I have utilized a great deal of different email list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Starter.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d also such as to address why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Change In Technique, I talked about exactly how and why I chose to transform my RV blog into primarily an e-newsletter. I decided that was business model I wanted to go after with that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I stated because problem of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it details to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click membership links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was essentially developed by the individuals that accumulated the technology for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of 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 own property to ensure that I can grow it extra purposefully as well.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will certainly always be very closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between a newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can hold your email listing everywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing implies that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that web site. But, you are additionally sending to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much simpler.
With most e-mail platforms, any newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely individually from your web site. So, for example, you could publish a write-up to WordPress however after that you would need to separately develop and send an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are after that 2 different collections of archives and 2 different activities due to the fact that article and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. However, you ‘d lose the growth tools that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally comes with a different set of needs than a typical e-mail checklist.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You don’t typically need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth posting experience and growth devices to assist you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to go with BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I think Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially built by the exact same folks who built the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and differentiation also means that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo creators. Again, it just informs me the customer character distinction in between the two firms.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not specifically draw. The only reason I would certainly contemplate shaking points up is if I believed I might GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by individuals who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more tailored toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv uses custom-made fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as modifying customized areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just since I began using the platform. As an example:
- Capability to activate automations based upon which particular embed type they can be found in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email marketer.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I discover it to be more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and clean, however it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and after that placed anything you want in it. Then, you can place Exposure alternatives on that particular area to reveal it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, hide from clients, show only to clients, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs subscription model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. As a matter of fact, you literally connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more developed toward real e-mail marketing. It was developed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates seem better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack positions itself towards “developers” more than e-mail marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points geared a lot more towards people that simply assume in terms of web content production.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support numerous publications, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … great for people that may need it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is established to be much more like a social media which sustains long-form content.
Overall, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at developers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly catering to people who do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will also state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a standard feature of e-mail lists that makes it possible for division in a far more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling at some point quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Starter.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to market things via 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 constantly select an extra straight alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and because of that has way much more integration options. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now even supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more very closely puts 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 severely doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active taking on the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall for what this suggests for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Starter
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen virtually weekly launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … however big features that are fairly vital. Their rate of advancement at this moment has gone over.
I also quite value just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item statements regarding some style improvements to the web design features in fact had a small trouble with the material size. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later on, I gave them an additional idea …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to trigger automations based upon the embed type utilized was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I really value.
Another significant factor of distinction here is the rate. Both systems offer free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers a lot more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less costly at first look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your rate promptly enhances as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally utilize), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a completely different organization when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise costs? They might as time takes place. However, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you most definitely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to develop instead quickly and make brand-new product statements rather often, but there are some basic features I truly desire they had that I require to simply wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I might pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be outstanding for numerous factors. Already, membership forms look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to help in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the customer degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to belong to automations to make built-in automations easier and lower reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management user interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit articles (for instance, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some more personalization choices for the website (such as even more versatile shade selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a lot. Sufficient where I decided to change my very own newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw adequate worth in their platform to necessitate the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is efficient, yet I intentionally have things establish so that I likewise keep my list “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system 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 absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay unless you have a large email listing and are consequently being fleeced with their high month-to-month bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not even making use of some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and a lot more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful regarding expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is among the most effective games in town right now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be rather feature rich.