I have actually utilized a great deal of various email list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been utilizing Does Beehiiv Give You a Website.
So, it is certainly an unusual move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to address the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly also like to attend to why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Change In Method, I discussed how and why I decided to transform my motor home blog right into mostly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business model I wanted to go after keeping that building.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. Extra on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated because issue of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email all at once without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click registration links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The system was essentially constructed by the individuals that accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize 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 different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went for it. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own home to make sure that I can expand it more purposefully also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Happily RV was young, so simple to transition. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of things here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will obviously always be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and simply an email checklist.
You can hold your e-mail checklist anywhere you desire and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your email clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much simpler.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your website. So, for instance, you could release an article to WordPress yet after that you would require to independently construct and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are then two separate sets of archives and two separate actions due to the fact that post and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the very same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid option if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. However, you would certainly shed the growth tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of demands than a normal e-mail list.
You don’t usually need much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to help you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was going to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the truth that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I assume Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually developed by the same people that built the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo designers. Once again, it simply tells me the customer avatar difference in between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM really did not exactly draw. The only factor I would contemplate drinking things up is if I assumed I could expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I really don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
But, let’s dive much deeper than just the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored toward developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have new triggers along with new activities, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations simply since I started using the system. As an example:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which certain embed form they came in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this because the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it pertains to writing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored towards e-newsletters. Actually, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I discover it to be a lot more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and tidy, but it would be much more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from customers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack offers absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any profits. As a matter of fact, you essentially link up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the amount of subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
In general, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was more constructed toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page makes appear better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack positions itself towards “makers” greater than e-mail marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared much more towards people who simply assume in terms of material development.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … cool for individuals that may need it.
Substack also has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It also has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be more like a social network which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better fit. I tried to find more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly via to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly catering to people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business system, and extra. ConvertKit is a really nice system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known already. But, right here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will likewise say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail listings that makes it possible for division in a much more adaptable means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some time quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Does Beehiiv Give You a Website.
ConvertKit does now supply the ability to sell points using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly select a more straight choice anyhow. For me, I favor to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For instance, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your site and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can also pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface wherefore this suggests for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Does Beehiiv Give You a Website
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also suggests that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed virtually once a week release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet huge features that are fairly crucial. Their speed of advancement at this point has actually gone over.
I additionally significantly appreciate exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their product statements regarding some design enhancements to the website design features actually included a small problem with the material size. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was taken care of.
Few days later on, I provided one more pointer …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to trigger automations based on the embed type made use of was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually value.
Another significant point of differentiation right here is the cost. Both platforms use cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more positive. ConvertKit seems cheaper initially glance since their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the customer limits are FAR lower and your price promptly increases as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different league when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually boost prices? They may as time goes on. However, I’m thinking people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress rather rapidly and make brand-new product news somewhat often, yet there are some basic features I truly desire they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription forms where I might select an automation to run right at the form level. That would be remarkable for numerous reasons. Currently, membership types look OK, yet there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks should belong to automations to make built-in automations much easier and decrease dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative user interface modifications that would come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Ability to mass edit blog posts (for instance, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as basic on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the web site (such as more flexible color options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t excellent and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It probably never will be, either. As I said, the purpose is different so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever recognize, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I determined to change my own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw sufficient value in their system to call for the change.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is good at, yet I intentionally have things establish to ensure that I also keep my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be rather straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge e-mail listing and are consequently being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good chance you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might quickly be a better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate regarding growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration 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 games in town right now. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.