I have actually utilized a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have actually been using Beehiiv CRM.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly also like to address why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Shift In Technique, I discussed just how and why I decided to transform my motor home blog site right into mainly a newsletter. I made a decision that was business model I wished to pursue with that said home.
However, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a bit.
As I said in that issue of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed into it details to my function. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click subscription web links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The system was actually built by the people that developed the technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own residential property so that I can expand it a lot more purposefully too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly RV was young, so very easy to shift. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things right 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 certainly always be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can hold your e-mail list anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that website. But, you are likewise sending off to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much simpler.
With the majority of email platforms, any newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed entirely independently from your internet site. So, for instance, you may publish a write-up to WordPress however then you would require to individually build and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 different sets of archives and two separate activities because article and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and enables them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I wanted to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of requirements than a normal e-mail listing.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You don’t typically require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to help you build your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I picked to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is literally constructed by the same individuals who constructed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brand names and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Again, it simply informs me the client character difference in between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder shaking things up is if I assumed I might expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I actually don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was built by individuals that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses customized areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as customizing custom fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations simply since I started using the system. As an example:
- Capacity to activate automations based on which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an email marketer.
When it involves creating your newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I locate it to be extra intuitive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and tidy, but it would be much more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than simply form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Presence options on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, conceal from clients, reveal just to clients, and so on. Substack offers nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of income. Actually, you essentially connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending upon the number of subscribers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
In general, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates appear much better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I wish 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 actually stated, Substack positions itself toward “creators” greater than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things tailored a lot more towards individuals who just assume in terms of material creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support numerous magazines, they are treated rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … amazing for individuals that may need it.
Substack also has even more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Overall, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media network which sustains long-form content.
In general, Substack is additionally extra … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I looked for more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly dealing with people who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown right here. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, here’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a basic function of email checklists that allows segmentation in a much more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying eventually quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv CRM.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to market things via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly select an extra direct alternative anyhow. For me, I prefer to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit into direct competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic dealing with the development tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, however you can also pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most well known viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall of what this implies for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv CRM
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise indicates that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced practically once a week launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet huge features that are quite vital. Their rate of growth now has gone over.
I also quite value how responsive they are. In fact, one of their product announcements regarding some style enhancements to the web design features really had a small issue with the content size. I just replied to that email to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the issue was fixed.
Few days later on, I provided another pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually appreciate.
One more significant point of differentiation below is the cost. Both platforms supply totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capacity and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more favorable. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning look since their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limits are FAR lower and your cost swiftly raises as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same dimension checklist is going 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 grow your list as much as 100,000. A listing of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise costs? They could as time goes on. Yet, I’m guessing individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you certainly need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress rather quickly and make brand-new product news somewhat frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I really desire they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription kinds where I could select an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be outstanding for numerous reasons. Already, subscription forms look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks need to belong to automations to make built-in automations much easier and lower reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative interface modifications that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to mass edit blog posts (for example, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some even more customization alternatives for the site (such as even more adaptable color selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect and absolutely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I stated, the function is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never know, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I made a decision to switch my own newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design particularly, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to warrant the change.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email list. I use BeeHiiv of what it is good at, however I intentionally have points set up to ensure that I additionally keep my checklist “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just an excellent insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d certainly consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button must be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a huge e-mail listing and are for that reason being wooled with their high month-to-month expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating rapidly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not even making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can quickly be a far better and much more affordable fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really deliberate about growing a newsletter, I assume 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 created to be, it is just one of the most effective video games in town right now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be fairly feature rich.