I have used a great deal of different e-mail list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have actually been using List of Beehiiv Newsletters.
So, it is indeed a strange move for me to determine to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d likewise such as to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Shift In Approach, I talked about how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog into largely an e-newsletter. I decided that was the business model I intended to go after keeping that building.
But, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed 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 little bit.
As I stated because issue of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed right into it details to my function. Points such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send out the email simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was actually developed by the people who developed the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential property to ensure that I can expand it extra purposefully as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly RV was young, so simple to change. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of things below 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 closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between a newsletter system and simply an email listing.
You can hold your email listing everywhere you want 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 posting implies that it is going to your web site and to your email customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that website. But, you are additionally sending off to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With the majority of email systems, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely separately from your internet site. So, for example, you may release a write-up to WordPress but after that you would certainly require to independently construct and send out an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and two different actions since blog posts and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the development devices that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally features a different set of requirements than a typical e-mail list.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth tools to aid you develop your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has actually been about much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that initially got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same individuals that constructed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and differentiation likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once more, it simply informs me the client avatar difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t specifically suck. The only reason I would consider trembling points up is if I assumed I could expand the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by people that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more geared toward makers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides customized fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as changing customized areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations simply since I began making use of the platform. As an example:
- Capability to activate automations based on which particular embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared towards newsletters. In fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be much more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and clean, but it would be extra comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and after that put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Presence alternatives on that particular section to show it just to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, conceal from clients, show only to clients, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium subscription design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of revenue. Actually, you actually attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page makes appear much better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love 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 actually said, Substack settings itself toward “developers” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things geared much more toward people who just assume in terms of web content creation.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support numerous magazines, they are dealt with quite independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … great for individuals who might need it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with customers. It also has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is established to be more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
Generally, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to real marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I looked for even more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at designers (like Substack), but it is much more highly accommodating individuals that do it for organization. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business platform, and extra. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a fundamental function of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in an even more flexible means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support tagging eventually soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on List of Beehiiv Newsletters.
ConvertKit does currently give the capacity to market points via their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always pick a much more straight choice anyway. For me, I choose to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and for that reason has way extra integration choices. Tons of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin now even supports member-gated material along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this extra carefully places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with advantages, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface for what this implies for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … List of Beehiiv Newsletters
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also means that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced virtually weekly launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet big features that are quite vital. Their rate of growth at this moment has been impressive.
I also very much appreciate how receptive they are. In fact, one of their item announcements regarding some style improvements to the website design features in fact had a tiny trouble with the content width. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later, I gave them an additional idea …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based upon the embed kind used was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I really value.
An additional major point of distinction right here is the cost. Both platforms provide free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies 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 additionally FAR more favorable. ConvertKit appears cheaper in the beginning glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR reduced and your rate swiftly enhances as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally various league when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance rates? They could as time goes on. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you most definitely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance instead promptly and make new item statements rather typically, but there are some fundamental features I truly wish they had that I need to just await.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription kinds where I can pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for so many factors. As of now, registration types look OK, yet there’s really little setups for them to help in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the client degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks ought to become part of automations to make built-in automations easier and minimize reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor administrative interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to bulk edit posts (for instance, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard areas as basic on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the web site (such as even more flexible shade selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t excellent and certainly not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I presume you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I determined to switch my own newsletters over to the system despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing version particularly, I saw adequate value in their platform to warrant the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, however I purposefully have points establish so that I also maintain my listing “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is simply a good insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be rather simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a huge email list and are as a result being fleeced with their high monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating quickly. There’s likewise a respectable chance you’re not even using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might quickly be a better and much more budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful regarding growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is just one of the best video games in town right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the complimentary account to be quite feature abundant.