I have used a lot of different e-mail list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. Because of that (and the amazing features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Languages.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to decide 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 go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d also like to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Change In Method, I talked about exactly how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog into largely an e-newsletter. I decided that was the business model I intended to go after with that said residential or commercial property.
But, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed because problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed right into it specific to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two separate actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click registration links. Great for promotion in various 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 advertise your e-newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The platform was actually constructed by the individuals who accumulated the innovation for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential property to ensure that I can expand it more deliberately too.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Gladly RV was young, so simple to change. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will certainly constantly be carefully tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and simply an e-mail list.
You can host your email listing anywhere you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that web site. However, you are also sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much easier.
With a lot of email platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed entirely separately from your website. So, for instance, you could release an article to WordPress however then you would certainly require to individually build and send an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are after that 2 different sets of archives and two separate actions because blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same point. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a various set of demands than a typical email list.
You don’t usually require much marketing automation. You don’t generally require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to help you construct your client base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that does not mean I think Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually constructed by the exact same people who developed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brand names and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo developers. Once again, it simply informs me the consumer avatar difference between both business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly consider shaking things up is if I believed I might expand the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored toward designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies personalized areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions 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 ability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to new actions, such as modifying custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations just given that I began making use of the platform. As an example:
- Ability to set off automations based on which certain embed kind they can be found in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to writing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and tidy, but it would certainly be more equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards put anything you want in it. After that, you can place Visibility choices on that area to show it just to paid customers, conceal it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to clients, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally connect up to your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Relying on how many clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page designs seem far better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack settings itself toward “designers” greater than email online marketers and e-newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some points geared a lot more towards individuals that simply think in terms of material development.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are treated quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … amazing for individuals that may need it.
Substack also has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a chat feature to host talks with customers. It also has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is established to be more like a social network which sustains long-form content.
Overall, Substack is likewise extra … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a difficult time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest rivals, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at designers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly dealing with individuals that do it for service. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually good platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a standard feature of email lists that makes it possible for division in a far more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling at some time quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Languages.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to market points through their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly choose a much more straight alternative anyway. For me, I like to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way much more integration choices. Lots 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 now even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this a lot more very closely puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with perks, yet you can also pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are actually amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface of what this implies for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Languages
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise implies that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen practically weekly launch of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are quite crucial. Their speed of development at this moment has been impressive.
I additionally very much value how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item statements concerning some style improvements to the web design features really contained a tiny issue with the web content size. I simply replied to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the issue was taken care of.
Few days later, I gave them one more tip …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based upon the embed kind utilized was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually value.
An additional major factor of differentiation here is the price. Both platforms offer cost-free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra ability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more favorable. ConvertKit appears cheaper at first glimpse since their pricing page shows reduced numbers, however the customer limitations are FAR reduced and your cost quickly increases as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally make use of), you can grow your list up to 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost costs? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to evolve rather quickly and make new item announcements somewhat usually, but there are some basic features I truly wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership forms where I might pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be AWESOME for numerous factors. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would behave to have marking at the client level. This would be powerful.
I assume webhooks ought to be part of automations to make integrated automations simpler and reduce dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative interface modifications that would be handy. As an example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit articles (as an example, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as common on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as more flexible shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and definitely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is various so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I presume you never know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I made a decision to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter posting design specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their system to warrant the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special email checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I purposefully have things establish so that I additionally keep my checklist “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply a great insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack today, I ‘d certainly take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button should be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a huge email list and are for that reason being fleeced with their high month-to-month costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating rapidly. There’s likewise a pretty good chance you’re not even making use of some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and extra inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the best games in town right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the free account to be quite feature rich.