AI newsletter writer for Buttondown writers
Drop in your Buttondown URL and HeyNews trains on every issue you have already published. It pulls stories from the sources you read and writes your next draft in your voice in about a minute. Review here, send from Buttondown.
14-day trial or 5 generated issues. Keep using Buttondown; HeyNews drafts, you review before sending.
What it is
HeyNews is an AI newsletter writer for Buttondown writers. It imports your public Buttondown archive, trains a Voice Profile from the issues you have already published, watches the sources you trust (RSS feeds, sites, X, Reddit, saved articles), and drafts your next newsletter in your voice for you to review and send. Plans start at $39/mo with a 14-day free trial.
HeyNews does not replace Buttondown. Buttondown stays where your subscribers, payments, deliverability, and sending live. HeyNews is the production layer that turns your archive plus your sources into a draft that already sounds like the writer your subscribers signed up for.
How HeyNews works with Buttondown
- Point HeyNews at your Buttondown publication
- No login to Buttondown, no setup, no browser extension. HeyNews fetches the public issues at your Buttondown URL and uses them as the starting point for your Voice Profile.
- Build your Voice Profile from real issues
- HeyNews studies the tone, structure, signature phrases, and the way you handle longer essays vs link-letter formats. Real Buttondown issues beat any prompt-engineered "style guide".
- Add the sources behind your next issue
- RSS feeds, websites, X profiles, Reddit threads, and saved articles. HeyNews scans them and surfaces a ranked shortlist of stories that match what your subscribers actually read.
- Review the draft, then send from Buttondown
- HeyNews drafts the issue with subject line and preview text options. Edit until it sounds right, copy the finished version into Buttondown's editor, and send it on your schedule.
- Run a Buttondown newsletter and a second one side by side
- On Pro and Team plans, your Buttondown newsletter and a Substack, beehiiv, or Kit newsletter can both live in one HeyNews account, each with its own Voice Profile, sources, and draft history.
What to expect today
HeyNews creates the draft. It does not push to Buttondown or auto-send for you. Today you review inside HeyNews, copy the finished version into Buttondown, and send it yourself. Voice training works best on the public portions of your archive; paid-only or members-only issues give HeyNews less to learn from until the public previews are visible.
Why it feels different for Buttondown operators
- Trained on the issues your subscribers already know
- Buttondown gives independent writers a clean, simple newsletter platform, and intentionally stays minimal. HeyNews adds the production layer Buttondown does not: a Voice Profile trained on your real archive, story discovery from your sources, and a complete first draft.
- A shortlist of stories before you start writing
- Buttondown is where you send. HeyNews helps before that by scanning your sources overnight and surfacing a ranked shortlist of stories worth covering, so Sunday is not "what should I write about?".
- Separate Voice Profiles for separate cadences
- Your weekly essay and your monthly link letter read differently. HeyNews keeps separate Voice Profiles, sources, and draft histories for each, so the wrong tone never bleeds into the wrong issue.
- Subject lines, preview text, and sharper takes included
- Each draft includes subject line and preview text options plus opinionated commentary on the stories, so the issue is closer to ready by the time you open Buttondown.
- Stays out of your minimal workflow
- Buttondown writers tend to value simple tooling. HeyNews lives outside Buttondown: train it once, draft each issue, copy into Buttondown to send. No plugin, no extension, no extra surface inside the platform you chose for being minimal.
Pricing
| Plan | Plan details | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 15 issues / month · 2 Buttondown publications | $99/mo |
| Pro | 45 issues / month · 4 publications | $299/mo |
| Team | 90 issues / month · 10 publications · 100 AI revisions per draft | $499/mo |
Your Buttondown subscription stays separate. HeyNews plans start at $39/mo and include a 14-day or 5-issue free trial, whichever ends first.
Use cases
The technical writer running a Buttondown newsletter
You send a recurring technical newsletter to 5,000 Buttondown subscribers. Writing each issue eats half a day. HeyNews drafts it the night before so the morning becomes a focused review, and the issue still sounds like the writer your subscribers actually signed up for.
The Substack-to-Buttondown migrator
You moved off Substack to escape the Substack-shaped UI and bring sending costs down. HeyNews works with both. Train on your Substack archive plus your Buttondown issues, and the Voice Profile carries across the migration.
The indie publisher with a paid Buttondown tier
You publish free posts and paid posts on Buttondown. HeyNews trains on the public portions of your archive and produces drafts in your voice, so the paid issues get more of your time and the free issues stay on schedule.
The Buttondown writer running a second newsletter on Kit
You run a Buttondown newsletter for personal writing and a Kit newsletter for a side business. HeyNews keeps separate Voice Profiles, sources, and draft histories for each, so the personal voice and the business voice never blur into one tone.
FAQ
Does HeyNews replace Buttondown?
No. Buttondown stays where your subscribers, payments, deliverability, and sending live. HeyNews is the production layer that drafts each issue from your archive plus your sources, so the page you copy into Buttondown is already written in your voice.
How does HeyNews import my Buttondown archive?
Point HeyNews at your Buttondown publication URL. It fetches the public issues you have published and trains a Voice Profile from them. No login to Buttondown, no setup, no browser extension to install.
Does HeyNews push drafts directly into Buttondown?
Not today. Drafts live inside HeyNews until you decide they are ready. When you finalize one, copy it into Buttondown's editor and send it from there. That keeps you in editorial control and means a misclick never sends to your list.
Can HeyNews read my paid Buttondown posts?
HeyNews trains on what is publicly visible: free posts and the public preview portions of paid posts. If most of your archive is gated to paying subscribers, you can supplement onboarding by uploading example issues so the Voice Profile has more to learn from.
How many past Buttondown issues do I need?
HeyNews works best with at least three published issues. With fewer, the first draft leans more on the briefs you write during onboarding. Publish two or three issues first, then connect. The Voice Profile sharpens with every issue you add.
Will Buttondown subscriber and engagement data show up in HeyNews?
Not directly today. Buttondown keeps subscriber-level open and click data inside Buttondown. HeyNews still learns from your public archive, but it cannot read engagement signals the way it can on beehiiv or Kit.
Can I use HeyNews if I am moving from Substack to Buttondown?
Yes, HeyNews works with both. Train on your Substack archive today so the Voice Profile starts strong, then layer in your new Buttondown issues as you publish them. The Voice Profile carries across the migration.
What is the free trial?
14 days or 5 generated issues, whichever ends first. A payment method is required so accounts cannot be recycled. Cancel any time during the trial and you are not charged.
Open Buttondown to a finished draft, not a blank one.
Import your Buttondown archive, train HeyNews on your past issues, and judge the first draft yourself. If it does not sound like you, we have not done our job.
Import my Buttondown archiveBuilt by Cagri and Eren. We respect Buttondown for staying minimal. HeyNews handles the production work that lives outside the editor, so Buttondown can keep doing what it does well.
Switching to HeyNews? See the AI newsletter generator