I have actually made use of a great deal of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Calculator.
So, it is without a doubt a strange move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to address the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly likewise such as to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Strategy, I spoke about how and why I determined to transform my motor home blog site right into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business version I wished to seek with that residential or commercial property.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email list for Happily recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices developed into it particular to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the email simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click registration web links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on development. The system was literally constructed by the people that accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own property to make sure that I can expand it more intentionally also.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Happily RV was young, so very easy to change. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can organize your e-mail listing everywhere 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 distinction?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing implies that it is mosting likely to your site and to your email customers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that web site. But, you are additionally sending to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With many e-mail systems, any type of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally separately from your website. So, for instance, you could publish a short article to WordPress yet then you would need to independently develop and send an e-mail to your list to send it to customers. These are after that two separate collections of archives and 2 separate actions since article and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a real e-newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the exact same thing. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a various set of demands than a regular e-mail list.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to assist you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the truth that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though 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 built by the same people that built the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Again, it just tells me the consumer avatar distinction between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only reason I would ponder trembling things up is if I thought I could expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, let’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored toward developers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies customized fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send an email. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as changing personalized fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just given that I started utilizing the system. For instance:
- Ability to activate automations based upon which particular embed type they can be found in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it involves composing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared toward newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I find it to be a lot more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s writing interface is nice and tidy, however it would be much more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than simply type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then placed anything you want in it. Then, you can put Visibility alternatives on that particular section to reveal it just to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack supplies nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium registration version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of earnings. In fact, you literally attach as much as your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Relying on the number of subscribers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra developed towards real email marketing. It was constructed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs appear far better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love 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 claimed, Substack settings itself toward “developers” greater than email marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared more toward people who just think in regards to web content development.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … amazing for people who might need it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host talks with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Overall, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
In general, Substack is also more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. However, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), however it is much more strongly satisfying people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has nice visual automation structure, it’s own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction right here. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, right here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will also say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a standard function of email checklists that enables division in a much more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Calculator.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to offer things using their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always pick a much more direct choice anyhow. For me, I prefer to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this more closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with benefits, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promo systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Calculator
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also indicates that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen almost weekly launch of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however big features that are fairly essential. Their speed of growth now has been impressive.
I likewise very much value just how responsive they are. Actually, one of their item announcements concerning some style enhancements to the web design features in fact consisted of a little trouble with the web content width. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I promptly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was repaired.
Few days later on, I provided another pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based on the embed form utilized was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I truly appreciate.
One more significant factor of distinction here is the cost. Both platforms offer cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses much 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 even more positive. ConvertKit seems cheaper initially glance due to the fact that their pricing page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limits are much lower and your cost rapidly enhances as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same size list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your list up to 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various organization when it involves pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise costs? They may as time goes on. But, I’m thinking people like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you certainly need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to develop instead rapidly and make new item announcements rather frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I actually desire they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription forms where I can pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be remarkable for so many factors. Already, subscription types look OK, but there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks need to be part of automations to make integrated automations less complicated and minimize dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management user interface changes that would certainly be handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for example, to tag a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as common on customers (like the name).
- Some more modification alternatives for the site (such as more versatile shade selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t best and certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I presume you never ever understand, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting model especially, I saw adequate value in their platform to call for the adjustment.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I deliberately have things establish to make sure that I likewise keep my checklist “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a large email list and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a respectable opportunity you’re not even using several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and extra economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really deliberate regarding expanding a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is among the best games in the area now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be fairly feature rich.