Choose beehiiv if your video newsletter is part of a media business; choose Mailchimp if video is only one part of a broader marketing program. That is the practical split. Both tools can promote videos cleanly, but neither is magic: most email clients still do not play full video inside the inbox, so the real job is to drive clicks to a hosted video page.
TLDR: beehiiv is better for creators, publishers, and operators who want audience growth, referrals, sponsorships, and newsletter-first analytics. Mailchimp is stronger for ecommerce teams, service businesses, and marketers who need automations, segmentation, landing pages, and CRM-style campaign tools. For example, a creator with 12,000 subscribers sending a weekly 6-minute video essay may care most about a 4.5% click rate and subscriber growth, making beehiiv the cleaner fit. A store with 40,000 contacts, 8 customer segments, and video product demos tied to sales will usually get more from Mailchimp.
What “video newsletter” really means
A video newsletter usually does not mean an embedded video playing directly in Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail. Some clients support limited video playback, but support is inconsistent. Many recipients will only see a fallback image.
So the standard approach is simple:
- Host the video on YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, a private page, or your own site.
- Add a thumbnail with a play button overlay.
- Link the image to the video page.
- Track clicks to judge interest.
This matters because the best platform is not the one that “supports video” in the flashiest way. It is the one that helps you get the right people to click, watch, subscribe, and act.
beehiiv: best for video-first publishers and creators
beehiiv feels built for people who publish regularly. If your video newsletter is an editorial product, a creator update, a paid media property, or a community channel, beehiiv has a clear appeal.
The platform focuses on writing, publishing, list growth, and monetization. You can send an email version and publish a web version at the same time. That is useful for video newsletters because many video issues work better as web posts with embedded video, comments, and shareable links.
Key beehiiv strengths for video newsletters:
- Clean publishing workflow: Write once and send as both email and web post.
- Audience growth tools: Referral programs, recommendations, and subscribe forms are central.
- Newsletter analytics: Opens, clicks, growth sources, and subscriber behavior are easy to read.
- Monetization options: Useful if your video newsletter sells sponsorships or paid subscriptions.
- Creator-friendly design: Less clutter than many older marketing platforms.
The catch is that beehiiv is not trying to be a full marketing suite. If you need deep ecommerce triggers, advanced CRM fields, or complex customer journeys, you may hit limits. Honestly, it feels like beehiiv is saying, “Publish better and grow faster,” not “build every possible campaign workflow.” For many creators, that is a relief. For some companies, it is a problem.
Mailchimp: best for marketing teams and businesses
Mailchimp is more mature as a general email marketing tool. It has been used by small businesses, ecommerce brands, nonprofits, agencies, and service companies for years. For video newsletters, its value is not just the email editor. It is the broader set of marketing tools around the send.
Mailchimp includes a video content block, which lets you add a video URL and display a preview image that links out. It is convenient. It is also not a true universal inbox video player. The recipient still usually clicks through to watch.
Key Mailchimp strengths for video newsletters:
- Marketing automation: Better for welcome sequences, abandoned carts, product education, and lead nurturing.
- Segmentation: Useful when different audience groups need different videos.
- Ecommerce integrations: Stronger fit for Shopify, WooCommerce, and product-led campaigns.
- A/B testing: Helpful for thumbnails, subject lines, and calls to action.
- Campaign reporting: Good for teams that track sales, clicks, and customer behavior.
Expect to waste time on setup if you only want to publish a simple weekly video note. Mailchimp can feel heavier than needed. Some menus take extra clicks, and the platform often feels built for campaigns, not pure publishing. Still, if your video newsletter must connect to sales data, product categories, or customer lifecycle emails, Mailchimp is hard to dismiss.
Video design and editing workflow
beehiiv has a clean editor. It is quick for writing around a video: headline, summary, thumbnail, transcript, and call to action. That makes it a strong option for creators who send frequently and want a calm writing space.
Mailchimp offers more template control and brand layout options. This can help businesses that need polished promotional formats. Product grids, buttons, sections, offers, and visual blocks are easier to shape for marketing campaigns.
For video newsletters, the winning layout is usually simple:
- Short subject line with a clear reason to watch.
- One strong thumbnail above the fold.
- Two to four lines of context before the video link.
- One main call to action, not five competing links.
- Optional transcript or summary for readers who cannot watch.
Both platforms can create this layout. beehiiv makes it feel more like publishing. Mailchimp makes it feel more like campaign production.
Analytics: what to measure
Do not obsess over opens. Privacy changes have made open rates less reliable. For video newsletters, clicks and downstream behavior are more useful.
Track these numbers:
- Thumbnail click rate: The share of recipients who click to watch.
- Watch page conversion: Subscribers, purchases, replies, or bookings after the click.
- Subscriber growth: New signups per issue or per video.
- Retention: Unsubscribes after video-heavy sends.
- Revenue per send: Sponsorship income, paid upgrades, or sales.
beehiiv is especially useful when the newsletter itself is the business. You can see growth, referrals, and issue performance in a publisher-friendly way. Mailchimp is better when email is one channel in a larger sales system. Its reporting makes more sense when tied to ecommerce orders, lead funnels, or customer segments.
Pricing and scale
Pricing changes, so check current plans before choosing. In general, beehiiv tends to appeal to publishers who want growth tools without paying for a heavy marketing stack. Mailchimp pricing can rise as contacts and feature needs grow, especially when advanced automation or larger audiences are involved.
The real cost is not only the monthly fee. It is the time spent building each issue. If a creator saves 30 minutes per send with beehiiv and publishes twice a week, that is roughly 52 hours a year. If a retail team earns more from segmented video campaigns in Mailchimp, the added setup time may be worth it.
Which platform should you choose?
Pick beehiiv if:
- You are a creator, educator, journalist, analyst, or media operator.
- Your main product is the newsletter or content brand.
- You want referrals, recommendations, and subscriber growth features.
- You publish video posts that should live on a clean web archive.
- You care about sponsorships or paid subscriptions.
Pick Mailchimp if:
- You run an ecommerce store or service business.
- Your videos support products, launches, sales, or onboarding.
- You need deeper automations and customer segmentation.
- You already use Mailchimp with your store or CRM process.
- Your team wants broader campaign tools, not just newsletter publishing.
Final verdict
beehiiv is the stronger choice for a video newsletter that behaves like a publication. It is cleaner, faster, and better aligned with audience growth. Mailchimp is the stronger choice when video is part of a larger marketing machine with products, segments, automations, and revenue tracking.
If you are publishing a weekly video briefing, interview, commentary series, or creator update, start with beehiiv. If you are sending product demos, customer education, sale announcements, or behavior-based campaigns, choose Mailchimp. The best platform is the one that matches the business model behind the video, not the one with the longest feature list.