I have made use of a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Tyler Denk.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to decide to utilize BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d likewise such as to resolve why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I discussed just how and why I determined to transform my RV blog site into primarily an e-newsletter. I chose that was business version I intended to go after with that home.
However, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly RV, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a bit.
As I stated because problem of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it certain to my function. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email concurrently without having it be two separate activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The platform was literally built by the people that developed the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own building to make sure that I can grow it a lot more purposefully as well.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to change. However, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of things here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be carefully tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and just an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your email listing anyplace you desire and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your e-mail subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that internet site. However, you are additionally dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With most e-mail systems, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed completely separately from your website. So, for instance, you could publish a short article to WordPress however then you would certainly require to individually construct and send out an email to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 separate sets of archives and 2 separate activities because article and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the very same point. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I intended 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 includes a various set of needs than a regular e-mail checklist.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to aid you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced 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 picked to go with BeeHiiv, that does not mean I believe Substack sucks. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that originally obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally developed by the very same folks that developed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and distinction likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brands and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer character difference between the two firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only reason I would ponder trembling things up is if I thought I can expand the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored toward creators.
As an example, BeeHiiv uses personalized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, 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 functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send out an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as modifying custom areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just since I began making use of the system. As an example:
- Ability to set off automations based on which particular embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can not do this since the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it involves composing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just much more tailored toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I discover it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface behaves and clean, however it would certainly be much more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Exposure options on that particular area to reveal it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show just to clients, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs membership version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. Actually, you literally link up to your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Relying on the number of clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more constructed toward actual email marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page develops seem much better developed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack placements itself towards “creators” greater than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared more toward individuals that just believe in terms of content production.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … trendy for people who could require it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is established to be extra like a social network which supports long-form material.
Overall, Substack is also a lot more … minimal. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I looked for even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is much more highly catering to individuals who do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly great system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, below’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic feature of e-mail lists that allows segmentation in a far more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging eventually soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Tyler Denk.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capability to sell things using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always pick a much more direct alternative anyway. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and therefore has way much more integration choices. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For example, their plugin now even supports member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this much more carefully puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with advantages, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are really remarkable features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall for what this indicates for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Tyler Denk
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also suggests that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen almost regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are fairly important. Their speed of growth at this moment has gone over.
I likewise very much value just how responsive they are. In fact, among their product statements concerning some design improvements to the web design features really contained a small problem with the material width. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I promptly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was fixed.
Couple of days later on, I provided another suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually appreciate.
An additional significant factor of differentiation here is the rate. Both platforms use totally free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies more capability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive at first glance due to the fact that their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the client limitations are much lower and your cost promptly boosts as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your list up to 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, 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 yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost costs? They might as time takes place. But, I’m thinking people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you absolutely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to develop rather rapidly and make new item news somewhat typically, yet there are some basic features I really wish they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription forms where I can choose an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be amazing for a lot of reasons. Currently, registration forms look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks need to belong to automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small management interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit blog posts (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some even more customization options for the internet site (such as more adaptable color selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t ideal and certainly not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It possibly never will be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I guess you never understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting version specifically, I saw adequate value in their system to call for the adjustment.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is good at, but I intentionally have things set up to ensure that I likewise keep my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button must be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a large email list and are consequently being wooled with their high monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating rapidly. There’s likewise a respectable chance you’re not also using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a far better and much more budget friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be really willful concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is one of the very best video games around now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be rather feature abundant.