I have actually made use of a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have actually been utilizing How Many Employees Does Beehiiv Have.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to address the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly likewise such as to resolve why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Technique, I spoke about how and why I chose to transform my RV blog site into primarily an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I intended to seek with that said home.
However, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated in that problem of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built right into it certain to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send the email at the same time without having it be two different activities.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership web links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The system was literally built by the individuals that developed the innovation for Morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential or commercial property to make sure that I can expand it much more intentionally too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Happily RV was young, so simple to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can hold your e-mail listing just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail customers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that web site. Yet, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With most email platforms, any newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is built totally individually from your site. So, for instance, you could publish an article to WordPress however after that you would certainly need to independently construct and send an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 separate sets of archives and two different activities because article and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid option if I wanted to continue to self-host whatever. However, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a various collection of needs than a regular e-mail listing.
You do not normally need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to assist you construct your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack draws. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that at first got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the same people that developed the innovation behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, 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’m interested in right here.
- That branding and distinction additionally implies that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brands and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once more, it simply tells me the client character difference between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t specifically draw. The only factor I would certainly ponder drinking points up is if I assumed I can expand the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct competitors.
But, let’s dive deeper than simply the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv seems like it was constructed by people who recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward creators.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers personalized areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, 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 within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send an email. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as changing custom-made areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations just since I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Ability to cause automations based on which details embed form they came in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply would not think to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored toward e-newsletters. In fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be extra user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and tidy, but it would certainly be a lot more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than just type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Presence options on that particular section to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium membership design, BeeHiiv does not take any profits. Actually, you literally attach up to your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Relying on the number of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra developed toward actual email marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page designs seem far better developed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack placements itself towards “designers” more than e-mail marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared a lot more toward individuals who just believe in regards to web content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support multiple magazines, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … great for people who may need it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is established to be extra like a social network which supports long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is additionally much more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I searched for even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a tough time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the very same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at creators (like Substack), however it is much more highly catering to people that do it for business. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really great system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is just a basic function of email checklists that enables segmentation in an even more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support labeling at some point quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing How Many Employees Does Beehiiv Have.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to market things via their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly pick a more direct alternative anyway. For me, I favor to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and therefore has way more integration alternatives. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. For example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this much more carefully puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these sort 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 development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of 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 for what this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … How Many Employees Does Beehiiv Have
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also means that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually witnessed practically once a week release of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … but large features that are quite essential. Their speed of growth at this point has actually gone over.
I also quite appreciate just how responsive they are. Actually, among their item statements about some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact had a little issue with the material size. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I promptly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the problem was taken care of.
Couple of days later on, I provided an additional idea …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to cause automations based upon the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I actually value.
An additional major factor of distinction right here is the price. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more capability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more desirable. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first look since their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR reduced and your price promptly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly utilize), you can grow your listing as much as 100,000. A checklist 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, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different organization when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance costs? They could as time goes on. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of things you most definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to progress instead quickly and make brand-new item news somewhat commonly, but there are some fundamental features I really want they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on registration forms where I can choose an automation to run right at the type level. That would be amazing for a lot of reasons. Already, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to help in division.
It would be nice to have tagging at the client level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks should become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor administrative user interface adjustments that would be handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit messages (as an example, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the site (such as even more versatile shade selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t ideal and certainly not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I guess you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I determined to change my own newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing design especially, I saw adequate worth in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special e-mail list. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, but I purposefully have things set up to make sure that I likewise maintain my listing “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different demands. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch must be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a big e-mail listing and are therefore being wooled with their high month-to-month costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating swiftly. There’s additionally a respectable possibility you’re not even making use of several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might quickly be a better and extra economical fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely willful regarding growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is just one of the most effective video games in town today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.