You can connect Gravity Forms directly to Beehiiv without sending every signup through Zapier or Make. Install a Beehiiv add-on, connect a Beehiiv API key, and create a feed that maps your form’s email field to a Beehiiv publication. The important work is not the connection itself; it is deciding when the feed should run, how consent should work, and which source data you want attached to each subscriber.
We built Beehiiv for Gravity Forms for that direct workflow. This guide explains how to set it up, how to move an existing Zapier or Make automation safely, and what to check when a submission does not appear in Beehiiv.
What the direct integration does
Beehiiv for Gravity Forms adds a Beehiiv feed to Gravity Forms. A feed is the configuration that tells an add-on what to do after a successful submission. In this case, the feed selects a Beehiiv publication, identifies the form field containing the subscriber’s email address, and optionally sends custom fields and attribution data.
The plugin supports:
- multiple Beehiiv publications associated with one API key;
- Gravity Forms-to-Beehiiv custom field mapping;
- per-feed double opt-in control;
- welcome-email and resubscription controls;
- UTM source, medium, and campaign values, plus the referring site;
- Gravity Forms merge tags in attribution fields;
- feed conditional logic;
- asynchronous processing; and
- Beehiiv subscription IDs and success or error notes on the Gravity Forms entry.
This is a focused integration, not a general automation platform. Use it when the main job is to create Beehiiv subscribers from Gravity Forms. Keep Zapier, Make, or another automation tool when a single submission must also trigger a long chain across unrelated services.
What you need before setup
- An active WordPress site with Gravity Forms installed.
- A Beehiiv account with at least one publication.
- A Beehiiv API key. Beehiiv places API-key management under Settings → API in the workspace settings.
- A form with an Email field and any consent field your workflow requires.
- Any Beehiiv custom fields you plan to map already created in Beehiiv.
The final point matters. Beehiiv’s subscription API accepts custom-field values, but its documentation says the fields must already exist in the publication. Sending a new field name with a subscription does not create that field.
Treat the API key like a password. Beehiiv recommends a unique key for each application, secure server-side storage, and regular rotation. Do not paste the key into front-end code, a page builder, browser storage, or a public support message. See Beehiiv’s API-key guidance for the current key-creation steps.
How to connect Gravity Forms to Beehiiv
1. Install the add-on and connect Beehiiv
Install and activate Beehiiv for Gravity Forms, then open its settings under Forms → Settings. Paste the API key from your Beehiiv workspace and save the connection.
The publication selector should populate with the publications available to that key. If it stays empty, do not build the feed yet. Recheck that the key was copied completely, belongs to the intended workspace, and can access the publication.
2. Create a Beehiiv feed for the form
Open the form you want to connect, go to its settings, choose the Beehiiv section, and add a new feed. Give the feed a name that identifies both its purpose and destination, such as Main newsletter — footer signup.
Select the Beehiiv publication and map the required email address to a Gravity Forms Email field. Do not map an unvalidated Single Line Text field when an Email field can enforce the expected address format.
3. Map only useful subscriber data
Map the fields you expect to use for segmentation or personalization. Common examples are first name, company, role, content interest, or customer type. Collecting and syncing fields “just in case” creates unnecessary data handling and makes later cleanup harder.
Create the corresponding custom fields in Beehiiv first, then return to the feed and map each Beehiiv field to its Gravity Forms source. If a field does not appear, refresh the connection after confirming that it belongs to the selected publication.
4. Choose the opt-in behavior deliberately
Beehiiv’s API supports three double opt-in behaviors: force it on, force it off, or use the publication default. The safest general choice is to use the publication default unless this specific form has a documented reason to differ.
- Default: keeps consent behavior consistent with the publication.
- On: sends a confirmation step before the subscriber becomes active.
- Off: marks the subscriber active without that confirmation step.
Do not turn confirmation off merely to increase the visible subscriber count. Base the choice on the consent language, audience expectations, deliverability policy, and legal requirements that apply to the site. If newsletter signup is optional within a broader form, add a clear unchecked consent checkbox and use feed conditional logic so the Beehiiv feed runs only when the person opts in.
The plugin can also reactivate a previously unsubscribed address. Beehiiv’s API guidance is explicit: reactivation should be used only when the subscriber is knowingly resubscribing. Pair that option with unambiguous consent rather than enabling it globally without context.
5. Add source and campaign attribution
Use stable UTM values that explain where the subscriber came from. The values are attached to the Beehiiv subscription; they do not need to match the query string of the current page.
| Field | Example | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
utm_source |
oddjar-site |
Which site or source produced the subscriber? |
utm_medium |
gravity-form |
What signup mechanism was used? |
utm_campaign |
footer-newsletter |
Which placement or campaign produced the signup? |
| Referring site | The page URL or a Gravity Forms merge tag | Which page contained the form? |
Keep naming consistent. Values such as Footer Form, footer_form, and footer-form become separate labels in reporting. Choose one convention before adding the feed to several forms.
6. Add conditional logic when the form has more than one purpose
A contact, registration, checkout, or download form should not automatically become a newsletter form. Enable feed conditional logic and run the Beehiiv feed only when the newsletter-consent field has the required value.
Conditional feeds can also route people to different publications or campaigns based on a declared interest. If you create several feeds on one form, make the rules mutually clear and test every branch; otherwise one submission may satisfy more than one feed.
