I have actually made use of a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have been using Beehiiv Morning Brew.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to decide to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly also like to attend to why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Strategy, I spoke about exactly how and why I decided to transform my recreational vehicle blog site into largely an e-newsletter. I chose that was business model I wanted to seek keeping that residential property.
However, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed because problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed into it details to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability 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 methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on development. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals who developed the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went for it. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own property to make sure that I can expand it more purposefully too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to shift. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly always be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and just an email listing.
You can hold your email list just about anywhere you desire and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your web site and to your email clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that website. However, you are also dispatching to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With a lot of e-mail systems, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed entirely individually from your site. So, for instance, you could publish a post to WordPress but after that you would require to individually construct and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to customers. These are after that two different collections of archives and two different activities because post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it virtually “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and enables them to be the exact same thing. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently features a various collection of needs than a typical e-mail checklist.
You do not usually need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require 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 growth devices to assist you develop your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, since Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is essentially built by the exact same folks that constructed the technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo makers. Once again, it just informs me the client avatar difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would ponder drinking points up is if I believed I could GROW the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by individuals who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides custom-made areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have new triggers in addition to new actions, such as modifying custom fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations simply since I started using the system. For instance:
- Ability to activate automations based on which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this because the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it concerns writing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored toward e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface is nice and clean, but it would be much more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Presence options on that area to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from customers, reveal only to customers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv doesn’t 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. Depending on the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra constructed toward real e-mail marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates appear better developed 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 more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “creators” greater than email online marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared a lot more toward people that simply think in regards to content creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are dealt with fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … cool for people that might require it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media which supports long-form material.
Overall, Substack is also more … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Personally, I do not. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly via to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target audience and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at designers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly accommodating people who do it for business. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is simply a basic function of email listings that makes it possible for division in an even more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Morning Brew.
ConvertKit does now offer the ability to market points via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always pick a much more direct option anyway. For me, I prefer to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and because of that has way much more integration choices. Lots 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 also supports member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to release to your website and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with rewards, however you can likewise pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly incredible features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this indicates for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Morning Brew
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed virtually weekly release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … however big features that are fairly vital. Their rate of advancement at this point has gone over.
I likewise significantly value just how responsive they are. Actually, among their product announcements concerning some design improvements to the website design features really contained a little trouble with the web content width. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the problem was repaired.
Few days later, I provided one more recommendation …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed form used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I actually appreciate.
One more significant point of differentiation here is the price. Both platforms use free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers extra capability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more positive. ConvertKit appears cheaper at first glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the customer limitations are FAR reduced and your cost swiftly increases as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same size listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly use), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A list of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you certainly need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance instead swiftly and make brand-new product statements rather typically, however there are some standard features I truly wish they had that I need to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription forms where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would be outstanding for many reasons. Currently, registration types look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to aid in division.
It would be nice to have marking at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations easier and lower dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management user interface changes that would come in handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to bulk edit posts (for instance, to tag a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as standard on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the site (such as more versatile color selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I guess you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own e-newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter posting design especially, I saw adequate value in their platform to require the change.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I deliberately have points set up so that I likewise maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d definitely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch must be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are as a result being wooled with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not also using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very intentional regarding growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is among the best games in town now. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be quite feature abundant.