I have made use of a lot of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Header Size.
So, it is indeed an unusual move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly additionally such as to resolve why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Shift In Technique, I discussed how and why I determined to transform my recreational vehicle blog site into mainly a newsletter. I determined that was business design I wished to go after with that building.
But, to purposefully seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that problem of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built into it particular to my purpose. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The platform was literally constructed by the individuals that accumulated the technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own residential property to make sure that I can grow it a lot more purposefully as well.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Happily RV was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly constantly be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an email list.
You can host your e-mail listing anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting indicates that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are also sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the system much simpler.
With many email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed totally independently from your site. So, for instance, you could publish a short article to WordPress but after that you would certainly need to independently develop and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and 2 separate activities since blog posts and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the very same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid option if I intended to continue to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the development devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently features a different collection of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You don’t usually require autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and development tools to assist you build your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch the e-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 select BeeHiiv, that does not mean I think Substack sucks. Actually, because Substack has actually been about longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that initially got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally constructed by the exact same folks that developed the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo creators. Once again, it just informs me the client avatar difference in between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t specifically suck. The only factor I would certainly consider trembling points up is if I assumed I can GROW the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I really don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by individuals that recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra geared towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses custom-made areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal 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 out an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as customizing personalized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started using the system. As an example:
- Capability to activate automations based upon which certain embed type they was available in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this because the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it comes to composing your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I find it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and tidy, yet it would certainly be extra equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than just kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards put anything you want in it. Then, you can place Visibility options on that section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, hide it from email, hide from subscribers, reveal only to customers, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs registration design, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. Actually, you actually attach up to your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending on how many customers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations in all.
In general, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page develops appear much better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself toward “creators” greater than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared extra toward individuals who just believe in terms of web content creation.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are dealt with rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … cool for people who might require it.
Substack likewise has even more social performance built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with customers. It also has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form content.
Generally, Substack is also much more … minimal. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at creators (like Substack), but it is far more strongly dealing with individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce system, and more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly additionally state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a basic feature of email checklists that allows segmentation in a far more versatile means than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging at some point quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Header Size.
ConvertKit does now supply the ability to offer things by means of their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly choose a much more straight choice anyway. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin now even sustains member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic taking on 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 perks, however you can additionally pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are actually incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall wherefore this implies for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Header Size
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also suggests that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced almost once a week release of new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … yet big features that are rather vital. Their rate of development at this point has been impressive.
I also significantly appreciate exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product news about some design enhancements to the web design features in fact consisted of a little trouble with the content size. I just replied to that email to tell them. I promptly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the issue was taken care of.
Few days later, I provided an additional tip …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed kind made use of was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I truly appreciate.
Another significant factor of differentiation here is the rate. Both platforms offer complimentary plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides much more ability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first glance since their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, however the customer restrictions are much lower and your price promptly raises as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same size 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 directly utilize), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A checklist of that size would 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 each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance costs? They could as time takes place. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to develop instead quickly and make new item news rather typically, yet there are some basic features I really wish they had that I require to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription forms where I could pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would be AWESOME for so many factors. As of now, subscription kinds look OK, but there’s extremely little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the subscriber level. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks should be part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and minimize reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface changes that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit blog posts (as an example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as common on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the internet site (such as more flexible shade selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and certainly not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I think you never understand, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing version especially, I saw sufficient worth in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is good at, however I purposefully have things establish so that I additionally maintain my checklist “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just a good insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be pretty simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are consequently being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating rapidly. There’s likewise a respectable possibility you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might quickly be a much better and much more cost effective fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely willful about expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is among the very best games in the area today. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be rather feature abundant.