I have actually used a lot of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Because of that (and the incredible features), I have been using Beehiiv Paid Newsletter.
So, it is certainly an unusual move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I ‘d also like to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I spoke about exactly how and why I determined to transform my motor home blog into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business model I intended to seek with that said residential property.
However, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated in that issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed right into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail concurrently without having it be two different activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click registration links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was actually built by the individuals who accumulated the modern technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own home so that I can grow it more deliberately also.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to change. But, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be very closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail listing.
You can host your e-mail listing anywhere you desire 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 main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing suggests that it is going to your website and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much easier.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed completely individually from your website. So, for example, you might release an article to WordPress however after that you would certainly require to independently construct and send out an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and 2 different actions due to the fact that blog posts and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the growth devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently includes a different collection of demands than a normal e-mail checklist.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to assist you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that does not mean I believe Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that at first obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is literally constructed by the same individuals who developed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and differentiation additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Once again, it just informs me the customer avatar difference between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only factor I would certainly contemplate shaking points up is if I believed I could expand the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I in fact don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by individuals that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more geared toward developers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as modifying customized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply since I began using the system. For example:
- Capability to cause automations based on which specific embed type they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this since the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it concerns composing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored toward newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and clean, yet it would be more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure choices on that particular area to reveal it just to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs membership model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of earnings. Actually, you literally attach up to your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your revenue. Depending on the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates appear better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack settings itself towards “developers” more than email marketing experts and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points tailored extra toward individuals who just think in terms of content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are dealt with fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … cool for individuals who might need it.
Substack likewise has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat feature to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which functions sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. Overall, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
In general, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I looked for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically via to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly catering to people that do it for business. ConvertKit has great visual automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and extra. ConvertKit is a really good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature break down here. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it involves it’s automations. I will also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a basic feature of email lists that enables segmentation in a far more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain labeling eventually soon, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Paid Newsletter.
ConvertKit does now offer the capability to sell points through their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always pick a more straight alternative anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and therefore has way much more integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, but you can likewise pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are really remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall for what this indicates for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Paid Newsletter
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise indicates that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen practically regular release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … yet big features that are rather vital. Their speed of growth at this moment has gone over.
I also significantly value just how responsive they are. Actually, among their item statements regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact consisted of a tiny problem with the web content width. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more recommendation …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to cause automations based on the embed form used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I truly value.
An additional significant point of differentiation right here is the rate. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more desirable. ConvertKit seems less costly in the beginning glance due to the fact that their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer restrictions are FAR reduced and your rate promptly increases as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally use), you can grow your listing as much as 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly 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, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point increase costs? They may as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you most definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to advance instead swiftly and make new item statements somewhat commonly, yet there are some standard features I actually want they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription types where I can select an automation to run right at the type level. That would be incredible for so many reasons. Currently, membership kinds look OK, yet there’s very little setups for them to help in division.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks must become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management interface modifications that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit messages (as an example, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as more adaptable shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t excellent and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it would not a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I determined to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing version particularly, I saw adequate value in their system to necessitate the change.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I purposefully have points establish to make sure that I likewise keep my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just an excellent insurance policy, 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 platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various demands. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a large email listing and are for that reason being wooled with their high monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating promptly. There’s additionally a respectable chance you’re not also using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a much better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely deliberate regarding expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is designed to be, it is one of the most effective video games around today. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the complimentary account to be rather feature abundant.