I have used a great deal of various email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Referral Program.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while using the system and I ‘d likewise such as to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I talked about how and why I made a decision to transform my RV blog site right into mainly a newsletter. I determined that was business version I wished to pursue with that home.
However, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly RV, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The platform was essentially developed by the people who built up the innovation for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential property to make sure that I can grow it much more intentionally as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so simple to change. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of things right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be very closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not have to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email List
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can hold your email checklist anywhere you desire and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting means that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that web site. However, you are likewise dispatching to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With a lot of email systems, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely independently from your website. So, for instance, you could publish an article to WordPress but then you would require to independently build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that two separate collections of archives and 2 different activities due to the fact that article and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it practically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wished to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of requirements than a regular e-mail checklist.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to assist you build your subscriber base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to select BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has actually been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that at first got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is essentially developed by the same people who built the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brand names and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Once again, it just tells me the consumer character difference between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would ponder shaking points up is if I thought I can expand the list quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I in fact don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards developers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made fields on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an email. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as customizing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just because I began making use of the platform. For instance:
- Capability to activate automations based upon which particular embed kind they came in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this since the target audience of Substack simply would not think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it comes to creating your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I locate it to be much more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s writing interface is nice and tidy, but it would certainly be extra equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is more than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Visibility choices on that particular section to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show just to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs membership model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of earnings. In fact, you literally link as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra developed towards real email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page develops seem much better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “developers” more than e-mail online marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things tailored extra toward people who simply assume in regards to web content development.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are treated rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … great for individuals who could require it.
Substack likewise has even more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Overall, Substack is established to be much more like a social media network which sustains long-form web content.
In general, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a difficult time discovering 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 competitors. Both are pursuing the very same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at makers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly catering to people that do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known already. But, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a standard function of email listings that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling eventually quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Referral Program.
ConvertKit does now provide the capability to offer things through their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly choose a much more straight 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 a lot more integration options. Tons of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin now also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this extra very closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your email listing 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 even hectic taking on the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, but you can likewise pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface for what this means for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Referral Program
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also suggests that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually witnessed almost weekly release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however big features that are quite vital. Their speed of growth now has been impressive.
I likewise very much value just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news about some design improvements to the website design features actually included a small issue with the material width. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was dealt with.
Few days later on, I gave them another recommendation …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based on the embed form used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I really value.
One more major factor of distinction below is the price. Both systems supply cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more desirable. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are much reduced and your cost swiftly enhances as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same size list 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 use), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A list of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance rates? They could as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of things you absolutely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to develop rather rapidly and make new product news somewhat frequently, however there are some basic features I actually want they had that I require to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setup on registration types where I can pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be incredible for numerous reasons. Currently, registration kinds look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the subscriber level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management interface changes that would come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit messages (for example, to tag a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the web site (such as more adaptable color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t perfect and absolutely not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it would not a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Enough where I chose to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to require the change.
Remember, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I intentionally have points establish so that I likewise maintain my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply a great insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button should be pretty uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a huge email listing and are for that reason being fleeced with their high monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not even making use of several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might quickly be a far better and more budget-friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very willful concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is just one of the very best games around today. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be quite feature rich.