I have actually made use of a lot of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. Because of that (and the awesome features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Gated Content.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly also like to attend to why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Method, I discussed just how and why I determined to turn my RV blog into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business design I wanted to go after with that said residential property.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Happily recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I stated in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built into it certain to my objective. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be two separate actions.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The system was actually developed by the people that developed the technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I may indeed be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own building so that I can expand it much more purposefully also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown separately. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to transition. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will clearly always be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email List
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and just an e-mail list.
You can host your e-mail list anywhere you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your site and to your email customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much easier.
With many e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your web site. So, for instance, you might release a post to WordPress however then you would need to independently construct and send an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and two different actions since post and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and allows them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently features a different collection of requirements than a normal e-mail checklist.
You do not normally need much marketing automation. You don’t typically require autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to aid you build your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that initially obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually constructed by the same people that built the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brands and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo designers. Again, it just informs me the customer character distinction between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only reason I would certainly ponder drinking things up is if I believed I can GROW the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was constructed by individuals who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored toward makers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers personalized areas on customers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still rather restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have new triggers in addition to new activities, such as changing custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply because I began using the system. For example:
- Ability to activate automations based on which particular embed type they can be found in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it involves writing your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored towards e-newsletters. Actually, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I discover it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface behaves and tidy, but it would certainly be more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility alternatives on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, hide it from email, conceal from clients, reveal only to customers, etc. Substack supplies nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. In fact, you literally connect approximately your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon how many customers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
In general, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward real e-mail marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page designs appear much better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack settings itself toward “creators” more than email online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some points tailored much more toward people who simply assume in regards to web content development.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … cool for people who might require it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. In general, Substack is established to be extra like a social network which supports long-form content.
Overall, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to real marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I looked for more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually with to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at designers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly accommodating people that do it for company. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly likewise say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is just a basic function of e-mail lists that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time soon, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Gated Content.
ConvertKit does currently supply the ability to market points through their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly always choose an extra direct choice anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way more integration options. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For example, their plugin currently even supports member-gated material along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this extra very closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can likewise pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this suggests for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Gated Content
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally implies that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed nearly once a week launch of new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … however large features that are fairly vital. Their speed of development at this moment has actually gone over.
I additionally significantly value exactly how responsive they are. Actually, one of their item news about some style improvements to the website design features actually contained a small trouble with the web content size. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the concern was fixed.
Couple of days later on, I provided another recommendation …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I truly value.
An additional major point of distinction below is the rate. Both systems supply free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies extra capacity and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more favorable. ConvertKit seems less costly in the beginning glance since their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, however the customer restrictions are FAR lower and your price promptly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension checklist 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 personally utilize), you can grow your list approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance costs? They may as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to advance instead quickly and make new product news somewhat typically, yet there are some basic features I truly wish they had that I require to just await.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription types where I might choose an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be outstanding for so many factors. As of now, subscription forms look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to help in division.
It would behave to have marking at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks should become part of automations to make integrated automations simpler and lower dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface adjustments that would be handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit messages (for instance, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the site (such as more versatile color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I determined to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting version particularly, I saw enough value in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I intentionally have points set up so that I likewise keep my checklist “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just a good insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d absolutely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a huge e-mail checklist and are for that reason being fleeced with their high monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating rapidly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not even using a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a far better and extra budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very intentional about growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is among the best games around now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be rather feature abundant.