I have actually made use of a lot of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Because of that (and the amazing features), I have been utilizing Is Beehiiv GDPR Compliant.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly also such as to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Change In Technique, I spoke about exactly how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog right into largely a newsletter. I chose that was the business version I wished to seek with that said home.
But, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is built 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 bit.
As I said in that issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built right into it particular to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email all at once without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click membership links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote 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 primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was actually developed by the individuals that built up the innovation for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own building so that I can grow it a lot more deliberately also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly always be closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can host your e-mail checklist anywhere you desire and there are a number of them around, 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 publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that website. However, you are additionally dispatching to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely independently from your site. So, for example, you could release a post to WordPress yet then you would certainly need to independently build and send out an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are after that two different sets of archives and 2 different actions due to the fact that article and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it basically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the development tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally comes with a various set of demands than a regular email list.
You don’t typically need much marketing automation. You do not typically require autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to assist you develop your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I chose to choose BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I assume Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally developed by the same individuals that developed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brands and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo developers. Again, it just tells me the client character distinction between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only factor I would certainly consider trembling things up is if I assumed I can GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
However, allow’s dive deeper than simply the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by people who understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more geared towards designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides personalized fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still rather restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers along with new activities, such as customizing personalized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations just since I began utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capability to activate automations based upon which certain embed form they came in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it involves composing your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be extra intuitive, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and clean, but it would be more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Exposure choices on that section to reveal it just to paid customers, conceal it from email, conceal from subscribers, show just to subscribers, etc. Substack uses nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium membership design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of profits. In fact, you actually attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Relying on the amount of clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real e-mail marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page designs seem better built for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack settings itself towards “designers” more than email online marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some things tailored extra toward people that just think in regards to material development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are treated rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … great for individuals who may need it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with customers. It also has a “Notes” function which works type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is established to be more like a social network which supports long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently through to be the closest rivals, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more strongly dealing with individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, below’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic feature of email checklists that allows division in an even more versatile means than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking eventually quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Is Beehiiv GDPR Compliant.
ConvertKit does currently supply the ability to offer points by means of their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly select an extra straight choice anyway. For me, I like to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. For example, their plugin now even supports member-gated content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this extra closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with rewards, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall of what this suggests for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Is Beehiiv GDPR Compliant
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it additionally indicates that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed almost regular launch of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … however large features that are fairly important. Their speed of advancement at this point has been impressive.
I likewise quite value just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news concerning some design enhancements to the website design features really had a small problem with the material width. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was fixed.
Few days later, I gave them one more pointer …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed kind made use of was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I truly value.
An additional significant factor of distinction here is the price. Both platforms offer cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capability and 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 positive. ConvertKit seems cheaper initially glimpse because their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the customer limits are much lower and your cost promptly increases as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist up to 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 yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point increase prices? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress rather promptly and make new item statements somewhat frequently, yet there are some basic features I actually wish they had that I need to just await.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership kinds where I might select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be outstanding for a lot of reasons. Currently, registration kinds look OK, yet there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I believe webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations easier and minimize dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative interface modifications that would certainly be handy. As an example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove customers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for instance, to tag a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some even more modification choices for the site (such as even more flexible color options, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t excellent and definitely not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I think you never ever recognize, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I determined to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing version particularly, I saw sufficient worth in their system to require the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special email checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, but I purposefully have points set up to make sure that I additionally maintain my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just an excellent insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various demands. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button must be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are for that reason being wooled with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a respectable opportunity you’re not even making use of several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a far better and a lot more inexpensive fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely deliberate regarding growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system 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 one of the very best games in the area today. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be fairly feature abundant.