I have made use of a lot of different e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your own platform. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Subscription.
So, it is indeed a strange move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I want to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d likewise such as to attend to why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Change In Method, I talked about how and why I determined to transform my recreational vehicle blog into mostly a newsletter. I chose that was business design I intended to pursue keeping that building.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly RV, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it particular to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email concurrently without having it be two different activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The system was actually constructed by the people who built up the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential or commercial property so that I can grow it extra deliberately also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Happily RV was young, so simple to shift. But, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of things here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly always be carefully linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can organize your email list just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that site. However, you are likewise sending to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much simpler.
With a lot of email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally independently from your website. So, for instance, you may release a post to WordPress yet after that you would need to independently develop and send an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and two different actions since post and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wished to continue to self-host everything. However, you ‘d shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a various set of requirements than a regular email checklist.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development devices to help you build your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I assume Substack draws. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually developed by the very same people that developed the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation also indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once more, it simply tells me the client character difference in between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would consider trembling things up is if I believed I can expand the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses custom fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as changing customized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations simply given that I started utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capacity to set off automations based on which particular embed form they was available in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it concerns writing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I discover it to be extra user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and clean, yet it would certainly be much more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and afterwards put anything you want in it. After that, you can put Presence options on that area to show it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, show just to customers, etc. Substack provides nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs registration model, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of profits. As a matter of fact, you literally link up to your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon the number of customers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, but what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates seem better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack settings itself towards “developers” more than e-mail marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things tailored more toward individuals that just assume in regards to content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, but … amazing for people that might need it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media which supports long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is also extra … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. However, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently with to be the closest rivals, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at designers (like Substack), yet it is much more highly accommodating individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has nice visual automation building, it’s own business system, and more. ConvertKit is a really good system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it involves it’s automations. I will likewise state that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is simply a fundamental function of email lists that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support marking at some point soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Subscription.
ConvertKit does now provide the capability to sell points through their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly pick a much more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I like to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and therefore has way extra integration options. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this extra carefully places ConvertKit right into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface for what this suggests for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Subscription
BeeHiiv is much previously 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 also indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen almost once a week launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are quite crucial. Their rate of development at this moment has been impressive.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how receptive they are. In fact, among their item news regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features really included a small trouble with the web content size. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the problem was repaired.
Couple of days later, I provided an additional pointer …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to set off automations based on the embed kind utilized was contributed to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
Another major factor of distinction here is the price. Both platforms use complimentary plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more capability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more positive. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR lower and your rate rapidly increases as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your listing as much as 100,000. A checklist of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually boost prices? They may as time takes place. However, I’m guessing people like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you absolutely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to progress rather promptly and make new product statements somewhat typically, yet there are some standard features I actually desire they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership forms where I can pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be incredible for many reasons. Already, registration forms look OK, yet there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make integrated automations less complicated and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit articles (for example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as more flexible shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t perfect and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never recognize, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw sufficient value in their system to call for the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, but I purposefully have points establish so that I likewise keep my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is just an excellent insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be quite uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge email checklist and are as a result being fleeced with their high month-to-month costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s additionally a pretty good chance you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can easily be a far better and much more affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate concerning expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep 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 very best video games in town now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be quite feature abundant.