I have made use of a lot of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Because of that (and the amazing features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv WordPress Integration.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to choose to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d also like to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Method, I talked about how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog right into primarily an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business design I wanted to go after with that property.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily motor home, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I stated in that problem of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it details to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be 2 different activities.
- Integrated in 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 other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click membership links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I choose to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was actually built by the people that accumulated the technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. 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 side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own building so that I can expand it more deliberately also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Happily RV was young, so very easy to change. But, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will certainly always be closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can organize your email list everywhere you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your website and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that web site. However, you are additionally sending to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much simpler.
With many e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally separately from your web site. So, for example, you might release a post to WordPress yet after that you would need to individually develop and send out an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are then two separate collections of archives and two different activities because blog posts and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a true e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the same point. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid option if I intended to continue to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you ‘d shed the development tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently features a various collection of demands than a common e-mail checklist.
You don’t usually need much marketing automation. You don’t usually require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless posting experience and development tools to help you develop your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my subscribers that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter publishers. Actually, it is essentially developed by the very same people that developed the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and differentiation also means that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and big magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo designers. Once again, it simply informs me the consumer avatar difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only reason I would certainly contemplate trembling points up is if I assumed I could GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared toward creators.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides custom-made areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that works a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send out an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as new actions, such as customizing custom areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations just since I began using the system. As an example:
- Ability to cause automations based upon which specific embed kind they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it pertains to creating your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s composing interface behaves and clean, however it would be more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Exposure options on that area to show it just to paid clients, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, show only to customers, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium subscription model, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. Actually, you essentially connect up to your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending on the number of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, but what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards actual e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page makes seem 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 like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack settings itself toward “designers” more than email online marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared more toward people who simply believe in regards to web content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are dealt with quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, yet … amazing for people that could require it.
Substack additionally has even more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social network which supports long-form web content.
In general, Substack is additionally extra … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I don’t. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the very same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly satisfying people who do it for company. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a really wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction right here. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will additionally say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a standard feature of e-mail checklists that makes it possible for division in an even more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv WordPress Integration.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to market points by means of 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 choose a much more straight alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way extra integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin currently also supports member-gated material along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this extra carefully places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface of what this means for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv WordPress Integration
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage 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 observed virtually regular launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet big features that are fairly important. Their rate of development now has actually been impressive.
I also quite appreciate just how receptive they are. Actually, among their product statements regarding some style enhancements to the web design features actually had a little trouble with the material size. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later, I gave them another tip …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based on the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
One more significant point of distinction right here is the rate. Both systems offer free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more ability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more positive. ConvertKit appears more affordable initially look since their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the customer limits are much lower and your price promptly raises as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same size listing 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 directly make use of), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely different league when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance prices? They could as time takes place. But, I’m presuming people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how things proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve rather rapidly and make new item announcements rather frequently, but there are some fundamental features I really want they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription forms where I could select an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be remarkable for a lot of factors. Currently, membership kinds look OK, yet there’s very little settings for them to aid in division.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the client level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks should be part of automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative interface changes that would be handy. As an example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit blog posts (as an example, to tag a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization choices for the internet site (such as even more adaptable color selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I stated, the objective is various so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I decided to change my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting design specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to call for the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my exclusive email list. I make use of BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, but I purposefully have things set up so that I likewise maintain my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is just a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and different needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch ought to be pretty simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a big e-mail listing and are therefore being fleeced with their high monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating rapidly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not also using a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can quickly be a much better and more budget friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing an e-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 about what it is designed to be, it is among the best games in town now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be fairly feature rich.