After you sign up and verify your email, HeyNews asks how you want to start. You can connect an existing newsletter or create a new one. Some offer links open checkout before setup. If you already saved your payment method through one of those links, continue with newsletter setup; you do not need another checkout.
Step 1: Choose your setup path
Choose Connect my existing newsletter if you have past issues. Choose Create a new newsletter if you want HeyNews to design the format with you. The new-newsletter option shows the one-time $19 Format Fee before you choose it.
Step 2: Connect your newsletter
Setup opens on your newsletter. Connect it with a beehiiv or Kit account, a public archive address, an RSS address, or a CSV export of past issues. HeyNews will:
Check the connection
Show how many past issues it found, when that information is available
Save the source for Voice Training once your subscription or Trial is active
Connecting a newsletter also tells HeyNews what you are setting up, so it does not ask. For the usual signup path, this step comes before Trial checkout so HeyNews knows which past issues to learn from. If one source cannot be checked, choose another option.
Create a new newsletter
HeyNews opens the Format Intake. You describe the newsletter you want to create, who will read it, what it should do for you, the sources you follow, and how the writing will be reviewed. Your answers are saved after each page, so you can return later. Review the answers before you continue to payment.
If you realize you already have a newsletter, choose I already have a newsletter to return to the connection path. See Create a newsletter with the Format Generator for the full setup, review, and billing flow.
If setup questions appear first
When Newsletter Format setup is not available, HeyNews asks whether you are setting up as a Creator or Company and whether you already publish a newsletter. An existing Creator newsletter continues to the connection screen. A new Creator newsletter or Company setup continues to the setup call instructions shown in the app. You can return with Back to connecting a newsletter.
Step 3: Finish setup
After an existing newsletter source is saved, finish setup. If you still need to activate billing, HeyNews opens checkout. The usual signup starts a 14-day Trial; an offer marked No trial starts a paid subscription instead. If you already completed offer checkout, you continue without a second checkout. Once the source is saved and your subscription or Trial is active, HeyNews begins preparing your AI Writer.
On the Format Generator path, the separate Format Fee checkout saves your card. The Trial starts only after you approve your Newsletter Format. The app shows the exact terms before either checkout.