After you sign up and verify your email, HeyNews walks you through a short two-step setup. Some offer links open checkout before these steps. If you already saved your payment method through one of those links, continue with newsletter setup; you do not need another checkout.
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:
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.
Choose I don't have a newsletter to connect. What happens next depends on whether Newsletter Format setup is available for your account.
When it is available, 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 step, so you can return later.
If you select An existing email newsletter in the intake, HeyNews sends you back to the connection path so it can learn from your archive. See Create a newsletter with the Format Generator for the full setup, review, and billing flow.
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.
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.