I have actually made use of a lot of various e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Because of that (and the amazing features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Partner Program.
So, it is certainly an odd move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d likewise like to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I discussed how and why I chose to transform my recreational vehicle blog site into primarily an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business design I wanted to pursue with that residential property.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed in that concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with devices built into it certain to my objective. Points such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send out the email simultaneously without having it be two different actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click membership links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was essentially developed by the individuals that developed the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential or commercial property to make sure that I can expand it more intentionally too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to change. Yet, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating 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 site Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail checklist.
You can hold your e-mail list just about anywhere you want 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 key distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your website and to your email subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that web site. However, you are also sending off to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the system much simpler.
With the majority of email platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely independently from your website. So, for instance, you might release an article to WordPress yet after that you would certainly require to individually develop and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and 2 separate actions due to the fact that article and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it basically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid option if I intended to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently comes with a various set of needs than a normal email list.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to assist you develop your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced 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 selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I believe Substack sucks. Actually, because Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter publishers. Actually, it is literally constructed by the very same folks that constructed the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and distinction also indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Again, it just informs me the consumer character difference in between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only reason I would ponder trembling points up is if I thought I can GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I in fact do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight competitors.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by individuals who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv provides customized fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies 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 performance is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as new actions, such as modifying customized areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations just since I started utilizing the system. For instance:
- Capability to set off automations based on which certain embed type they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can not do this because the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it comes to composing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply more tailored towards newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I discover it to be extra user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and tidy, however it would be extra equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Exposure choices on that area to show it just to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from clients, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack uses nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of revenue. In fact, you literally connect as much as your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, but what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page develops appear far better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack positions itself towards “designers” greater than email online marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points geared a lot more towards individuals that just assume in regards to web content creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … great for individuals who could need it.
Substack likewise has even more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
Overall, Substack is likewise more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I looked for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at developers (like Substack), however it is much more strongly dealing with people that do it for service. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business system, and more. ConvertKit is a truly great system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more versatility when it comes to it’s automations. I will likewise state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains tagging. This is simply a basic function of e-mail lists that makes it possible for division in a far more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging at some time quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Partner Program.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capacity to offer things by means of their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose a more direct option anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way extra integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For instance, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more very closely puts ConvertKit into direct competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with 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 advantages, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are truly remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface wherefore this implies for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Partner Program
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also suggests that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen virtually once a week release of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however large features that are fairly crucial. Their speed of advancement at this moment has actually been impressive.
I additionally significantly appreciate just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their product announcements regarding some style improvements to the website design features really consisted of a tiny problem with the content width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I provided one more tip …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to cause automations based on the embed kind used was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I actually appreciate.
One more major point of differentiation below is the rate. Both systems provide complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies extra ability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more desirable. ConvertKit appears more affordable initially glimpse because their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limits are much reduced and your cost promptly raises as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension listing 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 make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually boost costs? They could as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you most definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to develop rather promptly and make brand-new item announcements rather commonly, but there are some fundamental features I truly desire they had that I require to just await.
One is that they need to have a setup on registration kinds where I can select an automation to run right at the type level. That would be amazing for a lot of reasons. Already, membership kinds look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks ought to belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and reduce dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small management user interface changes that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to label a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization choices for the internet site (such as more adaptable shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t excellent and absolutely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I chose to switch my very own e-newsletters over to the system despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw adequate worth in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email list. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, yet I purposefully have things set up to make sure that I additionally maintain my checklist “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be quite straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge email checklist and are therefore being wooled with their high regular monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating swiftly. There’s additionally a respectable opportunity you’re not also using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and much more budget friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very willful about expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is one of the very best games in the area now. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves 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 abundant.