I have actually made use of a lot of different email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a significant proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have actually been utilizing How Much Does It Cost To Use Beehiiv.
So, it is without a doubt a weird move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d also like to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Approach, I discussed how and why I decided to transform my motor home blog site right into largely an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wanted to go after with that said residential property.
However, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly RV, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 separate activities.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I pick to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was essentially built by the people that accumulated the innovation for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential or commercial property to ensure 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. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so simple to change. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Listing
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can hold your e-mail list everywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your e-mail customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes management of the system much simpler.
With most email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed entirely individually from your site. So, as an example, you may publish a post to WordPress but then you would need to independently develop and send an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are after that two separate collections of archives and 2 separate actions because post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it practically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and allows them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I wished to continue to self-host whatever. However, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of requirements than a common e-mail list.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to assist you construct your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I assume Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that initially obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is actually built by the exact same people that developed the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation also suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Again, it just informs me the consumer avatar difference between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t specifically draw. The only factor I would consider shaking points up is if I assumed I could GROW the listing faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I in fact don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more tailored toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides customized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send out an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as modifying customized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations just given that I started utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to cause automations based on which details embed form they came in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to 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 email marketer.
When it pertains to composing your newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored towards newsletters. Actually, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be extra instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing interface behaves and tidy, yet it would be much more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and afterwards put anything you want in it. Then, you can place Presence choices on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, conceal it from email, hide from customers, show just to clients, etc. Substack provides absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. Actually, you essentially link approximately your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on how many customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear nerdy, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations at all.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was more built towards genuine email marketing. It was built by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page makes seem much better developed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want 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 placements itself toward “creators” greater than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things tailored extra toward individuals that just believe in terms of web content creation.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are treated quite independently. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … amazing for individuals who may need it.
Substack additionally has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host talks with customers. It also has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. In general, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
Generally, Substack is additionally more … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I tried to find more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at creators (like Substack), but it is much more strongly accommodating people that do it for business. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has a lot more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will likewise say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a basic feature of email lists that enables division in an even more versatile way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling at some point quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on How Much Does It Cost To Use Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently give the capacity to sell points using their 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 constantly select a more straight option anyhow. For me, I choose to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and therefore has way a lot more integration alternatives. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this extra carefully places ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you have the ability to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are actually incredible features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this means for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … How Much Does It Cost To Use Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it additionally implies that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed virtually weekly release of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but huge features that are rather important. Their rate of development now has gone over.
I likewise very much value how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their product news about some style enhancements to the web design features in fact included a little problem with the content width. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them another idea …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to trigger automations based upon the embed kind utilized was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really value.
Another major point of differentiation here is the price. Both platforms offer complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capacity and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more favorable. ConvertKit appears less costly initially look since their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR lower and your cost swiftly enhances as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same size listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A listing of that size would 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 annually, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance prices? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m guessing individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you most definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to progress instead rapidly and make brand-new product news somewhat frequently, yet there are some basic features I actually desire they had that I need to simply wait for.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the form level. That would be remarkable for many factors. Currently, registration forms look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to help in division.
It would certainly be nice to have identifying at the client level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and lower dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management interface adjustments that would be handy. As an example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Ability to bulk edit blog posts (for example, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard fields as basic on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the web site (such as more adaptable color selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting model particularly, I saw adequate value in their platform to necessitate the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, but I deliberately have points set up to make sure that I also keep my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d absolutely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch must be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a big e-mail listing and are for that reason being wooled with their high monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating rapidly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not even making use of several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a better and a lot more economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very willful regarding growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is designed to be, it is one of the very best games in the area right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be fairly feature abundant.