I have actually used a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been using Beehiiv OpenSea Scam.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d likewise such as to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I discussed exactly how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog into mostly a newsletter. I made a decision that was the business version I wished to go after with that residential or commercial property.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Happily RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a bit.
As I said in that problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built right into it specific to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click registration links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I choose to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was actually built by the people who developed the technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I ended off with this:.
I might indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly 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, triggered as it’s very own residential property to ensure that I can grow it a lot more deliberately also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to shift. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of things right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can host your e-mail list anywhere you desire and there are a number of them out there, 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 system, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your website and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that web site. However, you are also sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built entirely individually from your internet site. So, for instance, you may publish a write-up to WordPress but then you would certainly require to independently build and send an email to your list to send it to clients. These are after that 2 different sets of archives and two different actions because post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong alternative if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. However, you ‘d lose the development tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally comes with a different collection of needs than a typical email list.
You do not usually need much marketing automation. You do not normally require autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth posting experience and development devices to aid you build your client base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I selected to select BeeHiiv, that does not imply I think Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually constructed by the exact same folks who developed the innovation behind Early 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 growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and differentiation also suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brand names and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo developers. Once more, it simply tells me the customer character distinction in between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would contemplate shaking points up is if I believed I can GROW the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by people who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more geared toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as changing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply given that I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to set off automations based upon which specific embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be a lot more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Visibility alternatives on that particular area to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, show just to subscribers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of earnings. In fact, you essentially attach as much as your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Relying on how many customers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more constructed towards real email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page makes 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 such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself toward “makers” greater than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared a lot more toward individuals who simply think in terms of material development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are dealt with fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … awesome for individuals who may require it.
Substack also has even more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with customers. It also has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is established to be more like a social media network which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I don’t. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I searched for even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at creators (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly satisfying people that do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a standard feature of e-mail listings that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying eventually soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv OpenSea Scam.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to sell things by means of their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always pick an extra straight option anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and because of that has way a lot more integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this extra carefully places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active taking on the development tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv OpenSea Scam
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also suggests that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced almost once a week launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but huge features that are rather crucial. Their speed of growth at this point has gone over.
I likewise significantly appreciate exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news regarding some design enhancements to the website design features in fact contained a little issue with the material width. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the concern was repaired.
Couple of days later, I provided an additional recommendation …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to set off automations based upon the embed type made use of was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I actually appreciate.
An additional major point of distinction right here is the cost. Both systems use complimentary plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more desirable. ConvertKit seems cheaper in the beginning look since their pricing page shows lower numbers, however the subscriber restrictions are much reduced and your price promptly increases as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly utilize), you can grow your listing approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different league when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance rates? They could as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you absolutely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to advance instead promptly and make brand-new product announcements rather commonly, however there are some basic features I actually wish they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration forms where I can select an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be incredible for numerous factors. Already, subscription forms look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to aid in division.
It would behave to have marking at the subscriber level. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and reduce reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management interface changes that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit posts (as an example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the website (such as more adaptable shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and certainly not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I stated, the objective is various so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I guess you never ever know, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I decided to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing model especially, I saw adequate value in their platform to necessitate the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, but I intentionally have things establish so that I likewise keep my list “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is simply a good insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge email listing and are consequently being fleeced with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might quickly be a far better and a lot more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really intentional concerning expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is among the very best video games in the area right now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the free account to be quite feature rich.