I have actually used a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Extended Trial.
So, it is indeed a weird move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to attend to the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly additionally like to resolve why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Change In Approach, I discussed exactly how and why I determined to turn my RV blog site right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was business design I intended to seek with that residential or commercial property.
But, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices developed into it certain to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two different activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The system was literally built by the people who built up the technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own home so that I can grow it extra purposefully also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily RV was young, so simple to shift. But, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly always be closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can hold your e-mail listing anyplace you want 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 distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting indicates that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your e-mail customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that internet site. However, you are also sending off to all clients at the same time. The internet site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much easier.
With many e-mail platforms, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is built totally individually from your internet site. So, for example, you could release a post to WordPress however then you would certainly require to separately construct and send an email to your list to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and two different activities due to the fact that blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you ‘d shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally includes a different set of requirements than a normal email list.
You do not normally need much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth devices to aid you develop your customer base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to change the e-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 select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that initially obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter publishers. Actually, it is essentially developed by the very same folks who built the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I want here.
- That branding and distinction also indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and big magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo makers. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer avatar distinction in between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would contemplate trembling things up is if I assumed I can GROW the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I in fact don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv feels like it was developed by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored towards developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies custom fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a great deal 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 activity is the ability to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as customizing customized areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations just considering that I began using the platform. For example:
- Capacity to cause automations based upon which specific embed kind they can be found in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored towards e-newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be extra user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and clean, yet it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and after that put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Visibility choices on that particular area to reveal it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, show just to customers, etc. Substack supplies nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs subscription model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of income. As a matter of fact, you actually attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon the number of subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was extra constructed toward actual email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops appear much better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack settings itself toward “developers” more than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored extra toward individuals who just think in terms of content production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … cool for individuals who might need it.
Substack likewise has more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. In general, Substack is set up to be more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
In general, Substack is also much more … minimal. You either take care of that or do not. Personally, I don’t. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I searched for even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at designers (like Substack), yet it is much more highly accommodating people who do it for business. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really great system.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known already. But, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly also say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is just a fundamental feature of email listings that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Extended Trial.
ConvertKit does now supply the capability to sell things via 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 always pick a more straight choice anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and because of that 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 quite effective. For instance, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this much more very closely puts ConvertKit into straight competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, however you can additionally pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall of what this means for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Extended Trial
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also indicates that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed virtually regular release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are quite essential. Their rate of development now has been impressive.
I also very much value how receptive they are. Actually, one of their item announcements regarding some design enhancements to the web design features in fact contained a small problem with the content size. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them one more tip …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based upon the embed type made use of was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I really appreciate.
One more major factor of differentiation below is the rate. Both systems offer complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies more capacity and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less costly initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the customer limitations are much lower and your cost quickly enhances as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nonetheless 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 best plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist up to 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 yearly, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different league when it involves pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost costs? They might as time takes place. However, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to develop instead quickly and make brand-new product announcements somewhat commonly, but there are some fundamental features I truly desire they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I could pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be remarkable for a lot of factors. Already, registration forms look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly behave to have marking at the customer degree. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks must become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor administrative user interface modifications that would be handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Ability to bulk edit articles (for instance, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization options for the site (such as more versatile shade choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t ideal and certainly not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I think you never ever know, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Sufficient where I decided to change my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw sufficient value in their platform to require the change.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, yet I intentionally have things establish to ensure that I additionally keep my list “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d absolutely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button needs to be rather uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a big email 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, however they are iterating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good chance you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might easily be a better and much more budget-friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very willful regarding growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the very best video games around today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.