I have used a great deal of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Custom Domains.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly likewise such as to deal with why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Technique, I discussed how and why I made a decision to turn my motor home blog into mostly an e-newsletter. I chose that was business model I wanted to go after with that property.
However, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I claimed because problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built right into it details to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail concurrently without having it be two different activities.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click membership links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs 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 developed by the people who built up the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own building to ensure that I can expand it more purposefully as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to change. However, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will clearly constantly be very closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail listing.
You can host your email list just about anywhere you desire and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that site. But, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much simpler.
With most e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed totally separately from your website. So, as an example, you may publish a short article to WordPress yet then you would certainly require to independently construct and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are after that 2 different collections of archives and two separate actions due to the fact that article and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the very same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the development devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently comes with a various collection of requirements than a regular e-mail checklist.
You don’t normally need much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth posting experience and development tools to assist you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch 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 chose to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I believe Substack sucks. Actually, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the exact same folks that built the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brand names and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo creators. Once again, it just tells me the client avatar difference in between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would ponder drinking points up is if I assumed I can expand the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight rivals.
However, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by individuals that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only action is the ability to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as changing custom-made areas, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations just because I started utilizing the system. For example:
- Ability to activate automations based on which specific embed type they came in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared toward newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and clean, however it would certainly be more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can place Presence choices on that section to show it just to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from clients, show only to subscribers, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of revenue. Actually, you essentially link approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on the amount of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page creates seem much better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want 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 claimed, Substack placements itself toward “creators” more than email marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared more toward people that just believe in terms of content creation.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are treated fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, but … trendy for people who may require it.
Substack additionally has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media network which supports long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it concerns actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a difficult time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at designers (like Substack), but it is far more strongly accommodating individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly great system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular currently. Yet, right here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is simply a standard function of email lists that makes it possible for division in a far more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying eventually soon, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Custom Domains.
ConvertKit does now offer the capability to sell things by means of their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always select a much more direct choice anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and for that reason has way much more integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. As an example, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this more closely places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to release to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these sort 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 Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, but you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface for what this means for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Custom Domains
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it additionally suggests that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced practically weekly launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … however huge features that are fairly vital. Their rate of growth at this point has actually gone over.
I additionally very much appreciate how responsive they are. In fact, one of their item news concerning some layout improvements to the website design features really consisted of a little problem with the web content size. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply straight from the CEO:.
That same day, the concern was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them another suggestion …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed form utilized was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really appreciate.
One more significant factor of differentiation right here is the cost. Both systems offer complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more ability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive in the beginning look because their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the client limits are FAR lower and your cost quickly boosts as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally use), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A listing of that size would 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 every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you most definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve instead quickly and make new product statements rather usually, yet there are some fundamental features I really desire they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for so many reasons. Already, membership kinds look OK, but there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the client degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to become part of automations to make integrated automations simpler and minimize reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. For example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Ability to mass edit posts (for instance, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the site (such as more versatile shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t perfect and definitely not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is various so it would not much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv rather a great deal. Enough where I decided to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw enough worth in their platform to require the change.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special email list. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is proficient at, yet I intentionally have things establish so that I also maintain my listing “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be quite simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a huge e-mail list and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s also a pretty good chance you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could quickly be a much better and extra budget-friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very intentional about growing a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is among the best video games in town now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.