I have actually utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Priority Live Support.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d also like to address why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Shift In Approach, I spoke about exactly how and why I made a decision to turn my motor home blog right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business model I wanted to seek with that said residential or commercial property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly RV, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a bit.
As I said because problem of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built into it specific to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send out the email concurrently without having it be two different activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, 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 choose to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The system was actually developed by the individuals who built up the innovation for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own property so that I can grow it much more intentionally as well.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will clearly always be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction between a newsletter system and just an e-mail checklist.
You can host your e-mail list anywhere you desire and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of posting means that it is going to your website and to your email customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are likewise sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much less complex.
With a lot of email platforms, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally independently from your internet site. So, as an example, you may publish an article to WordPress however then you would need to individually build and send an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and two different activities since blog posts and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently features a various set of needs than a regular e-mail listing.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth tools to aid 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 newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I chose to choose BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I think Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that initially got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same folks who constructed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some rather big brands and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Once again, it just tells me the customer avatar distinction in between both business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would consider shaking things up is if I thought I could GROW the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, let’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by people that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared toward makers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers custom areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability 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. Quickly sufficient, automations will have new triggers as well as new activities, such as changing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just given that I began making use of the system. For example:
- Ability to set off automations based on which specific embed type they came in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target audience of Substack simply would not think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it involves writing your newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be much more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface behaves and tidy, yet it would be extra comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure choices on that particular section to show it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to clients, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of profits. In fact, you actually connect approximately your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Relying on the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
Overall, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates seem better developed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack settings itself toward “makers” greater than e-mail online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared much more towards individuals that simply believe in regards to web content production.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are dealt with fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, but … trendy for people that might need it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
In general, Substack is additionally more … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I tried to find even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the very same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more strongly satisfying individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has great visual automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly good system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down below. ConvertKit is popular currently. Yet, here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly additionally say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail lists that makes it possible for division in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Priority Live Support.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to sell points through their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose an extra straight option anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way much more integration alternatives. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this more carefully places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with advantages, however you can also pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this implies for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Priority Live Support
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also indicates that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually witnessed almost weekly release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are rather crucial. Their rate of advancement now has actually gone over.
I also significantly value just how receptive they are. Actually, among their product statements about some design improvements to the web design features really had a little trouble with the content width. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later on, I provided one more suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to trigger automations based on the embed type used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I actually value.
An additional major point of differentiation right here is the rate. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides more capability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more favorable. ConvertKit appears more affordable at first look since their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the client restrictions are much lower and your price quickly raises as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size list 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 personally make use of), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A list of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various league when it involves pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase rates? They might as time goes on. But, I’m guessing individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to evolve rather rapidly and make new item news rather usually, but there are some standard features I really wish they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership types where I can pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be remarkable for numerous factors. Currently, membership forms look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to assist in division.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the client level. This would be effective.
I think webhooks ought to be part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and minimize dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative user interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as standard on customers (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the internet site (such as more adaptable shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I said, the objective is various so it would not a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I think you never recognize, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Enough where I made a decision to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw enough value in their system to call for the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email list. I make use of BeeHiiv wherefore it is efficient, but I purposefully have things establish to make sure that I likewise keep my checklist “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist 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 inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be rather straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large email checklist and are consequently being wooled with their high month-to-month expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating swiftly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not also using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could quickly be a much better and extra inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is one of the best games around now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the totally free account to be quite feature rich.