I have utilized a lot of various email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. For that reason (and the outstanding features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Wefunder.
So, it is certainly a strange move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to address the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d also like to resolve why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Shift In Technique, I spoke about how and why I decided to turn my RV blog site into largely an e-newsletter. I determined that was business model I wished to seek with that said home.
However, to intentionally pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed in that issue of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed right into it certain to my objective. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was essentially built by the people who developed the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own building to make sure that I can grow it extra purposefully also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Happily motor home was young, so easy to transition. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously always be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not need to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and just an email checklist.
You can hold your email list 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 distinction?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your website 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 also dispatching to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much simpler.
With the majority of e-mail platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely independently from your web site. So, as an example, you could release a write-up to WordPress however then you would need to separately develop and send an email to your list to send it to customers. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and 2 different activities since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I wished to continue to self-host whatever. However, you would certainly shed the growth tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a various collection of needs than a common e-mail listing.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless posting experience and development tools to help you build your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely 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 chose to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I believe Substack draws. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually built by the exact same people who constructed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise means that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and huge publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Once more, it simply tells me the consumer character difference between the two firms.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only factor I would contemplate drinking things up is if I thought I could GROW the list much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by people who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored towards makers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as changing custom fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations just given that I began utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capability to activate automations based on which details embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it pertains to composing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared toward e-newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I locate it to be a lot more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, but it would certainly be extra equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure options on that particular area to reveal it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from clients, show only to customers, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. Actually, you literally link approximately your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon how many clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was more built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in types 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 like to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself towards “makers” more than e-mail marketing professionals and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared more toward people that simply assume in regards to web content creation.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are treated rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … amazing for people that may need it.
Substack additionally has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is established to be more like a social media which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is far more strongly dealing with people who do it for company. ConvertKit has great visual automation building, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really great system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down below. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a standard feature of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in an even more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Wefunder.
ConvertKit does now supply the capacity to offer points through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose a much more direct option anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now even supports member-gated material along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this extra closely puts ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly 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 active taking on the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is 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 for what this suggests for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Wefunder
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise suggests that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen almost weekly release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet large features that are fairly crucial. Their rate of development at this point has gone over.
I likewise very much appreciate exactly how responsive they are. In fact, among their item news concerning some style improvements to the website design features in fact had a little trouble with the web content size. I simply replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I gave them another recommendation …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed kind made use of was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I actually value.
One more major factor of differentiation right here is the cost. Both systems offer complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more beneficial. ConvertKit seems more affordable initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limits are much reduced and your rate rapidly raises as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension checklist 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 listing as much as 100,000. A listing of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various league when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve instead swiftly and make new item announcements somewhat often, however there are some standard features I truly wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription forms where I can select an automation to run right at the form level. That would be amazing for a lot of reasons. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, but there’s very little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks must belong to automations to make built-in automations much easier and lower reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor management user interface changes that would be handy. For instance:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Ability to bulk edit posts (as an example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as typical on customers (like the name).
- Some more modification alternatives for the site (such as even more adaptable color options, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t best and definitely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never know, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I chose to switch my own newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing design especially, I saw enough value in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special e-mail list. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I deliberately have things establish so that I additionally maintain my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a big e-mail list and are consequently being wooled with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating rapidly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a much better and much more economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very intentional concerning growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is one of the very best video games in town today. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be quite feature abundant.