A Claude alternative for newsletter writers

Claude keeps Projects, skills, and connectors next to the chat. HeyNews trains on the issues you have already sent, watches your sources, and leaves the send on your newsletter platform.

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What it is

HeyNews is an AI newsletter writer for operators who run a real publication. It connects to beehiiv, Kit, Substack, Ghost, Mailchimp, or any newsletter with a public archive, imports your recent issues (up to 50 from a public archive) to build a Voice Profile, monitors your sources (RSS, blogs, social profiles, Reddit, saved articles), scores stories against your audience, and drafts your next issue. You review it and send from your existing platform.

Claude is Anthropic's assistant. On the pricing page, Free is $0, Pro is $20 if billed monthly or $17 per month with an annual subscription ($200 billed up front), Max is $100 per month, and Ultra is $200 per month. Team is for 2 to 150 people. Enterprise is US$20 per seat per month, billed annually, with a 20 seat minimum, and usage cost scales with the model and task, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). Projects hold instructions and files. Skills are procedures Claude loads for a task, according to Claude's skills help article (checked November 4, 2026).

Honest comparison

What it does	Claude	HeyNews
Voice instructions	The skills article says projects provide static background knowledge that loads when a chat in that project starts, and skills are procedures that load when a task matches. Skills are on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise, and code execution has to be on. The article does not describe a voice profile built from sent newsletter issues.	Voice Profile from your past newsletter issues, automatic on connect
Projects	The projects article says each project has its own instructions for tone, formatting, or rules, plus context and memory. Projects work the same way in Cowork and in Claude. Project sharing is on Team and Enterprise. The same article says projects are only available in Cowork, not in Claude Code, with Claude Code support planned.	A separate writer when an edition should sound different. No shared project folder.
Memory	Memory is on by default for Free, Pro, Max, and Ultra. On Team and Enterprise, owners control whether it is available, and it stays off for each member until they turn it on. Claude saves memory as individual topics from chats. The article does not describe a profile built from a newsletter archive.	The Voice Profile is built from issues you already sent, up to 50 from a public archive.
Newsletter platform integration	The connectors directory includes third-party connectors titled beehiiv, Kit, and Intuit Mailchimp. The same catalog does not include a connector titled Substack or Ghost.	beehiiv import and unsent drafts in beehiiv (paid beehiiv plan); Kit import (OAuth); archive import for Substack, Ghost, Mailchimp, Medium
beehiiv connector	The beehiiv connector page says Claude can plug into a beehiiv workspace to draft, design, analyze, and more. The page says to use connectors only from developers you trust, and that Anthropic does not control which tools developers make available and cannot verify that they will work as intended or that they will not change.	On a paid beehiiv plan, with draft access approved and beehiiv chosen as the sending platform, HeyNews can create an unsent post draft. It never schedules or sends.
Kit connector	The Kit connector page says the connector can draft and schedule broadcasts, tag subscribers, manage segments, and enroll contacts in sequences. The page says to use connectors only from developers you trust, and that Anthropic does not control which tools developers make available and cannot verify that they will work as intended or that they will not change.	Kit connects with OAuth so HeyNews can import issues. HeyNews does not schedule or send the Kit broadcast.
Mailchimp connector	The Mailchimp connector page describes omnichannel campaigns and says you can connect or create a Mailchimp account to import assets. Listed tools include campaign-planner, edit-campaign, and save-to-mailchimp. The page says to use connectors only from developers you trust, and that Anthropic does not control which tools developers make available and cannot verify that they will work as intended or that they will not change.	Mailchimp is an archive import when the archive is public. HeyNews does not send the Mailchimp campaign.
Custom connectors	Custom connectors that use remote MCP are on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise. Free is limited to one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner enables a connector before members use it. The article says you can also connect to any service that supports MCP.	No custom MCP connector. beehiiv and Kit are the direct connections, and public archives import the rest.
Web search	Each response includes citations, and web search and web fetch count toward usage limits. The article has a section for free accounts. On Team or Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner enables web search for the workspace first. In the new Claude experience there is no web search toggle, and Claude searches when it helps.	RSS, blogs, social profiles, Reddit, and a browser extension, scored against your audience. That list is not a web search of the open internet.
Scheduled tasks	Scheduled tasks are on all paid plans (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise), in Cowork and in the new Claude experience. Each run is its own session, and you review the results when they are ready. Common uses include recurring research.	A draft can be prepared on a schedule. You review it. HeyNews does not send or publish it.
Usage limits	There is no fixed message count. Most accounts have a limit that resets on a rolling five-hour window, and paid plans add a weekly limit. Pro is at least 5x the Free usage per five-hour session. Max is 5x Pro every 5 hours and every week. Ultra is 10x Pro every week, with no 5-hour limit for verified accounts. On Team, Standard seats are more than Pro, and Premium seats are 5x Standard.	Issues per month, AI revisions per draft, and publications. No five-hour session cap on the plan page.
Model training	The pricing table labels model training Opt-out on Free, Pro, Max, and Ultra, and None by default on Team and both Enterprise columns.	Past issues train your own writers and drafts. They are not a model-training setting on a Claude plan.