7. Test the complete subscriber state
Submit the public form with a fresh address you control. Then verify all of the following:
- The Gravity Forms entry was created and was not marked as spam.
- The entry contains a Beehiiv success note or subscription ID.
- The address appears in the intended Beehiiv publication.
- The subscriber has the expected active or pending-confirmation state.
- Mapped custom fields contain the correct values.
- UTM and referring-site values use the expected naming.
- The welcome or confirmation email behavior matches the feed setting.
- A submission that does not satisfy the consent rule does not run the feed.
A successful form confirmation is not enough evidence by itself. Gravity Forms processes standard add-on feeds after it creates the entry, so always check both the entry record and Beehiiv.
How to migrate from Zapier or Make
Moving the subscription step is straightforward, but the two configurations are not interchangeable. A direct Beehiiv feed will not import your automation history or reproduce unrelated actions automatically.
Inventory the current workflow
Write down every trigger, filter, transformation, and action in the existing automation. Separate the Beehiiv subscription action from other steps such as sending a Slack message, updating a CRM, adding a spreadsheet row, or waiting before a follow-up action.
Move only the Beehiiv subscription job to the direct feed. Keep or rebuild the other steps separately.
Recreate the mapping, not the automation history
| Can be recreated in the direct feed | Does not transfer automatically |
|---|---|
| Email and existing Beehiiv custom-field mappings | Zapier or Make run history and error logs |
| Double opt-in and welcome-email choices | Filters or transformations that depend on another app |
| UTM and referring-site values | Downstream CRM, spreadsheet, notification, or delay steps |
| Gravity Forms feed conditional logic | Old Gravity Forms entries or previously failed tasks |
Creating a feed does not backfill earlier entries. Gravity Forms documents that feeds must be active when the submission occurs and that newly created feeds do not automatically process old entries. If historical entries must be added to Beehiiv, handle that as a separate, consent-aware import project.
Run a controlled cutover
- Create the direct feed and reproduce the required mapping.
- Pause the old Beehiiv action during a controlled test window.
- Test successful signup, non-consent, double opt-in, and any conditional branches.
- Confirm the subscriber data in Beehiiv and the notes on the Gravity Forms entry.
- Disable the old Beehiiv action, but retain an export or screenshots of its configuration for rollback.
- Review new entries after launch rather than assuming every background request succeeded.
If the old automation performs other useful actions, disable only its Beehiiv step or adjust the workflow so those actions continue without creating a second subscription request.
Troubleshooting failed or missing Beehiiv subscriptions
The publication list is empty
Confirm that the API key is valid, belongs to the correct Beehiiv workspace, and has access to the expected publication. Save the key again and reload the settings. If the key was exposed or shared insecurely, revoke it in Beehiiv, create a replacement, and update WordPress.
A custom field is missing from the mapper
Create the field in the selected Beehiiv publication first. Beehiiv discards unknown custom-field names sent during subscription creation. Refresh the plugin’s Beehiiv data or reconnect the settings, then reopen the feed.
The form submits, but no Beehiiv subscription appears
Check the Gravity Forms entry before resubmitting repeatedly. Confirm that the Beehiiv feed is active, its conditional logic matched, and the entry was not marked as spam. Gravity Forms does not process standard add-on feeds for spam entries, and changing an entry from spam to not-spam does not automatically run missed feeds afterward.
Next, read the Beehiiv note on the entry. Authentication failures point to the API key or publication access. Validation failures usually point to the email address, a mapping, or a value Beehiiv rejected. Rate-limit or temporary API errors should be diagnosed from the recorded response instead of guessed at from the front-end confirmation.
The subscriber is pending instead of active
Check the feed’s double opt-in setting and the publication default. When double opt-in is on, Beehiiv sends a confirmation email and the subscriber must confirm before becoming active. Also check spam and delivery folders during a controlled test.
A previously unsubscribed person stays unsubscribed
Verify that the person knowingly asked to resubscribe and that the form states this clearly. Then review the feed’s reactivation option. Do not use reactivation to override an old opt-out when the new submission was for another purpose.
The source data is inconsistent
Inspect the UTM values on the Beehiiv subscriber and compare them with the feed. If merge tags are used, confirm that the source field is populated on every relevant submission. Replace ad hoc labels with a small documented naming scheme before creating more feeds.
Direct integration or Zapier: which should you use?
| Choose a direct Beehiiv feed when… | Keep an automation platform when… |
|---|---|
| The main outcome is a Beehiiv subscriber. | One submission must update several external apps. |
| You want Beehiiv-specific opt-in, reactivation, and attribution controls in the form settings. | You need complex transformations, delays, or branching beyond the form’s data. |
| You want troubleshooting attached to the Gravity Forms entry. | Your team already monitors automation runs centrally. |
| You want to remove per-task automation usage from this one connection. | The Beehiiv step is a small part of a broader business workflow. |
The direct route reduces the number of systems involved in a simple newsletter signup. It does not make Zapier or Make unnecessary for every workflow.
Build the feed around consent and diagnosis
The best Gravity Forms-to-Beehiiv setup is not the one with the most mapped fields. It is the one your team can explain and troubleshoot: a clear consent condition, a known publication, a small useful field map, consistent attribution values, and a test that verifies the final subscriber state.
Start with one form and one feed. Confirm that it behaves correctly for both opt-in and non-opt-in submissions, then reuse the same naming and testing pattern across the rest of the site.
