I have utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have been using Vine University Beehiiv.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly likewise like to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Strategy, I discussed exactly how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog into mostly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wanted to seek with that residential property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed because problem of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it details to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The system was essentially constructed by the individuals that accumulated the technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own property to ensure that I can expand it extra intentionally as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Happily motor home was young, so simple to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously constantly be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter system and simply an e-mail list.
You can host your e-mail list anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing implies that it is going to your site and to your e-mail clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. Yet, you are likewise dispatching to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With many email platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely independently from your website. So, as an example, you could publish an article to WordPress but after that you would require to individually develop and send out an email to your list to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and 2 separate actions due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it basically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the very same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid alternative if I wished to remain to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally features a various collection of needs than a regular email checklist.
You don’t normally need much marketing automation. You do not generally require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth posting experience and development tools to help you develop your subscriber base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack draws. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually built by the same people that built the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brand names and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Again, it just informs me the client avatar distinction in between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only factor I would certainly consider trembling points up is if I believed I might expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight rivals.
But, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by people who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored towards designers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as new actions, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations just because I started using the platform. As an example:
- Ability to set off automations based on which certain embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it pertains to composing your newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored toward e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I locate it to be a lot more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and tidy, however it would certainly be much more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Presence options on that section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from customers, show just to customers, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of revenue. As a matter of fact, you actually connect approximately your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Relying on the amount of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, but what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra constructed towards real e-mail marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page makes seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack positions itself toward “creators” more than email marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things tailored a lot more towards individuals that just believe in regards to content production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … great for people who may require it.
Substack additionally has even more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social network which supports long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack works quite well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at makers (like Substack), however it is far more highly catering to people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is well known already. But, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a fundamental function of email checklists that allows segmentation in a much more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying at some time quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Vine University Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now offer the capacity to offer points using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly pick a more straight alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and therefore has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. For instance, their plugin now also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with benefits, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall wherefore this implies for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Vine University Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen virtually regular release of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … but large features that are fairly crucial. Their speed of growth now has actually been impressive.
I also significantly value how receptive they are. Actually, one of their item statements about some style improvements to the website design features actually contained a small trouble with the web content width. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the problem was repaired.
Few days later on, I provided an additional suggestion …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based upon the embed type made use of was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I truly value.
An additional significant factor of distinction here is the cost. Both systems supply free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more capability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more favorable. ConvertKit seems less expensive at first look because their pricing page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your cost swiftly boosts as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally utilize), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want 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 just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise prices? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you absolutely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to develop rather promptly and make brand-new item news rather commonly, yet there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I could choose an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be outstanding for numerous reasons. As of now, membership types look OK, but there’s extremely little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have tagging at the client level. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks need to become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative user interface changes that would be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the web site (such as more flexible shade options, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t excellent and definitely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my very own newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting version specifically, I saw adequate worth in their platform to require the modification.
Remember, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I deliberately have things establish so that I likewise maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a good insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button should be rather uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a large email checklist and are for that reason being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating quickly. There’s likewise a respectable possibility you’re not also using a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and extra economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely deliberate concerning growing a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is among the best games in town now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be rather feature abundant.