Claude details are according to Claude's skills help article, Claude's projects help article, Claude's memory help article, Claude's connectors directory, Claude's beehiiv connector page, Claude's Kit connector page, Claude's Mailchimp connector page, Claude's connectors help article, Claude's web search help article, Claude's scheduled tasks help article, and Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026).

When to choose Claude over HeyNews

You already use Claude for writing, research, and code, and the newsletter is one job among those.
You want a Project with your own instructions and files, and you will maintain that yourself.
You want the Kit connector to draft and schedule broadcasts, or the beehiiv connector listed for draft, design, and analyze, and you accept that Anthropic does not control those tools, according to Claude's Kit connector page (checked November 4, 2026); according to Claude's beehiiv connector page (checked November 4, 2026).
Pro is $20 if billed monthly, or $17 per month on the annual card with $200 billed up front. That is less than HeyNews Hobbyist at $39/mo when the newsletter is occasional, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026).
You have no past issues yet, so a Voice Profile would have little to train on.

When to choose HeyNews over Claude

You want the draft trained on issues you have already sent, without maintaining project instructions for tone.
You want stories scored from the feeds you follow, then a draft you review. Claude web search cites pages when it searches, according to Claude's web search help article (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews follows your chosen source list.
You publish on beehiiv and want an unsent draft created there under HeyNews conditions. The beehiiv connector is a third-party tool Anthropic says it does not control, according to Claude's beehiiv connector page (checked November 4, 2026).
You want beehiiv or Kit opens and clicks to rank stories and suggest subject lines. You can ask the Kit connector about performance, according to Claude's Kit connector page (checked November 4, 2026). That listing does not describe the HeyNews ranking loop.
You want a flat monthly plan for the publication. HeyNews Hobbyist is $39/mo for 5 issues. Claude usage resets on a five-hour window, and paid plans add a weekly limit, with no fixed message count, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026).

Pricing

Plan	Claude	HeyNews
Free	$0. Limited usage every 5 hours and every week. Projects up to 5. Web search, memory, skills, and connectors are on the plan card. Hand off and schedule tasks is No. Opus is No. Sonnet and Haiku are Yes.	No ongoing free plan. A free trial is available.
Pro	Pro is $20 if billed monthly, or $17 per month on the annual card with $200 billed up front. The annual card is the one that shows $17 and $200. Claude Code, projects, Research, and hand off and schedule tasks are included. Fable is paid with usage credits. Billing is monthly and annual.	$39/mo Hobbyist (5 issues/mo, 1 publication)
Max	$100 per month. 5x Pro usage every 5 hours and every week. Fable is included for up to half the weekly limit. $100 a month in API credits. Billed monthly.	$99/mo Starter (15 issues/mo, 2 publications)
Ultra	$200 per month. 10x Pro usage every week, and no 5-hour limit for verified accounts. Fable is included for up to half the weekly limit. $200 a month in API credits. Billed monthly.	$299/mo Pro (45 issues/mo, 4 publications).
Team	For teams of 2 to 150. Standard seat: $20 per seat per month if billed annually, or $25 if billed monthly, with more usage than Pro. Premium seat: $100 per seat per month if billed annually, or $125 if billed monthly, and 5x more usage than Standard. Up to $500 per month in pooled API credits. No model training on your content by default.	$499/mo Team (90 issues/mo, 10 publications, 100 AI revisions per draft)
Enterprise	The plan card says US$20/seat/month, billed annually, 20 seat minimum, and that usage cost scales with model and task. The pricing FAQ says $20 per seat per month plus usage billed at API rates, billed annually. Includes Team, plus SCIM, audit logs, custom data retention, and role-based access.	$499/mo Team (90 issues/mo, 10 publications). HeyNews has no per-seat API usage charge on the plan page.
Refund	Payments are generally non-refundable, except where the Consumer Terms of Service say otherwise or where local law requires it. In the EEA and the UK, you can request a refund in the app during the withdrawal period. The pricing FAQ describes that period as fourteen days.	14 days OR 5 issues, payment method required

Claude details are according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026).

