I have utilized a lot of different e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Dynamic Content.
So, it is without a doubt a strange move for me to determine to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to discuss 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 would certainly likewise such as to deal with why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Shift In Method, I talked about exactly how and why I determined to turn my RV blog right into largely a newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wanted to seek with that property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed into it specific to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog) and send out 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 capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote 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 e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was essentially built by the people who built up the innovation for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential property to ensure that I can grow it much more intentionally too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Happily motor home was young, so easy to shift. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of things here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly constantly be closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter system and just an e-mail listing.
You can organize your e-mail list everywhere you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail customers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that site. But, you are also dispatching to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely separately from your site. So, for instance, you may publish a short article to WordPress yet after that you would need to separately build and send an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are after that 2 different sets of archives and two different activities because blog posts and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I wished to continue to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly shed the development tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally comes with a various collection of needs than a common e-mail listing.
You don’t usually require much marketing automation. You don’t usually require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless posting experience and growth tools to aid you develop your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not mean I think Substack sucks. Actually, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same folks who constructed the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation also indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo developers. Again, it just tells me the customer character distinction in between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only factor I would contemplate trembling points up is if I believed I could expand the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more tailored towards makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses personalized fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot 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 capability to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have brand-new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as changing personalized fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply because I started using the platform. As an example:
- Capacity to activate automations based upon which particular embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability 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 think to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored towards newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I locate it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and clean, but it would certainly be extra comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and after that put anything you want in it. After that, you can put Presence alternatives on that particular area to show it just to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, show only to subscribers, and so on. Substack offers nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. In fact, you actually link approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Relying on how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra built toward actual email marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page develops seem far better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself towards “makers” greater than e-mail marketing professionals and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things tailored more toward people who simply think in terms of material production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … great for individuals who could require it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
In general, Substack is additionally extra … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I searched for more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at developers (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly dealing with people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction right here. ConvertKit is well known already. However, here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains tagging. This is just a basic feature of email checklists that enables segmentation in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Dynamic Content.
ConvertKit does now offer the ability to offer points through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly choose an extra direct option anyway. For me, I favor to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this much more closely puts ConvertKit into straight competitors 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 type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with advantages, however you can likewise pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are truly awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this suggests for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Dynamic Content
BeeHiiv is much previously 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 implies that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen nearly once a week release of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are fairly crucial. Their speed of development now has actually gone over.
I additionally very much value how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their product announcements regarding some style enhancements to the website design features in fact included a small issue with the material size. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more tip …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed kind made use of was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I truly appreciate.
Another significant point of differentiation here is the price. Both systems supply cost-free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more ability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more desirable. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first look due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are much lower and your cost promptly boosts as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally use), you can grow your list up to 100,000. A checklist of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, too. 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 concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you certainly need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to evolve rather promptly and make new product statements rather frequently, yet there are some basic features I truly desire they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription kinds where I can select an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would be amazing for a lot of factors. As of now, membership kinds look OK, yet there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the customer level. This would be effective.
I think webhooks need to become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management user interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit messages (for instance, to label a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as common on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the web site (such as even more adaptable shade options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t ideal and definitely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I determined to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter publishing design especially, I saw adequate value in their platform to necessitate the change.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special email listing. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, yet I purposefully have things set up to make sure that I likewise keep my listing “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is simply a great insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d certainly consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button must be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a large email list and are therefore being fleeced with their high monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating promptly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and a lot more cost effective fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very willful concerning expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best video games around right now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be fairly feature rich.