Newsletter platform beehiiv has rolled out a suite of product updates, adding webinar hosting, AI-powered podcast analytics, and new paid subscription tools to its platform.

Webinars

beehiiv now allows creators to host live events with up to 1,000 attendees, sell tickets in 10 currencies, stream video and screen sharing natively, send up to five automated reminders before an event, and sell session recordings as standalone products. Creators can embed webinar listings directly in newsletters using the platform’s editor. beehiiv does not take a cut of webinar revenue; creators pay only Stripe’s standard processing fee. The feature is available to users on paid plans.

Podcast MCP

Three weeks after introducing native podcast hosting, beehiiv has added AI integration to the product through support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Creators can connect their beehiiv account to Claude or other AI clients to query podcast data conversationally, including episode download counts, listener geography, listening app breakdowns, and episode transcripts.

The podcast hosting product, which launched April 3, distributes episodes to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Castro, and other major platforms. It supports MP3, M4A, and WAV files, includes automatic audio normalization, and generates a full transcript for each episode. Analytics meet IAB standards and include real-time data. Creators can bundle podcast access with paid newsletter subscriptions to offer private feeds to paying subscribers. beehiiv charges no platform fee on podcast revenue.

“Fundamentally, newsletters and podcasts have massive overlap,” beehiiv co-founder and CEO Tyler Denk told TechCrunch. “Both are typically episodic, long-form content, distributed to an owned audience, monetized via sponsorship.”

Paid Subscription Tools

beehiiv also introduced two features aimed at converting free readers into paying subscribers. A metered paywall allows creators to set a limit on how many free posts a reader can access before hitting a paywall, with configurable reset periods and customizable design. A paid trials feature lets creators charge a reduced upfront rate, such as $1 for 30 days, before automatically moving subscribers to a full-price plan at the end of the trial period.

beehiiv reported that Q1 2026 was its strongest quarter to date, adding $4.5 million in annual recurring revenue and surpassing 50,000 active users.

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