I have made use of a lot of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been making use of AI Researches Beehiiv.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the system and I ‘d additionally such as to address why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Change In Approach, I spoke about how and why I chose to turn my RV blog right into mainly a newsletter. I chose that was business model I wished to pursue with that said property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I said because problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices developed right into it specific to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send the email simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The system was actually developed by the individuals who accumulated the technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own home so that I can grow it a lot more purposefully as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to change. But, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail list.
You can host your email listing anywhere you desire and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing implies that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your email subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that internet site. However, you are also dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the system much simpler.
With the majority of email systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is built completely individually from your website. So, for instance, you might release a short article to WordPress however then you would require to independently develop and send out an email to your list to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and 2 different actions since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it virtually “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. However, you ‘d lose the growth devices that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally features a various collection of needs than a regular e-mail listing.
You don’t usually require much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development tools to assist you develop your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I chose to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I believe Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the same individuals who developed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo developers. Once more, it just tells me the consumer avatar distinction between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would ponder shaking things up is if I believed I can GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by individuals that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared toward developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies custom fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers along with new actions, such as changing custom areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just because I started using the platform. For example:
- Ability to set off automations based upon which specific embed form they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this because the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared towards e-newsletters. In fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I find it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, yet it would certainly be much more comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that area to show it just to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, show just to customers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs membership model, BeeHiiv does not take any revenue. Actually, you literally link approximately your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations at all.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was more built towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page makes seem far better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack positions itself toward “designers” more than email online marketers and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points tailored a lot more toward individuals who simply assume in regards to web content development.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … trendy for individuals who may require it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat feature to host chats with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is set up to be more like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
Generally, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more strongly catering to people that do it for service. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s own business platform, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular already. However, here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a basic function of e-mail lists that enables segmentation in a far more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking at some point quickly, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on AI Researches Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now supply the ability to market things via their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always select a much more direct option anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way a lot more integration alternatives. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. For instance, their plugin now even supports member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more very closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active tackling the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can additionally pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this means for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … AI Researches Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise implies that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed almost regular release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are fairly crucial. Their rate of growth at this point has actually been impressive.
I also quite appreciate exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their product news regarding some design enhancements to the website design features actually consisted of a little problem with the material width. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I promptly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later on, I provided another suggestion …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based on the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I really value.
One more significant factor of differentiation right here is the cost. Both systems offer free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more positive. ConvertKit appears less expensive initially look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the customer limits are much reduced and your cost promptly raises as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same size checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly utilize), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally various organization when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance rates? They might as time takes place. But, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you most definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance instead rapidly and make brand-new item statements rather often, but there are some fundamental features I truly desire they had that I require to just await.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription forms where I can choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would be AWESOME for a lot of factors. As of now, membership kinds look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks ought to be part of automations to make integrated automations simpler and decrease dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small management interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (as an example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as standard on clients (like the name).
- Some even more customization choices for the site (such as more flexible shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and certainly not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the platform in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw enough worth in their platform to require the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail list. I use BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I intentionally have things establish to make sure that I also maintain my listing “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack today, I ‘d definitely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button should be pretty uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a huge email list and are consequently being wooled with their high monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating promptly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not also using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a better and more economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely willful concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is created to be, it is one of the most effective games around right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be quite feature abundant.