I have used a great deal of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been using Beehiiv Series B.
So, it is without a doubt a weird move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly also like to deal with why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Technique, I discussed just how and why I made a decision to turn my motor home blog right into mostly a newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wished to seek with that property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I said because concern of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it details to my function. Points such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail at the same time without having it be two different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated 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 generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was essentially built by the people that built up the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building so that I can expand it more deliberately also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Happily RV was young, so easy to transition. But, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will clearly always be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can hold your email checklist anyplace you desire and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is going to your website and to your email clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are additionally sending to all clients at the same time. The internet site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much simpler.
With many e-mail systems, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely separately from your internet site. So, for example, you may release a post to WordPress however then you would require to individually build and send an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then two different sets of archives and two separate activities because blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the exact same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally includes a various collection of demands than a common email list.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth posting experience and development devices to assist you develop your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I chose to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I assume Substack draws. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that at first obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is actually constructed by the very same folks that developed the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brands and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo makers. Again, it just tells me the client character difference in between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only reason I would consider drinking things up is if I thought I might GROW the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t view 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 direct competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as customizing custom-made fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just given that I started making use of the system. For instance:
- Capacity to trigger automations based on which specific embed type they was available in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target audience of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I find it to be more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, but it would certainly be much more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Presence choices on that particular section to reveal it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack offers absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of income. In fact, you actually attach up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending upon the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more developed toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem far better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself towards “creators” greater than e-mail online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some points geared extra towards individuals that simply think in terms of content development.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are dealt with rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … trendy for individuals who may require it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is established to be more like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
Generally, Substack is also extra … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at makers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly accommodating people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation structure, it’s own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a really wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a basic function of email checklists that allows segmentation in an even more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Series B.
ConvertKit does currently give the ability to offer points via their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly select a more straight option anyway. For me, I choose to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and therefore has way more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this extra closely places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with benefits, but you can also pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall for what this indicates for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Series B
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally suggests that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced almost regular launch of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … however big features that are rather essential. Their speed of advancement at this moment has been impressive.
I also quite value just how responsive they are. In fact, one of their product announcements concerning some design improvements to the web design features really contained a little issue with the material size. I simply replied to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later, I gave them one more pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based on the embed form made use of was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I really appreciate.
Another major factor of differentiation right here is the rate. Both systems supply free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more ability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more desirable. ConvertKit seems less costly at first look because their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, however the subscriber limits are FAR reduced and your cost promptly increases as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same size list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A list of that dimension 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 every year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various league when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance costs? They could as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to progress rather promptly and make brand-new product news somewhat frequently, but there are some basic features I truly wish they had that I require to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership types where I might pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be remarkable for a lot of reasons. Already, membership forms look OK, but there’s very little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have labeling at the customer degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks ought to become part of automations to make integrated automations simpler and decrease dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some small management interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to mass edit articles (for instance, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as common on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the internet site (such as even more flexible shade options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t perfect and absolutely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I stated, the objective is various so it would not much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I think you never understand, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter posting design especially, I saw adequate worth in their system to warrant the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is good at, however I purposefully have things establish to ensure that I additionally keep my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just an excellent insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button should be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are for that reason being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not even making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a much better and much more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate concerning expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best games around now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.