I have actually utilized a lot of different email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been making use of Link Mail Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to address the problem of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d additionally such as to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Approach, I discussed how and why I chose to transform my RV blog site right into mostly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I intended to seek keeping that property.
However, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily motor home, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I stated in that problem of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed into it particular to my function. Things such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog) and send out the email all at once without having it be two different actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click registration web links. Great for promotion in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features focused on development. The system was literally built by the people who built up the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own home to make sure that I can grow it a lot more intentionally too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly motor home was young, so very easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden 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 certainly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your email listing everywhere you desire and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing implies that it is going to your site and to your email subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. However, you are also sending to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much simpler.
With many email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is built completely independently from your site. So, for example, you could publish a post to WordPress but after that you would require to separately build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and 2 separate actions because post and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and allows them to be the same point. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid option if I wished to remain to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently includes a different collection of demands than a common e-mail listing.
You do not usually need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to assist you develop your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I believe Substack draws. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally developed by the exact same individuals who constructed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo developers. Once again, it simply informs me the client avatar distinction between both business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only reason I would certainly contemplate drinking things up is if I assumed I might expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored toward developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers along with new activities, such as changing custom fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations simply since I began utilizing the platform. As an example:
- Capability to set off automations based upon which specific embed type they can be found in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this because the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it involves composing your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface behaves and clean, yet it would be much more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then put anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure alternatives on that section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, reveal only to customers, and so on. Substack uses nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of revenue. In fact, you essentially connect as much as your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on how many customers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more developed toward real email marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page creates seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would like 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 stated, Substack positions itself toward “designers” more than email online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared much more toward people that just think in terms of content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are treated rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … great for people that could need it.
Substack also has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Overall, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social network which supports long-form web content.
Generally, Substack is additionally extra … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to real marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for even more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically via to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at designers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly dealing with individuals that do it for organization. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really great system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown right here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is just a standard function of email lists that makes it possible for division in an even more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain marking at some time quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Link Mail Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now provide the ability to sell things via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly select a more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I prefer to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and therefore has way a lot more integration options. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this extra very closely places ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with perks, however you can additionally pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface of what this suggests for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Link Mail Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise indicates that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen nearly weekly launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet large features that are quite crucial. Their rate of growth now has gone over.
I additionally significantly value just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item news concerning some layout enhancements to the web design features really included a little issue with the content width. I merely replied to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the problem was taken care of.
Few days later on, I gave them another tip …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to set off automations based on the embed type used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually appreciate.
Another major factor of differentiation right here is the rate. Both platforms offer free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides more ability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive in the beginning glimpse because their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the client limits are FAR lower and your rate quickly boosts as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same dimension checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would certainly 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 every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various league when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost prices? They might as time goes on. But, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you absolutely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress instead swiftly and make brand-new product news rather often, however there are some fundamental features I really desire they had that I need to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration kinds where I might select an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be incredible for a lot of reasons. Already, subscription forms look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have marking at the customer level. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management user interface changes that would certainly be handy. For instance:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit posts (for example, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the web site (such as more adaptable shade choices, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t perfect and certainly not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it would not a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I think you never ever understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Enough where I made a decision to switch my own newsletters over to the system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting model particularly, I saw adequate worth in their platform to require the modification.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail list. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is proficient at, yet I deliberately have things set up so that I also maintain my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d certainly take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a huge e-mail list and are therefore being wooled with their high monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating promptly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a much better and more inexpensive fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very intentional concerning expanding a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is just one of the most effective games around now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be rather feature abundant.