I have made use of a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a big supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have been using Beehiiv Investors.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to attend to the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly also such as to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Change In Approach, I talked about exactly how and why I determined to turn my RV blog right into primarily a newsletter. I chose that was the business model I wanted to seek with that residential or commercial property.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Gladly motor home, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I stated in that issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed right into it particular to my purpose. Things such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog) and send the email simultaneously without having it be 2 different activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals who built up the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may without a doubt be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own home so that I can expand it extra purposefully as well.
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. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of things here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be carefully tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email List
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail checklist.
You can host your e-mail checklist anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your website and to your email customers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that web site. Yet, you are also dispatching to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With most e-mail systems, any type of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is built entirely individually from your site. So, as an example, you could release a short article to WordPress however after that you would certainly require to individually develop and send out an email to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and two different actions because article and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally features a various set of needs than a common e-mail listing.
You do not generally need much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to aid you construct your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my subscribers that I was going to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter publishers. Actually, it is essentially developed by the very same folks who built the technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. But, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some rather big brand names and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once again, it just informs me the client avatar difference between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would contemplate trembling points up is if I thought I can GROW the list quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct competitors.
But, let’s dive deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by individuals that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides custom areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as changing customized areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I began making use of the system. As an example:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which particular embed kind they can be found in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I locate it to be a lot more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and clean, however it would certainly be much more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Presence choices on that particular section to show it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, reveal just to customers, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs membership design, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. As a matter of fact, you essentially attach as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon the amount of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward genuine email marketing. It was developed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops seem much better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack settings itself towards “developers” more than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things geared extra towards individuals who just assume in regards to content production.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are dealt with quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … trendy for individuals who could need it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
Overall, Substack is also more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the very same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at designers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly satisfying people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually good platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a fundamental feature of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some time soon, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Investors.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to sell things using their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always choose an extra straight choice anyhow. For me, I prefer to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For instance, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to release to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic dealing with the growth tools 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, however you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are truly incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface wherefore this means for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Investors
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally means that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed nearly once a week release of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are quite crucial. Their speed of development at this moment has been impressive.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how responsive they are. Actually, among their item announcements concerning some design improvements to the web design features really included a small problem with the material width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the problem was taken care of.
Couple of days later on, I provided one more suggestion …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based upon the embed type used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually value.
Another major factor of differentiation below is the cost. Both systems use free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides more capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more favorable. ConvertKit appears cheaper initially glance since their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limitations are much lower and your rate rapidly boosts as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your list up to 100,000. A listing of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost prices? They could as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the things you definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress instead promptly and make new item announcements rather frequently, however there are some basic features I truly wish they had that I need to just await.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration kinds where I could select an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be remarkable for many reasons. Already, subscription types look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to help in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the subscriber level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks need to belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit posts (for instance, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as standard on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the web site (such as even more versatile color choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and certainly not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never ever understand, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I chose to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting version particularly, I saw sufficient worth in their system to require the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special email checklist. I use BeeHiiv of what it is good at, yet I deliberately have things set up so that I also maintain my list “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply a good insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d absolutely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button ought to be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a huge email listing and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s also a pretty good chance you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a better and much more cost effective fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate concerning growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best games around right now. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be fairly feature abundant.