I have actually made use of a great deal of various email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a huge supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have been using Scottie Scheffler WITB.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to make a decision to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to address the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d additionally like to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Method, I discussed exactly how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog site into largely a newsletter. I chose that was business design I wished to seek with that said home.
But, to purposefully 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 checklist for Happily RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it certain to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click membership links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The platform was literally developed by the people who accumulated the technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, 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 property to make sure that I can grow it more intentionally too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly motor home was young, so easy to change. But, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff right 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 closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email List
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail listing.
You can hold your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a number of them available, 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 system, the act of publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail clients all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that site. Yet, you are also sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With the majority of email platforms, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely independently from your site. So, for example, you could publish a write-up to WordPress however then you would need to independently build and send out an email to your list to send it to clients. These are after that two different collections of archives and two separate activities because article and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it virtually “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the exact same point. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally features a various set of needs than a normal email listing.
You don’t normally require much marketing automation. You don’t typically require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to help you construct your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my customers that I was going to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I believe Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that originally obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially constructed by the same people who built the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some rather big brands and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo creators. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer character distinction in between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only reason I would contemplate shaking points up is if I believed I could expand the list faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by individuals who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra geared towards creators.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have new triggers as well as new activities, such as changing personalized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations simply because I began making use of the platform. For instance:
- Ability to set off automations based on which particular embed type they can be found in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and manage individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this since the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it comes to writing your newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared toward e-newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be much more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, yet it would certainly be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can place Exposure options on that area to show it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from clients, reveal only to customers, and so on. Substack provides nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium membership design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of profits. As a matter of fact, you actually attach approximately your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending upon the number of clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, yet what it implies 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 literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
Overall, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was extra developed toward genuine email marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs seem much better built for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack positions itself towards “developers” more than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points tailored more toward individuals who simply believe in terms of web content creation.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … trendy for people that could require it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. In general, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I searched for more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), but it is much more strongly catering to individuals that do it for organization. ConvertKit has great visual automation building, it’s own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a really nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a fundamental function of email lists that allows division in a much more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Scottie Scheffler WITB.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capacity to sell things via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always select an extra direct alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way much more integration options. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin currently even supports member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this much more carefully puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically 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 active taking on the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall of what this implies for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Scottie Scheffler WITB
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen nearly weekly release of new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … however huge features that are quite vital. Their speed of growth at this moment has actually gone over.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how receptive they are. In fact, one of their product announcements about some layout improvements to the website design features really had a little trouble with the content width. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the problem was fixed.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more recommendation …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based upon the embed type used was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I really value.
One more major point of distinction here is the cost. Both platforms provide totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more ability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more positive. ConvertKit appears more affordable at first look because their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, however the subscriber limitations are FAR reduced and your rate promptly increases as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size 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 make use of), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A checklist of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, 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 annually.
BeeHiiv is in a totally various league when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost rates? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of things you absolutely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance rather promptly and make new product announcements somewhat frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I really desire they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership types where I might select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be amazing for so many factors. As of now, membership forms look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to aid in division.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the customer level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks should be part of automations to make integrated automations less complicated and minimize reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small management user interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit messages (for example, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as basic on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the site (such as more versatile color options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t excellent and certainly not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It possibly never will be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is various so it would not much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation system. I think you never ever understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I decided to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw sufficient value in their system to warrant the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is proficient at, yet I purposefully have points set up to ensure that I additionally maintain my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button needs to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge e-mail checklist and are as a result being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating quickly. There’s additionally a respectable opportunity you’re not also making use of some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a much better and much more affordable fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely deliberate regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is one of the very best video games in the area right now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be rather feature abundant.