I have utilized a great deal of different email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Because of that (and the awesome features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Themes.
So, it is undoubtedly an odd move for me to determine to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d likewise like to deal with why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Shift In Technique, I discussed how and why I determined to turn my RV blog into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wished to pursue keeping that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Gladly motor home, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, using it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices constructed into it specific to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send the email all at once without having it be 2 different actions.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click membership links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was essentially developed by the individuals that developed the innovation for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own property to make sure that I can grow it much more purposefully also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to change. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Listing
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can organize your e-mail checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is going to your site and to your e-mail subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are additionally dispatching to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the system much easier.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely individually from your site. So, as an example, you may publish a write-up to WordPress yet after that you would certainly need to independently construct and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are after that two different sets of archives and 2 separate actions due to the fact that post and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wanted to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently includes a various collection of requirements than a regular email checklist.
You don’t typically need much marketing automation. You don’t typically need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to help you build your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the very same people who developed the innovation behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want below.
- That branding and differentiation also suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brand names and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Once again, it simply tells me the client character distinction in between the two firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only factor I would contemplate shaking points up is if I thought I might expand the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by people who understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more geared towards makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as customizing custom areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply considering that I started making use of the platform. As an example:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which details embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can not do this since the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it involves creating your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared towards newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I find it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing interface behaves and clean, however it would certainly be more comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and afterwards put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Presence alternatives on that particular area to reveal it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to clients, etc. Substack uses nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. Actually, you essentially attach as much as your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on the amount of customers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page creates appear better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack settings itself towards “designers” more than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some things tailored more toward individuals who just think in regards to material development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support numerous magazines, they are dealt with fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … amazing for people who might require it.
Substack likewise has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is established to be much more like a social media which supports long-form material.
In general, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves real marketing, I don’t believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better suited. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually with to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at designers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more highly dealing with individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown right here. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a basic function of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Themes.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to market points via their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always choose an extra straight alternative anyway. For me, I like to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and because of that has way much more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this more closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you have the ability to release to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall of what this implies for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Themes
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally indicates that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed practically once a week release of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however big features that are rather important. Their speed of growth now has actually been impressive.
I additionally significantly value exactly how responsive they are. Actually, among their product news about some layout enhancements to the website design features actually had a small issue with the material size. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the problem was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them an additional tip …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to trigger automations based on the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually appreciate.
Another significant point of differentiation below is the cost. Both platforms use cost-free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more desirable. ConvertKit appears less expensive in the beginning look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows lower numbers, however the client limits are much lower and your rate rapidly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same size 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 utilize), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost prices? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you absolutely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to evolve instead quickly and make new item announcements somewhat commonly, yet there are some basic features I really want they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription types where I can choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be remarkable for many reasons. Currently, registration kinds look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would behave to have marking at the subscriber level. This would be powerful.
I believe webhooks need to belong to automations to make built-in automations easier and reduce dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. For example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit articles (for example, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as common on customers (like the name).
- Some even more customization options for the internet site (such as even more adaptable color options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t ideal and certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never ever know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system despite my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw enough value in their system to warrant the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I deliberately have things establish to make sure that I also keep my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d certainly consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch must be quite straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay unless you have a big 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 quickly. There’s additionally a respectable opportunity you’re not even using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and extra economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful regarding expanding a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best games in the area right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.