I have actually utilized a great deal of different email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. For that reason (and the amazing features), I have been making use of Is Beehiiv Safe.
So, it is undoubtedly an odd move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly additionally like to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Approach, I discussed how and why I determined to turn my RV blog site into mostly a newsletter. I determined that was the business model I intended to seek with that home.
Yet, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. Much more on that in a bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 different activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals who accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I just went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential or commercial property to ensure that I can grow it much more deliberately as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded individually. Happily RV was young, so easy to transition. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) 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 very own. It will clearly constantly be carefully tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can organize your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is going to your web site and to your email customers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that site. But, you are also sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The web site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With the majority of email systems, any type of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed entirely separately from your site. So, for example, you could publish an article to WordPress but then you would need to independently construct and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are after that two separate collections of archives and 2 different actions since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the very same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I wanted to remain to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently comes with a different set of needs than a normal email listing.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to assist you construct your client base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not mean I assume Substack sucks. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that initially obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually constructed by the very same individuals who built the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo makers. Again, it simply informs me the customer character distinction in between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder shaking points up is if I assumed I could GROW the list much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than just the placing here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored toward developers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom-made fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers 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 capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the ability to send out an email. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to new actions, such as customizing custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations simply because I started using the system. For instance:
- Ability to set off automations based on which certain embed kind they was available in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it pertains to composing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored towards e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I find it to be much more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, however it would be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility choices on that area to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to subscribers, etc. Substack offers nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium membership version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of revenue. In fact, you actually connect up to your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page designs appear much better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack placements itself towards “creators” greater than email online marketers and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points tailored extra towards people that just think in terms of web content creation.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … awesome for people that could require it.
Substack also has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host talks with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
Generally, Substack is additionally more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it pertains to real marketing, I do not think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at designers (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly satisfying people who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is popular already. But, here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a standard function of e-mail listings that enables division in a much more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time soon, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Is Beehiiv Safe.
ConvertKit does now offer the capability to sell points using their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly select an extra direct choice anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and because of that has way extra integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. For instance, their plugin now even supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this extra carefully places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with benefits, but you can additionally pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface for what this implies for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Is Beehiiv Safe
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also means that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced virtually regular release of new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are rather important. Their rate of growth at this point has actually been impressive.
I additionally quite value just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item announcements concerning some design improvements to the web design features actually contained a little issue with the content width. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was dealt with.
Few days later on, I provided another idea …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to cause automations based upon the embed type utilized was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I truly value.
An additional major point of differentiation below is the price. Both platforms provide cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more desirable. ConvertKit seems cheaper in the beginning glance since their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limitations are FAR reduced and your rate quickly enhances as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same size checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your checklist up to 100,000. A list of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various league when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise prices? They may as time takes place. However, I’m presuming people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you absolutely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to develop rather swiftly and make brand-new product news rather usually, but there are some standard features I truly want they had that I require to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would be outstanding for numerous reasons. Already, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have labeling at the customer degree. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and reduce reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small management interface changes that would be handy. For instance:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to bulk edit blog posts (for instance, to tag a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as common on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the website (such as even more adaptable color options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t best and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never will be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never understand, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I made a decision to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw sufficient worth in their system to call for the change.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, yet I purposefully have things set up to ensure that I additionally maintain my listing “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize 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 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 make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d absolutely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be quite straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a large email list and are consequently being fleeced with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating promptly. There’s additionally a pretty good opportunity you’re not even using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely deliberate regarding growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is designed to be, it is just one of the best video games in the area now. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.