Beehiiv is known as a good newsletter platform. Its Website Builder is another story.
Beehiiv markets the Website Builder as “Fully customizable” and says users can create websites with custom layouts, branding, images, content, fonts, colors, and more.
On another Beehiiv page, the claim is even stronger:
“NO CODE. NO LIMITS.”
and
“Our no-code website builder can give you a world-class website in minutes, not months. No design skills required.”
But current Beehiiv customers are describing something very different. They are complaining about limited customization, difficulty making simple changes, a frustrating editor, basic website functionality, and an AI builder that does not always work as expected.
What Beehiiv Users Are Saying
In January 2026, a Beehiiv user acknowledges the gap between what Beehiiv advertises for its website builder and what it is in actuality:
“I also didn’t expect the web builder to be so frustrating that I couldn’t get the basic site built in 30 days…I’ll be surprised beehiiv lasts very long as a standalone service without significant investment or being acquired. It’s very disappointing when there was so much hype.”
Other users describe the same problem:
“Can’t really stand the website builder. To me it’s just a static home page for the posts with not a lot of customization…”
and
“It feels and looks like a landing page builder not a website builder.”
Still the same story in May
“Website Design in Beehiiv is really limited…Also pls don’t say use AI, the chat bot sucks and half the time it doesn’t work or it pulls post blocks as regular text and image blocks that aren’t connected.”
The June discussion was even more blunt.
One user wrote:
“But the website builder / ai features lack HEAVY. It can not do simple things.”
Another wrote:
“Website builder is awful, I spent at least 10 hours trying to use it and gave up on it”
And similarly:
“I like beehiiv alot but the website builder is so frustrating. So limited in what you can do and even something simple like changing a font requires about 20 different clicks. It requires a lot of patience!!!”
Same same this month in September still…
“I just physically can’t believe the website builder is this bad. All I wanted to do was make some simple changes on my site, and it fails me every time. Any time I use it, it just straight up disappoints.”
They described the builder as having “Very limited customization” and “Extremely basic landing pages”, and criticized Beehiiv for “dropping unfinished features” instead of improving what it had already added.
Lots of agreement from other users:
Yeah, we really need Tyler to understand that the focus should be on improving quality of what’s already there vs constantly delivering new features simply to satisfy investors hunger for shiny new things
And from “someone with 30 years experience in tech in the SF bay area”:
“…I sincerely appreciate many things about beehiiv but you are spot on: they’re shipping half-backed ideas to test and iterate. The problem usually is that PM’s (product management) move on to the next shiny object that will make them look good to leadership, instead of making the last shiny thing suck less, because they get less if any props for it. Which sucks.”
Even more recently from this past week, another Beehiiv user of 2 years looking for website builder updates as well:
Will there be any product updates to the website editor soon?
It’s still a steaming pile of hot poo.
Difficult to navigate, difficult to make simple changes, and somehow uses an entirely different editor UI than the emails/posts.
Customer for 2+ years. And have moved all of my “website” functionality off of Beehiiv.
What About the Big Company Logos?
Beehiiv’s Website Builder marketing displays logos from major companies including TIME, Newsweek, TechCrunch, and even Pinterest and Kalshi – websites that need customization to get those features – customization that Beehiiv does not support
Beehiiv’s own case studies for TIME and TechCrunch are about their newsletter operations, not their primary websites.
The TIME case study says TIME moved 13 newsletters and more than 2 million subscribers to Beehiiv. The TechCrunch case study describes its newsletter and editorial workflows. Neither says that TIME.com or TechCrunch.com was built with Beehiiv’s Website Builder.
A major company using Beehiiv for newsletters is not the same thing as that company’s main website being built with Beehiiv.
A Website Builder Should Build Websites
UltimateWB takes a different approach.
UltimateWB is website builder software for building complete websites. It includes built-in tools for CMS and navigation, e-commerce, forums, classifieds and listings directory, memberships, social features, forms and surveys, articles, mailing lists, rewards, file uploads, and more.
You can also add your own PHP and server-side code when you need custom functionality.
Read: How to Choose a Website Builder That Works for Both Beginners and Developers?
So it’s coding optional and more “No Limits” than Beehiiv.
What proves it better than a company building its own website with its own website builder? Like our page footers tell you, UltimateWB is built on UltimateWB.
Related: The Dogfooding Test: What Happens When Web Platforms Don’t Use Their Own Tools?
The Bottom Line
Beehiiv’s marketing says “Fully customizable” and “NO CODE. NO LIMITS.”
Its customers are describing a builder that is difficult to navigate, difficult to customize, and difficult to make simple changes to. Some have spent hours – or weeks – trying to use it and given up. Another moved their website functionality off Beehiiv.
Beehiiv is built primarily around newsletters. If you need website builder software for building and controlling a complete website, UltimateWB is built for that.
Related: Looking for a Website Builder Without AI? Which One Should You Choose?
Ready to design & build your own website on a platform that is so flexible that the website’s platform itself is built on it? Learn more about UltimateWB! We also offer web design packages if you would like your website designed and built for you.
Got a techy/website question? Whether it’s about UltimateWB or another website builder, web hosting, or other aspects of websites, just send in your question in the “Ask David!” form. We will email you when the answer is posted on the UltimateWB “Ask David!” section.