I have utilized a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Knowledge Base.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to make a decision 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 want to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d likewise like to address why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Approach, I talked about just how and why I made a decision to transform my RV blog site into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business design I wished to pursue with that residential property.
But, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email listing for Happily motor home, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed right into it specific to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click membership links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was actually constructed by the individuals that developed the technology for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving 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 simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own building so that I can expand it extra deliberately also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Gladly RV was young, so very easy to transition. However, The Morning WP (formerly 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 linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email List
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can hold your e-mail list everywhere you desire and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email clients all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are additionally sending off to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With many email systems, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your internet site. So, for instance, you may publish a write-up to WordPress however then you would need to independently construct and send an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and 2 separate activities due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I wanted to remain to self-host everything. However, you ‘d shed the development tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally features a various set of requirements than a common email listing.
You don’t normally require much marketing automation. You do not generally require autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth tools to aid you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced 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, also besides the reality that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially constructed by the very same individuals who developed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo creators. Once more, it simply tells me the consumer avatar distinction between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would certainly consider trembling things up is if I assumed I might GROW the list quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people who understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses personalized fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as modifying custom-made areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just given that I began making use of the system. For instance:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which specific embed form they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability 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 wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it comes to writing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared toward e-newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I find it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and clean, however it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure options on that area to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to customers, etc. Substack offers nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium subscription model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any revenue. As a matter of fact, you actually attach up to your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Relying on the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more developed towards real email marketing. It was developed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates appear far better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself toward “makers” more than e-mail marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points tailored much more toward individuals who just believe in regards to content production.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are dealt with 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 … great for individuals who might need it.
Substack also has even more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social network which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for even 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 typically with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at designers (like Substack), yet it is far more highly satisfying people that do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will additionally say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a basic feature of e-mail checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Knowledge Base.
ConvertKit does now provide the capacity to sell things through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly pick a more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I prefer to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and because of that has way extra integration alternatives. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. For instance, their plugin currently also supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this much more carefully places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this means for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Knowledge Base
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it likewise means that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced virtually once a week launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are quite important. Their rate of advancement now has actually been impressive.
I additionally significantly value exactly how receptive they are. Actually, among their product statements regarding some design enhancements to the web design features really contained a tiny issue with the content width. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was fixed.
Few days later, I provided another pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed type used was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really appreciate.
Another significant factor of differentiation below is the price. Both platforms provide free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit appears cheaper initially glimpse since their pricing page shows reduced numbers, however the subscriber limits are much reduced and your rate quickly increases as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly 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 each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various league when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost rates? They might as time goes on. However, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you most definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to develop instead rapidly and make new item news somewhat typically, but there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription types where I could choose an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be amazing for a lot of reasons. Currently, registration forms look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would be nice to have marking at the client degree. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks should become part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and reduce dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management interface modifications that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to mass edit posts (for instance, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as common on clients (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the website (such as even more flexible color selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t excellent and definitely not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is different so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never ever know, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Enough where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw enough worth in their platform to require the change.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, yet I deliberately have things set up to ensure that I also maintain my checklist “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a good insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be rather straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a big e-mail checklist and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could quickly be a much better and extra inexpensive fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really willful about growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is created to be, it is just one of the very best games in the area now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.