I have made use of a great deal of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Lifetime Subscriptions.
So, it is certainly a strange move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly also like to resolve why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Method, I discussed just how and why I chose to turn my recreational vehicle blog into mainly an e-newsletter. I chose that was business version I intended to pursue keeping that property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it details to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog site) and send the e-mail all at once without having it be 2 separate activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click membership web links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The platform was actually built by the individuals that developed the technology for Morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, 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 EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own building to make sure that I can expand it more intentionally too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of things right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will certainly always be very closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a distinction between a newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can host your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a number of them out there, 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 publishing suggests that it is going to your website and to your email subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are additionally sending to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much simpler.
With many email platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally individually from your internet site. So, for instance, you may publish a post to WordPress yet after that you would certainly require to separately develop and send an email to your listing to send it to clients. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and two separate activities because blog posts and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wanted to remain to self-host everything. However, you would certainly shed the development tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally comes with a various collection of requirements than a normal email listing.
You don’t normally require much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth tools to aid you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack draws. Actually, since Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that originally obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is actually built by the same folks who constructed the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in right here.
- That branding and distinction also means that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Once again, it simply tells me the client avatar distinction in between both business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only factor I would consider drinking points up is if I assumed I could expand the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
However, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by people that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies custom areas on customers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an email. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as modifying custom fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations just considering that I started making use of the platform. For example:
- Capability to activate automations based on which specific embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it comes to writing your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared toward e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, yet it would certainly be much more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards put anything you want in it. After that, you can place Presence options on that particular area to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from clients, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack offers absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs registration design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of revenue. In fact, you literally link as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending on how many clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, but what it suggests 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 literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear better developed for conversions. Development 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.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack placements itself toward “creators” more than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored extra toward people that simply assume in terms of web content creation.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are treated fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … cool for people who may need it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is established to be much more like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
Generally, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works quite well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I do not assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at creators (like Substack), however it is much more highly dealing with individuals that do it for company. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation building, it’s very own business platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really good system.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a basic function of email listings that enables segmentation in an even more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying eventually quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Lifetime Subscriptions.
ConvertKit does now supply the capability to offer points via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always select a more direct choice anyway. For me, I like to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and because of that has way a lot more integration options. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with advantages, yet you can also pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are actually amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall of what this implies for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Lifetime Subscriptions
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also indicates that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually witnessed practically once a week launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet big features that are quite essential. Their speed of advancement now has actually gone over.
I also very much value how responsive they are. Actually, one of their product statements concerning some layout improvements to the website design features in fact consisted of a small trouble with the web content width. I simply replied to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the problem was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them another suggestion …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based on the embed kind used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually value.
An additional major point of distinction below is the rate. Both platforms supply complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more ability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR lower and your cost promptly raises as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. 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 directly use), you can expand 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, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise rates? They could as time takes place. However, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to progress rather swiftly and make new product statements rather frequently, yet there are some basic features I truly desire they had that I need to simply wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration types where I can select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be AWESOME for so many factors. Currently, membership kinds look OK, yet there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would be nice to have tagging at the client degree. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks should belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative user interface modifications that would come in handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit posts (for instance, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as common on clients (like the name).
- Some even more modification choices for the internet site (such as more adaptable shade choices, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t perfect and definitely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never will be, either. As I stated, the objective is various so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never understand, 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 system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to require the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special email listing. I make use of BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, but I deliberately have things set up to ensure that I also maintain my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just a great insurance policy, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing 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 utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack today, I ‘d certainly consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button should be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a large email list and are consequently being fleeced with their high month-to-month costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not even making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could easily be a far better and a lot more cost effective fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very deliberate concerning expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is just one of the best games in the area today. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be quite feature rich.