I have utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Smart Warming.
So, it is certainly an odd move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d likewise like to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Change In Method, I discussed just how and why I determined to turn my RV blog site right into mostly a newsletter. I determined that was business design I wished to seek with that said residential property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly RV, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it particular to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different activities.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promo in other e-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 newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was literally developed by the individuals that built up the modern technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly 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 side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own property so that I can grow it a lot more purposefully as well.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily RV was young, so simple to shift. Yet, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail listing.
You can host your email checklist just about anywhere you want 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 distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing means that it is going to your web site and to your e-mail clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are also sending off to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With a lot of email platforms, any newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed completely independently from your website. So, as an example, you might publish a write-up to WordPress but then you would require to independently build and send out an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are then two separate collections of archives and two separate activities because blog posts and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the exact same point. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the development tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a different collection of requirements than a normal email list.
You don’t usually 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 need, though, is one seamless publishing experience and development tools to aid you construct your subscriber base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers 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, also besides the truth that I picked to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack draws. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same people that developed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise means that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo makers. Once again, it just tells me the consumer avatar distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically draw. The only factor I would ponder trembling points up is if I assumed I might GROW the listing faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I really do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight competitors.
But, let’s dive much deeper than just the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by individuals that recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored towards developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as brand-new activities, such as modifying custom fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply since I began using the system. As an example:
- Ability to activate automations based upon which specific embed type they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I find it to be more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, however it would certainly be a lot more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility alternatives on that particular area to show it only to paid clients, hide it from email, hide from customers, reveal just to customers, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of income. Actually, you literally link up to your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending upon how many clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, yet what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built toward genuine email marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself toward “makers” greater than email online marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared much more towards individuals that just assume in terms of material creation.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are treated fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … trendy for people that may require it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a chat feature to host chats with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is set up to be much more like a social network which sustains long-form web content.
In general, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a difficult time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly accommodating individuals that do it for service. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly likewise state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a fundamental function of e-mail lists that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some time quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Smart Warming.
ConvertKit does now give the capability to offer points using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly pick a much more straight alternative anyway. For me, I favor to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. As an example, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this much more very closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic taking on the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are actually incredible features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall for what this indicates for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Smart Warming
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise means that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed nearly regular launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … however large features that are rather vital. Their rate of development now has been impressive.
I also quite value exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news concerning some style enhancements to the website design features in fact had a small issue with the content size. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the problem was repaired.
Few days later on, I provided an additional pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to set off automations based upon the embed kind used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I really appreciate.
An additional major factor of differentiation here is the price. Both platforms provide cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capacity and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less costly in the beginning glance because their pricing page shows lower numbers, however the client limitations are much reduced and your cost quickly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A list of that size would 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 annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely different organization when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point increase costs? They may as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the important things you absolutely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to progress instead swiftly and make brand-new item statements somewhat usually, however there are some fundamental features I actually wish they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration forms where I might choose an automation to run right at the form level. That would certainly be AWESOME for so many reasons. Currently, registration kinds look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and lower dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative user interface changes that would come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit posts (as an example, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more modification alternatives for the site (such as more versatile color options, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t excellent and certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever understand, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Sufficient where I determined to change my own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw enough worth in their platform to call for the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special e-mail list. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I purposefully have points set up to ensure that I also maintain my list “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a good insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be rather simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a huge email checklist and are for that reason being wooled with their high monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating promptly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not even making use of a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a better and much more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is just one of the very best video games in the area now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.