I have actually made use of a lot of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and having your own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been using Beehiiv First Name.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to address the issue of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d likewise such as to deal with why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Shift In Approach, I spoke about exactly how and why I decided to turn my RV blog into mostly an e-newsletter. I chose that was the business version I wished to seek with that said residential property.
However, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I said because issue of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed into it specific to my function. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send out the email concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The platform was essentially built by the individuals who accumulated the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own home to ensure that I can expand it more intentionally too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Happily RV was young, so simple to change. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will clearly always be carefully tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an e-mail list.
You can hold your e-mail list anywhere 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 difference?
The main difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting implies that it is going to your site and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that web site. Yet, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With many email platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed totally independently from your web site. So, as an example, you could publish a post to WordPress but after that you would require to independently develop and send out an email to your list to send it to customers. These are then two different collections of archives and 2 different activities due to the fact that blog posts and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I wanted to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the growth tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different set of needs than a typical email checklist.
You don’t normally require much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to assist you build your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack sucks. In fact, since Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same individuals that developed the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brand names and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Again, it just informs me the client character distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only factor I would consider shaking things up is if I assumed I can expand the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by individuals who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides custom areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. Actually, it is a visual 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 quite restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an email. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as customizing personalized areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply because I began making use of the platform. For instance:
- Capability to set off automations based upon which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this because the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it comes to composing your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just extra geared toward e-newsletters. Actually, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and tidy, yet it would certainly be much more equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than simply kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and after that placed anything you want in it. After that, you can place Exposure choices on that section to reveal it just to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from customers, show only to customers, etc. Substack provides nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium subscription design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of revenue. In fact, you essentially connect approximately your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending upon the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Overall, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more developed toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page designs seem much better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack positions itself towards “developers” more than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points geared much more towards people who just believe in terms of content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are treated rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … cool for people who may require it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Overall, Substack is set up to be extra like a social network which supports long-form material.
In general, Substack is also much more … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I searched for even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at developers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly dealing with individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has nice visual automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is just a basic function of email checklists that allows segmentation in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv First Name.
ConvertKit does now provide the capability to market things via their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly constantly pick an extra straight option anyway. For me, I favor to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and because of that has way extra integration options. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are actually awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall of what this implies for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv First Name
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise implies that they are swiftly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced practically regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are quite vital. Their rate of advancement at this point has actually been impressive.
I likewise significantly appreciate just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item statements regarding some design enhancements to the website design features in fact consisted of a small problem with the material width. I merely replied to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the issue was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I gave them one more idea …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based upon the embed type made use of was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
An additional major factor of differentiation below is the cost. Both platforms offer cost-free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies extra capacity and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit appears cheaper initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, however the subscriber limitations are much reduced and your price rapidly boosts as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size 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 directly utilize), you can grow your checklist up to 100,000. A list of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different league when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually boost costs? They may as time goes on. However, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you absolutely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance rather rapidly and make new item statements somewhat often, however there are some basic features I really wish they had that I require to just await.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership forms where I might choose an automation to run right at the form level. That would be remarkable for so many factors. Already, subscription forms look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to help in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the customer level. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management user interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit blog posts (for example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as typical on customers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the site (such as even more versatile shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t perfect and absolutely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I determined to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter posting design specifically, I saw enough value in their platform to require the change.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email list. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, yet I intentionally have things set up so that I likewise maintain my checklist “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be quite straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a large email listing and are consequently being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can quickly be a far better and a lot more economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very intentional concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is created to be, it is just one of the best video games around right now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the free account to be fairly feature rich.