I have utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Because of that (and the incredible features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Features.
So, it is undoubtedly an odd move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly likewise like to deal with why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Shift In Method, I talked about just how and why I decided to turn my RV blog right into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business design I wished to seek keeping that property.
But, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated in that issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built right into it details to my objective. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals who accumulated the innovation for Morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential property to make sure that I can grow it much more intentionally too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly motor home was young, so very easy to shift. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously always be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Listing
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can host your email list everywhere you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your site and to your e-mail customers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are additionally sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With the majority of email platforms, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely individually from your website. So, as an example, you could publish a write-up to WordPress but after that you would need to individually develop and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 different sets of archives and 2 separate actions since blog posts and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it practically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the exact same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. However, you ‘d shed the development devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently features a various set of demands than a regular email list.
You do not generally require much marketing automation. You do not normally need 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 development devices to help you construct your client base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers 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 truth that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I think Substack sucks. Actually, because Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter publishers. Actually, it is literally constructed by the same folks who built the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brand names and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo makers. Once again, it just tells me the customer character difference in between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only factor I would consider trembling points up is if I thought I could GROW the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct competitors.
Yet, let’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv seems like it was constructed by people who understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides personalized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Ability to trigger automations based on which particular embed type they was available in on.
- Capability 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 ever will. Substack just can’t do this because the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it involves writing your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored towards e-newsletters. Actually, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, yet it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and after that put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that particular area to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. As a matter of fact, you literally connect up to your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon the amount of clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, but what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page develops appear better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “creators” more than email marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some things tailored a lot more toward individuals that simply think in regards to material production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are dealt with quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … cool for individuals who could need it.
Substack additionally has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Overall, Substack is established to be much more like a social network which sustains long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is additionally much more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I searched for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly catering to individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature break down here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will also say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail lists that allows division in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support marking at some point quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Features.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capacity to market points using their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly select a much more straight alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this a lot more very closely places ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly remarkable features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall for what this indicates for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Features
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are swiftly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed virtually regular release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are rather important. Their speed of development at this point has gone over.
I likewise significantly value exactly how responsive they are. In fact, among their item announcements regarding some layout improvements to the website design features actually included a little problem with the material width. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I provided an additional suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed kind made use of was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I truly appreciate.
One more major point of differentiation here is the cost. Both platforms use complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more ability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more beneficial. ConvertKit seems more affordable at first glimpse since their pricing page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the client limits are much lower and your cost quickly raises as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly use), you can grow your checklist up to 100,000. A list of that size would certainly 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 yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise rates? They might as time goes on. However, I’m thinking people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to evolve instead promptly and make new item news somewhat commonly, but there are some standard features I truly desire they had that I need to simply wait for.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription kinds where I might choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be outstanding for a lot of reasons. As of now, registration forms look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I assume webhooks ought to become part of automations to make built-in automations much easier and minimize dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative interface adjustments that would be handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for instance, to identify a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as basic on customers (like the name).
- Some more personalization choices for the internet site (such as even more flexible color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t best and definitely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I think you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw sufficient worth in their system to necessitate the change.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, but I deliberately have points establish so that I likewise maintain my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a big email listing and are consequently being fleeced with their high month-to-month expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating rapidly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and a lot more affordable fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate about expanding an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is just one of the best games around right now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be quite feature rich.