I have actually utilized a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Audio.
So, it is certainly a strange move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Besides, 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 e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d additionally such as to resolve why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Shift In Strategy, I discussed exactly how and why I determined to turn my RV blog site right into mainly an e-newsletter. I chose that was the business version I intended to pursue with that residential property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that in a little bit.
As I said in that concern of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed into it specific to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be two separate actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click registration links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was essentially developed by the people who built up the innovation for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential or commercial property to make sure that I can expand it more deliberately too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Gladly RV was young, so simple to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will obviously always be carefully connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email list.
You can hold your e-mail checklist anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are also sending off to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With many email systems, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely independently from your internet site. So, for instance, you may release an article to WordPress yet after that you would require to separately build and send an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 different collections of archives and 2 different activities due to the fact that post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally features a various set of demands than a typical email checklist.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You do not usually require autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to aid you construct your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I assume Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter publishers. Actually, it is essentially constructed by the exact same people who built the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo creators. Again, it just tells me the customer character distinction between the two firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would contemplate trembling things up is if I thought I might expand the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I really do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored towards makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides customized areas on customers. Currently, 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 whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as modifying personalized areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations simply because I began using the system. As an example:
- Capacity to cause automations based upon which certain embed form they was available in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and manage individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketer.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I find it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, yet it would be a lot more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure options on that area to show it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from customers, reveal only to clients, etc. Substack supplies nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of profits. As a matter of fact, you actually attach as much as your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
In general, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more constructed toward real email marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page makes seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack settings itself toward “designers” more than email marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some things geared a lot more toward people who just think in terms of web content creation.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … trendy for individuals that may require it.
Substack also has even more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form content.
Generally, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves real marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, but frankly … I have a difficult time locating 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 pursuing the very same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at creators (like Substack), yet it is a lot more highly satisfying people that do it for company. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, below’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it concerns it’s automations. I will likewise say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a fundamental function of email lists that makes it possible for division in an even more flexible means than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying at some time soon, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Audio.
ConvertKit does now give the capability to market points by means of their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly always select a much more straight option anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and for that reason has way much more integration alternatives. Tons of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this much more closely puts ConvertKit into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your site and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with advantages, but you can additionally pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall wherefore this means for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Audio
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed practically once a week launch of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … yet huge features that are rather vital. Their speed of growth now has actually gone over.
I additionally very much appreciate how responsive they are. Actually, one of their product news concerning some design enhancements to the website design features really included a tiny trouble with the web content size. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the concern was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I provided another idea …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based on the embed kind used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I truly appreciate.
Another major factor of distinction here is the cost. Both platforms supply free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers a lot more capability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limitations are much reduced and your price rapidly raises as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different league when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise prices? They might as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you absolutely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to develop instead promptly and make brand-new product statements rather often, but there are some basic features I truly want they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription forms where I might select an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be incredible for numerous factors. Already, membership kinds look OK, but there’s really little settings for them to aid in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I think webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor management interface changes that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to bulk edit messages (for instance, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the internet site (such as more versatile color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and certainly not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it wouldn’t much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw sufficient value in their platform to necessitate the change.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, yet I intentionally have things set up to make sure that I likewise maintain my list “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d absolutely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button should be quite straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a large e-mail list and are as a result being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good chance you’re not also using a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could easily be a far better and much more cost effective fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very willful concerning growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the very best video games in the area today. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be rather feature abundant.