I have actually used a great deal of different email list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own system. Therefore (and the incredible features), I have been making use of Beehiiv GPTEA.
So, it is without a doubt a strange move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly likewise such as to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Shift In Method, I talked about how and why I made a decision to turn my recreational vehicle blog site into largely an e-newsletter. I decided that was business design I wanted to pursue with that residential property.
But, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a little bit.
As I said because issue of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it specific to my purpose. Things such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email concurrently without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click membership web links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was actually constructed by the individuals that built up the modern technology for Morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, 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 or commercial property so that I can expand it a lot more purposefully also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly motor home was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff below 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 undoubtedly constantly be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can organize your e-mail checklist just about anywhere you want 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 primary distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing means that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With a lot of e-mail systems, any newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely separately from your web site. So, for instance, you could publish a post to WordPress yet after that you would certainly need to independently build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and two different actions because article and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wanted to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently features a different collection of demands than a common email list.
You don’t usually require much marketing automation. You don’t normally need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development tools to assist you develop your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was mosting likely to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I believe Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter publishers. Actually, it is actually developed by the exact same people who developed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather big brands and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer character difference in between the two firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t specifically draw. The only factor I would certainly contemplate trembling things up is if I thought I might expand the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I really do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by individuals that recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored towards makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies personalized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as changing customized areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply because I started making use of the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which details embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared toward newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I locate it to be a lot more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, yet it would be a lot more equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Exposure options on that particular area to reveal it only to paid customers, hide it from email, hide from customers, reveal just to clients, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of profits. In fact, you actually link approximately your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Relying on the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more constructed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates appear much better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack settings itself toward “developers” more than e-mail marketers and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things geared more toward individuals that just assume in terms of material development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support multiple magazines, they are dealt with fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … great for people that might require it.
Substack likewise has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise more … minimal. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better matched. I looked for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a tough 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 same target audience and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly satisfying people that do it for service. ConvertKit has good visual automation building, it’s own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a standard feature of email lists that makes it possible for division in a far more flexible method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging eventually quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv GPTEA.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to sell things via their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly pick a much more straight alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and therefore has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this more carefully places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations right now. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, however you can likewise pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are truly incredible features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall wherefore this suggests for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv GPTEA
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise means that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced practically once a week launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however huge features that are fairly essential. Their rate of growth at this moment has gone over.
I likewise quite value exactly how responsive they are. In fact, one of their item announcements about some design improvements to the web design features really contained a small trouble with the web content width. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the concern was fixed.
Couple of days later, I provided another tip …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to cause automations based on the embed form utilized was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
One more major factor of distinction below is the price. Both systems offer complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capacity and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more favorable. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first look due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, however the client limits are FAR reduced and your cost rapidly enhances as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A list of that dimension would 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 each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately increase costs? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you certainly need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance rather rapidly and make new item announcements rather typically, but there are some standard features I really wish they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for a lot of factors. Currently, membership forms look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks ought to belong to automations to make built-in automations less complicated and reduce reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. For instance:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to bulk edit posts (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some even more customization choices for the site (such as even more flexible shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and definitely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never ever know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a great deal. Sufficient where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my very own system.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw enough value in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, yet I purposefully have points set up so that I likewise maintain my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just an excellent 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 platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack today, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button needs to be rather uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large email checklist and are for that reason being fleeced with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating swiftly. There’s additionally a respectable possibility you’re not also utilizing several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might quickly be a better and much more budget friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very willful regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is designed to be, it is among the best games in town right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be quite feature abundant.