I have used a lot of different e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have been using Most Popular Beehiiv Newsletters.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to decide to make use of 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 wish to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly likewise such as to attend to why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Shift In Strategy, I spoke about how and why I chose to turn my motor home blog site right into mostly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I wanted to go after with that said residential or commercial property.
But, to intentionally pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed because issue of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it specific to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two different actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The platform was literally developed by the individuals that developed the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own property to ensure that I can grow it more deliberately too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to shift. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff right 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 obviously always be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email List
There’s a distinction between a newsletter platform and just an e-mail list.
You can host your e-mail checklist anyplace you desire and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your email subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that web site. But, you are additionally sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With a lot of email systems, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is built completely separately from your internet site. So, for instance, you may publish a short article to WordPress however after that you would need to individually build and send an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 separate sets of archives and 2 separate actions due to the fact that post and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it basically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I wished to remain to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently includes a different set of needs than a normal e-mail listing.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to aid you construct your subscriber base that are specific 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 people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that does not mean I think Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has actually been about much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that initially got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. Actually, it is essentially developed by the same people who developed the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction also implies that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brands and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Again, it simply tells me the client character distinction between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only factor I would certainly contemplate shaking things up is if I assumed I might GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I actually don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by individuals who understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv provides personalized fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as modifying customized areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply given that I started making use of the platform. For instance:
- Ability to cause automations based upon which particular embed kind they came in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it concerns creating your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared toward newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I discover it to be a lot more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, but it would certainly be a lot more comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than simply kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility choices on that area to show it just to paid clients, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, show just to clients, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of profits. In fact, you literally attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Relying on the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page makes appear better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack placements itself toward “designers” more than email online marketers and newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared much more towards individuals that simply believe in regards to content development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support several magazines, they are treated quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … cool for individuals that might require it.
Substack additionally has even more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is set up to be more like a social media which supports long-form content.
On the whole, Substack is also a lot more … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at designers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly catering to people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has nice visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it involves it’s automations. I will likewise claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a standard function of email listings that makes it possible for division in a far more adaptable means than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support labeling eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Most Popular Beehiiv Newsletters.
ConvertKit does currently give the ability to market things using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always choose an extra direct choice anyway. For me, I like to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way extra integration alternatives. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this extra very closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic dealing with the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with perks, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular 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 Much Better At … Most Popular Beehiiv Newsletters
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also means that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced practically once a week launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are fairly important. Their speed of development now has actually been impressive.
I also very much value exactly how receptive they are. In fact, one of their product statements concerning some design enhancements to the website design features really included a tiny trouble with the web content size. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was taken care of.
Few days later on, I provided one more idea …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed type used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I really value.
One more significant factor of differentiation here is the price. Both systems provide totally free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies extra capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive initially glance due to the fact that their pricing page shows reduced numbers, however the client limits are much lower and your rate promptly increases as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A checklist of that dimension 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 each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost rates? They could as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you most definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to develop instead rapidly and make new item statements rather commonly, however there are some fundamental features I truly want they had that I need to just await.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership types where I might select an automation to run right at the form level. That would be amazing for a lot of factors. As of now, subscription forms look OK, yet there’s really little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the client degree. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface adjustments that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (as an example, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some even more modification alternatives for the web site (such as even more versatile color selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t best and certainly not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I said, the function is different so it would not a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I think you never recognize, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own e-newsletters over to the system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw adequate value in their system to necessitate the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I purposefully have things set up to make sure that I also maintain my list “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just an excellent insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d absolutely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various demands. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch needs to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are consequently being fleeced with their high monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating quickly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not even utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can easily be a much better and extra cost effective fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really willful regarding growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is among the best games in town today. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be quite feature rich.