers list. From there, you can update, segment, or manage them just like any other subscriber.