I have actually utilized a lot of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge supporter of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Design.
So, it is indeed a weird move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly likewise such as to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Method, I talked about just how and why I chose to transform my RV blog site right into mainly a newsletter. I determined that was business design I wished to pursue keeping that property.
But, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed into it particular to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be 2 separate activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click membership links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The system was essentially built by the individuals who developed the innovation for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own building to make sure that I can expand it a lot more deliberately too.
The goal 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 easy to change. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will undoubtedly constantly be closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can organize your email listing anyplace you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your e-mail subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. Yet, you are likewise sending off to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes administration of the system much less complex.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed entirely independently from your web site. So, as an example, you may publish a write-up to WordPress however then you would require to independently construct and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that two separate collections of archives and 2 separate activities because post and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it practically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I intended to remain to self-host everything. However, you ‘d shed the growth tools that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally features a different set of requirements than a normal e-mail list.
You don’t normally need much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to help you develop your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch the e-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 picked to choose BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I assume Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially built by the same folks who constructed the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation also means that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Again, it just informs me the client avatar difference in between the two firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t specifically draw. The only factor I would certainly contemplate trembling things up is if I assumed I can expand the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared towards makers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as modifying personalized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations simply given that I started utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which specific embed type they came in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can not do this because the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just extra geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and tidy, however it would certainly be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can place Exposure alternatives on that area to reveal it just to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to subscribers, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of income. Actually, you actually connect up to your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Relying on how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra developed toward actual email marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem much better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want 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 actually stated, Substack placements itself toward “creators” more than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared extra toward people who just assume in regards to content production.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support numerous publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … cool for people who might need it.
Substack additionally has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Overall, Substack is established to be much more like a social media which sustains long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is additionally extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. However, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better suited. I tried to find more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at makers (like Substack), but it is much more highly satisfying people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually great system.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is simply a fundamental function of e-mail checklists that enables division in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Design.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capacity to sell things by means of their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly constantly select an extra direct option anyway. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and for that reason has way more integration choices. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For instance, their plugin now also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this a lot more carefully puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with perks, however you can additionally pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this indicates for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Design
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it likewise means that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed practically weekly launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are quite essential. Their speed of growth at this point has gone over.
I additionally significantly value just how responsive they are. Actually, among their item statements concerning some style improvements to the web design features in fact had a tiny issue with the content width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I rapidly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the issue was dealt with.
Few days later on, I provided an additional tip …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based on the embed type utilized was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
One more major factor of differentiation right here is the price. Both platforms supply complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses a lot more capacity and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more beneficial. ConvertKit seems less expensive initially glimpse because their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the client restrictions are FAR lower and your rate quickly enhances as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your checklist as much as 100,000. A list of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise rates? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance instead rapidly and make new product news somewhat often, yet there are some fundamental features I actually want they had that I need to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership types where I could choose an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be outstanding for so many factors. Already, registration forms look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly be nice to have identifying at the customer level. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks ought to be part of automations to make built-in automations easier and minimize reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative user interface changes that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit articles (for instance, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental fields as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some even more customization alternatives for the website (such as more flexible shade choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect and absolutely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It most likely never ever will certainly be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never recognize, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I determined to switch my very own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing design especially, I saw adequate value in their system to require the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is good at, however I intentionally have points establish so that I also maintain my checklist “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be rather uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a huge e-mail checklist and are for that reason being fleeced with their high monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating quickly. There’s additionally a pretty good chance you’re not even using a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a much better and a lot more cost effective fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very deliberate regarding growing a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the best games around right now. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.