I have made use of a great deal of different email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a substantial proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been making use of Jake Hurd Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly an unusual move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I wish to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly also like to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Change In Approach, I talked about just how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog into largely an e-newsletter. I decided that was business version I intended to go after keeping that home.
However, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly RV, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I stated in that concern of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it specific to my purpose. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail at the same time without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other e-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.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was actually constructed by the people that accumulated the technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own property to make sure that I can expand it a lot more deliberately as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so simple to shift. However, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly always be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can organize your email list just about anywhere 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 distinction?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is going to your web 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 web site. However, you are additionally dispatching to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With most e-mail systems, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your website. So, for instance, you might publish an article to WordPress but then you would need to individually develop and send out an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are then 2 different sets of archives and 2 separate actions since post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wished to continue to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently includes a various set of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You do not usually require much marketing automation. You do not typically require autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to help you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the truth that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is actually developed by the very same folks that built the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and distinction additionally suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather big brand names and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo makers. Once more, it just informs me the customer avatar difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly consider shaking things up is if I believed I might GROW the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I really don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than simply the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides custom fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual 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 restricted in triggers and the only action is the ability to send out an email. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as changing customized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just since I began making use of the system. As an example:
- Capacity to trigger automations based on which certain embed type they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this because the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an email marketer.
When it comes to composing your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just extra geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be a lot more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface behaves and tidy, however it would be extra equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then put anything you want in it. After that, you can place Presence alternatives on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, show only to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs subscription design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of income. Actually, you essentially attach as much as your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending upon the number of clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more developed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page designs seem better constructed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack positions itself toward “designers” greater than email online marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored extra toward people who just assume in regards to content creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are dealt with fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … trendy for people who may need it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat feature to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
Generally, Substack is also much more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I looked for more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the very same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is far more highly dealing with individuals who do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a really great system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a standard feature of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain marking at some point soon, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Jake Hurd Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capacity to sell points through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly select a much more direct option anyhow. For me, I prefer to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and for that reason has way more integration alternatives. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with perks, however you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most well known viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Jake Hurd Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally means that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed almost weekly release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however huge features that are fairly vital. Their speed of growth now has actually been impressive.
I also significantly appreciate exactly how responsive they are. In fact, among their product statements about some design improvements to the website design features actually had a little problem with the content width. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the issue was taken care of.
Few days later on, I provided one more tip …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to set off automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really value.
Another major factor of distinction here is the rate. Both platforms use free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more capability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more positive. ConvertKit appears less costly at first glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limits are much reduced and your cost quickly boosts as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same size listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your checklist up to 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various league when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise rates? They may as time takes place. But, I’m thinking people like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you certainly need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to advance rather promptly and make new product announcements rather usually, however there are some fundamental features I truly want they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription forms where I could choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be outstanding for a lot of factors. Currently, registration forms look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the client level. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and decrease reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit blog posts (for instance, to tag a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental fields as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification alternatives for the internet site (such as more flexible color choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t excellent and certainly not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never recognize, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Sufficient where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing version especially, I saw enough worth in their system to call for the change.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is good at, but I intentionally have things set up to make sure that I additionally maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a great insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d definitely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different demands. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be quite straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are therefore being wooled with their high month-to-month costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s additionally a respectable chance you’re not even using several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and much more budget friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very intentional regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is among the very best video games around right now. This is the system 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 to the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be fairly feature rich.