I have used a lot of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a big proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. For that reason (and the amazing features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Five Words In.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to determine to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly additionally such as to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Approach, I discussed just how and why I made a decision to turn my RV blog right into primarily a newsletter. I chose that was the business model I wished to go after keeping that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly RV, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I said in that concern of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed right into it certain to my function. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The system was essentially developed by the people that developed the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went for it. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own property to make sure that I can expand it much more intentionally also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Gladly motor home was young, so very easy to change. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of things below 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 constantly be closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email List
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter system and simply an email listing.
You can organize your e-mail list just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With a lot of e-mail systems, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed totally separately from your website. So, for example, you may release a post to WordPress but after that you would certainly require to separately build and send an email to your listing to send it to clients. These are then 2 different sets of archives and 2 different activities because article and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the same point. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently features a various set of demands than a regular email list.
You don’t typically need much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, though, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to help you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was mosting likely 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 truth that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I think Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is literally constructed by the same individuals who built the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction likewise means that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and huge publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Again, it just informs me the client character difference in between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically draw. The only factor I would certainly contemplate drinking things up is if I believed I can GROW the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by people who recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv uses custom-made fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as modifying custom areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I started making use of the system. For instance:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which particular embed form they came in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it concerns writing your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just extra tailored towards newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, but it would be more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. Then, you can put Presence choices on that section to show it only to paid customers, conceal it from email, hide from customers, reveal only to clients, etc. Substack provides nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. As a matter of fact, you actually attach approximately your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards genuine email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs appear much better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love 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 “developers” greater than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored a lot more towards individuals that simply think in terms of material production.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, 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 call for, yet … awesome for individuals that might require it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is set up to be more like a social network which sustains long-form content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at creators (like Substack), yet it is far more highly catering to individuals who do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and more. ConvertKit is a truly nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly likewise state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a basic feature of e-mail checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more adaptable means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain labeling at some point soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Five Words In.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to offer points using their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always choose a much more straight choice anyhow. For me, I like to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this more closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an 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 ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this implies for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Five Words In
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 phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise indicates that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed nearly weekly launch of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are fairly vital. Their speed of development now has actually gone over.
I likewise significantly appreciate how receptive they are. In fact, among their product news regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact included a little trouble with the content size. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later, I gave them an additional suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to set off automations based on the embed kind used was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I really appreciate.
Another major point of differentiation here is the cost. Both systems supply free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers extra capability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more desirable. ConvertKit seems less costly initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, however the client limits are FAR lower and your price swiftly boosts as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless 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 update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your listing 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 annually, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various organization when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance rates? They may as time takes place. But, I’m presuming people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you certainly need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to advance rather quickly and make new item announcements somewhat typically, however there are some standard features I truly desire they had that I need to simply wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I can pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be amazing for a lot of reasons. As of now, registration types look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would be nice to have tagging at the client degree. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to be part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and minimize dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to bulk edit blog posts (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the site (such as more versatile shade selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t best and definitely not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I said, the objective is various so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever understand, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I determined to switch my very own newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing version especially, I saw adequate value in their platform to require the modification.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, yet I purposefully have things establish so that I additionally keep my list “in residence” within 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 checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be quite uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large email list and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating rapidly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not even using several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely intentional concerning expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is just one of the best video games around now. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the cost-free account to be rather feature abundant.