I have actually used a great deal of different email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Inactive.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I intend to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly also like to resolve why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Shift In Method, I discussed exactly how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog into primarily an e-newsletter. I chose that was the business model I wanted to go after with that building.
But, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed right into it specific to my function. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog site) and send the email simultaneously without having it be two separate activities.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I choose to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The system was actually developed by the individuals who built up the innovation for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential or commercial property to ensure that I can grow it a lot more purposefully too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so easy to shift. However, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be very closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a difference between a newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can hold your email checklist everywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail customers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that web site. But, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s clients are done in one. This makes administration of the platform much less complex.
With the majority of email platforms, any newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed completely individually from your web site. So, for instance, you could publish an article to WordPress yet after that you would need to separately build and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and two different actions because post and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I wanted to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of demands than a typical e-mail listing.
You do not usually need much marketing automation. You do not typically require autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to help you develop your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I chose to choose BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I think Substack draws. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that at first got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally developed by the same folks that constructed the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once again, it simply informs me the customer avatar difference in between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only factor I would ponder shaking things up is if I assumed I might expand the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by individuals who recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra tailored toward makers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers personalized areas on customers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, 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 fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started making use of the platform. For instance:
- Capability to cause automations based on which details embed type they came in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to 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 email marketer.
When it comes to creating your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more geared towards newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be a lot more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and tidy, yet it would be more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and after that placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Presence choices on that particular section to reveal it only to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from clients, reveal just to customers, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of income. In fact, you actually connect approximately your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was more built towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page creates appear better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like 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 said, Substack positions itself toward “designers” greater than e-mail marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points tailored much more towards individuals who just think in terms of material production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are treated quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … cool for people that could need it.
Substack additionally has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat feature to host talks with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Overall, Substack is established to be more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Personally, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often via to be the closest rivals, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at makers (like Substack), however it is far more highly dealing with people who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s own commerce platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, right here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will likewise say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is just a standard feature of email listings that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more adaptable means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying eventually quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Inactive.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capacity to offer points via their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always choose a more direct alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. As an example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this extra closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with benefits, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually awesome features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this suggests for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Inactive
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally suggests that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed practically once a week release of new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet huge features that are quite vital. Their rate of development now has actually gone over.
I likewise very much appreciate just how receptive they are. In fact, one of their product news about some layout enhancements to the website design features really included a small trouble with the content width. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later, I gave them an additional recommendation …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed type made use of was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I actually value.
An additional major point of differentiation here is the price. Both systems supply complimentary plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capacity and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more positive. ConvertKit appears less costly initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, however the customer limitations are FAR reduced and your price quickly increases as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same size listing 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 expand your checklist up to 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different organization when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve instead rapidly and make new product announcements rather usually, however there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership types where I might choose an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be AWESOME for a lot of factors. Already, subscription kinds look OK, but there’s extremely little settings for them to assist in division.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the customer degree. This would certainly be effective.
I think webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface adjustments that would be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Ability to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as even more flexible color choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I said, the function is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation system. I think you never recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I determined to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing version especially, I saw enough worth in their system to call for the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, but I intentionally have things establish to ensure that I also maintain my list “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button ought to be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge e-mail listing and are as a result being fleeced with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating swiftly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not also utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and a lot more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate regarding expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is designed to be, it is among the very best video games in the area right now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be rather feature abundant.