Pro is $20 if billed monthly, or $17 per month on the annual card with $200 billed up front. $17 times 12 is $204, not $200, so both figures on the card are quoted, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). Projects are up to 5 on Free and included on Pro, Max, and Ultra. Project sharing and collaboration is No on those four plans and Yes on Team and Enterprise. Max is $100 per month and Ultra is $200 per month, both billed monthly. Team Standard is $25 per seat if billed monthly or $20 per seat if billed annually. Team Premium is $125 or $100 on those same terms. The Enterprise card says US$20/seat/month, billed annually, with a 20 seat minimum, plus usage that scales with model and task. The FAQ on the same page says $20 per seat per month plus usage at API rates. HeyNews figures are monthly list prices. Annual HeyNews billing is 30% off. Hobbyist is $39/mo for 5 issues. Starter is $99/mo for 15. Pro is $299/mo for 45.

Use cases

The operator who already lives in Claude

Code, research, and the newsletter all start in the same chat. A Project holds the tone notes and a few past issues you uploaded, according to Claude's projects help article (checked November 4, 2026). Pro includes Projects, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews handles the newsletter workflow: archive in, sources scored, draft out.

The Kit publisher who wants the connector to schedule

The Kit connector can draft and schedule broadcasts. Anthropic says it does not control that tool, according to Claude's Kit connector page (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews imports Kit issues and stops before the send. You still press send in Kit.

The beehiiv draft under someone else's connector

The beehiiv connector page offers draft, design, and analyze, with the third-party tool disclaimer, according to Claude's beehiiv connector page (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews can place an unsent post draft in beehiiv when the paid plan, draft access, and sending-platform conditions are met. It does not schedule or send.

The weekly issue with a long archive

Claude can search the web and cite what it finds, according to Claude's web search help article (checked November 4, 2026). It can also run a scheduled research task you review, according to Claude's scheduled tasks help article (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews reads the issues you already sent, up to 50 from a public archive, and uses that Voice Profile on the next draft.

FAQ

Does HeyNews replace Claude?

For the newsletter draft, it can. Claude still writes and searches across the rest of your work, according to Claude's web search help article (checked November 4, 2026). It also runs scheduled tasks, according to Claude's scheduled tasks help article (checked November 4, 2026). Paid plans include Claude Code, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews does not. Keep Claude if the newsletter is one job among many.

Who writes the newsletter?

In Claude, you keep the instructions. A project can store tone, formatting, or rules, and skills load when a task matches, according to Claude's projects help article (checked November 4, 2026); according to Claude's skills help article (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews builds a Voice Profile from issues you have already sent when you connect the platform. Up to 50 issues come from a public archive.

Does either tool send the newsletter?

HeyNews does not send or publish. You review the draft and send from your platform. The Kit connector page says that connector can draft and schedule broadcasts, according to Claude's Kit connector page (checked November 4, 2026). The beehiiv connector page says it can draft, design, and analyze, according to Claude's beehiiv connector page (checked November 4, 2026). Both pages say Anthropic does not control the tools.

What does Claude cost?

Free is $0. Pro is $20 if billed monthly, or $17 per month on the annual card with $200 billed up front. Max is $100 per month. Ultra is $200 per month. Team Standard is $25 per seat billed monthly or $20 per seat billed annually, and Team Premium is $125 or $100. Enterprise is US$20 per seat per month billed annually, with a 20 seat minimum on the plan card, plus usage, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). $17 times 12 is $204, not the $200 billed up front, so the page quotes both.

Can Claude connect to beehiiv, Kit, Substack, Ghost, or Mailchimp?

The connectors directory includes connectors titled beehiiv, Kit, and Intuit Mailchimp. It does not include a connector titled Substack or Ghost, according to Claude's connectors directory (checked November 4, 2026). Custom remote MCP connectors are on every plan, and Free is limited to one, according to Claude's connectors help article (checked November 4, 2026).

Does Claude learn my voice from past issues?

The cited articles describe project instructions and chat memory rather than an automatic profile of sent newsletters. Projects store instructions you add, and memory stores topics from chats, according to Claude's projects help article (checked November 4, 2026); according to Claude's memory help article (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews trains on the issues you already sent.

What happens when Claude hits a usage limit?

There is no fixed message count. You can wait for the five-hour or weekly limit to reset, move to a higher plan, or, on paid plans, turn on usage credits at standard API rates, according to Claude's pricing page (checked November 4, 2026). HeyNews meters issues per month on the plan, not a five-hour session.