I have actually utilized a lot of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Because of that (and the incredible features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Lifetime Offer.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to address the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d additionally such as to deal with why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Strategy, I talked about just how and why I determined to transform my recreational vehicle blog site into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business version I intended to seek with that home.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily motor home, yet 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 little bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed because concern of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it particular to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at development. The platform was actually constructed by the people who developed the technology for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential property to make sure that I can grow it a lot more deliberately too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Gladly RV was young, so easy to shift. But, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email list.
You can organize your email checklist everywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing suggests that it is going to your web site and to your email clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that site. Yet, you are likewise sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely individually from your website. So, for instance, you may publish a short article to WordPress but after that you would certainly need to separately build and send an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 different collections of archives and two different activities because blog posts and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it basically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the very same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I wanted to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the growth tools that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally comes with a various set of requirements than a normal email listing.
You don’t normally require much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth posting experience and development tools to assist you build your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the same folks who built the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brands and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo developers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer character difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only reason I would contemplate drinking points up is if I assumed I might GROW the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct competitors.
But, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward designers.
For example, BeeHiiv uses personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic 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 action is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as brand-new activities, such as changing personalized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just since I started utilizing the system. For example:
- Capability to trigger automations based upon which details embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward newsletters. Actually, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I find it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, yet it would be a lot more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and after that put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure alternatives on that section to show it just to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from clients, show only to clients, etc. Substack provides nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium subscription model, BeeHiiv does not take any type of income. In fact, you essentially connect up to your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Relying on the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards genuine email marketing. It was developed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page designs appear far better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack settings itself toward “designers” greater than e-mail marketing professionals and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored a lot more toward people who just assume in regards to content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are treated fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … amazing for individuals who might require it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host talks with customers. It also has a “Notes” function which functions kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social network which sustains long-form content.
In general, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly accommodating individuals that do it for service. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce platform, and more. ConvertKit is a really wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a standard feature of email lists that allows segmentation in a much more flexible means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support marking at some time soon, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Lifetime Offer.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability 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, nonetheless, I would always choose an extra direct alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and therefore has way extra integration options. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For instance, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this more very closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with perks, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface wherefore this suggests for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Lifetime Offer
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it likewise indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced almost once a week release of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet huge features that are fairly essential. Their speed of growth at this moment has actually gone over.
I additionally quite appreciate how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item statements about some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact consisted of a little issue with the web content size. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Couple of days later, I gave them one more recommendation …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based upon the embed kind used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I really value.
Another major point of distinction right here is the rate. Both platforms supply free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more capacity and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more favorable. ConvertKit appears more affordable initially look because their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the client limits are much reduced and your price quickly increases as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same size list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly use), you can grow your checklist up to 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, 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 simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different organization when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase prices? They may as time goes on. But, I’m presuming people like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you certainly need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to develop rather swiftly and make new item announcements rather typically, however there are some standard features I actually desire they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on membership types where I could pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be outstanding for so many reasons. Already, registration forms look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would behave to have marking at the customer degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks should become part of automations to make built-in automations much easier and decrease dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some small management interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as basic on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the internet site (such as even more adaptable color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t ideal and absolutely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I said, the function is various so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I presume you never ever recognize, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Enough where I decided to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own system.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter posting design particularly, I saw adequate value in their system to require the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special email list. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is good at, however I deliberately have points set up to make sure that I additionally maintain my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply a good insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d certainly consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be quite straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are consequently being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might quickly be a much better and more budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely deliberate regarding growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is one of the best video games in the area right now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the cost-free account to be quite feature rich.