I have made use of a great deal of various email list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own system. Because of that (and the outstanding features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv For Business.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to choose to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d likewise such as to deal with why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Change In Method, I talked about just how and why I decided to turn my RV blog right into primarily an e-newsletter. I decided that was the business model I wished to go after keeping that residential property.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly RV, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. A lot more on that particular in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it details to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The system was actually constructed by the people that accumulated the modern technology for Morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may indeed be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own home to ensure that I can grow it much more deliberately as well.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Happily RV was young, so simple 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 separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be carefully tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not have to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail checklist.
You can hold your e-mail list just about anywhere 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 system, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail subscribers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are also dispatching to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally separately from your internet site. So, for instance, you might release a write-up to WordPress however then you would need to individually develop and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and two different actions because article and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a different collection of demands than a normal e-mail listing.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You don’t generally require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth devices to aid you build your client base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has actually been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that originally got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to e-newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally constructed by the same folks that constructed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and differentiation likewise means that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brand names and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer character distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not exactly draw. The only reason I would certainly contemplate shaking points up is if I thought I could GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
Yet, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra tailored toward makers.
As an example, BeeHiiv uses personalized fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to new actions, such as customizing personalized areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply given that I started using the system. For instance:
- Ability to activate automations based on which certain embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this since the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored towards e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be a lot more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and clean, yet it would certainly be extra equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Presence choices on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show only to subscribers, and so on. Substack supplies nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of income. In fact, you literally 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 the number of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more built towards actual email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear far better built for conversions. Growth 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 settings itself towards “developers” more than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points geared more toward people that simply believe in regards to material creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are treated rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … great for people who might need it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a chat feature to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be extra like a social network which sustains long-form material.
In general, Substack is likewise extra … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. However, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a tough 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 opponents. Both are going after the very same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at creators (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly accommodating people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has great visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature break down below. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is just a standard function of e-mail checklists that enables segmentation in a much more flexible means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging at some point quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv For Business.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capacity to market things via their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose a much more direct choice anyhow. For me, I favor to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. As an example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this more very closely places ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall wherefore this indicates for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv For Business
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen nearly weekly release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are quite important. Their rate of advancement at this moment has actually gone over.
I likewise significantly value just how responsive they are. In fact, among their item statements about some style improvements to the web design features actually included a little issue with the material size. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the problem was taken care of.
Few days later, I gave them an additional idea …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed type made use of was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I actually value.
Another significant factor of distinction here is the rate. Both platforms use totally free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capacity and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more positive. ConvertKit seems less costly in the beginning look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, however the client restrictions are FAR reduced and your rate promptly increases as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That 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 utilize), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise costs? They may as time goes on. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you most definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to develop rather promptly and make brand-new item announcements rather often, but there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on membership types where I can pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous reasons. Already, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks ought to be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor administrative user interface adjustments that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (for example, to identify a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as common on customers (like the name).
- Some even more customization alternatives for the web site (such as more adaptable color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and absolutely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I said, the function is different so it wouldn’t much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Sufficient where I chose to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter posting model specifically, I saw adequate value in their platform to warrant the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, yet I intentionally have things establish so that I also keep my listing “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just an excellent insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button must be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large email listing and are as a result being fleeced with their high month-to-month expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating swiftly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not also making use of some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can quickly be a much better and more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful concerning growing a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is among the best video games in town today. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be rather feature rich.