I have utilized a lot of different e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a big proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have been utilizing Notion To Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly an unusual move for me to decide to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly also such as to address why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Shift In Strategy, I spoke about just how and why I chose to turn my RV blog into primarily an e-newsletter. I determined that was business model I wished to go after with that residential property.
Yet, to purposefully seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. More on that in a little bit.
As I stated because issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it specific to my function. Points such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two separate actions.
- Integrated 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 other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was actually developed by the individuals that accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential or commercial property to ensure that I can expand it a lot more purposefully as well.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to change. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will certainly constantly be very closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email List
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter system and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your email checklist anywhere 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 primary distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your site and to your email subscribers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that site. But, you are likewise sending to all clients at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the system much simpler.
With many email systems, any type of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely individually from your web site. So, for example, you may publish an article to WordPress but then you would require to independently develop and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and 2 separate activities because post and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it basically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the exact same point. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the growth tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently comes with a various collection of requirements than a typical e-mail listing.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to help you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely 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 reality that I picked to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually constructed by the exact same individuals that built the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction additionally suggests that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brand names and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo creators. Again, it just informs me the consumer avatar distinction in between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only reason I would certainly contemplate trembling things up is if I assumed I can expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv uses custom-made fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers along with new activities, such as customizing custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Capability to cause automations based on which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it pertains to composing your newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards newsletters. Actually, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I find it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, however it would be much more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility options on that particular section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from customers, reveal only to customers, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of earnings. Actually, you actually attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Relying on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
In general, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra developed toward actual email marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear much better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack placements itself toward “creators” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things geared extra towards people who simply believe in terms of web content creation.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are dealt with rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … great for people that might require it.
Substack additionally has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is established to be much more like a social network which supports long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I do not. However, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves real marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I looked for more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, but frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly satisfying individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature break down below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly also say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a basic function of e-mail checklists that enables segmentation in a much more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain marking at some point quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Notion To Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capability to sell things using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly always select a more direct option anyway. For me, I prefer to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way extra integration options. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. As an example, their plugin now even supports member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic dealing with the development tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, however you can also pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this suggests for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Notion To Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it likewise implies that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed virtually weekly launch of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are fairly crucial. Their rate of growth at this moment has actually been impressive.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item news regarding some style enhancements to the website design features really had a tiny problem with the material width. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the problem was repaired.
Few days later, I gave them one more suggestion …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed type utilized was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I really value.
An additional significant factor of differentiation here is the cost. Both systems provide totally free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses extra capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more positive. ConvertKit appears less costly at first look because their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limits are FAR reduced and your rate quickly raises as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally use), 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, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost rates? They might as time goes on. But, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you definitely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve instead promptly and make brand-new item statements rather usually, yet there are some standard features I really desire they had that I require to just await.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I might choose an automation to run right at the form level. That would be incredible for many reasons. Already, membership types look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would behave to have tagging at the client degree. This would be effective.
I think webhooks should be part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and decrease reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor administrative interface changes that would be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit posts (for instance, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as basic on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the website (such as more adaptable shade options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t best and definitely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never ever will certainly be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I guess you never ever understand, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I made a decision to change my very own newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting model especially, I saw enough worth in their platform to warrant the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special email listing. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, yet I intentionally have points set up to make sure that I likewise keep my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance coverage, for one. However, 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 concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much 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 quite uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are for that reason being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating swiftly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not even making use of several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could quickly be a much better and extra inexpensive fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is among the very best games around right now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv provides 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 locate the free account to be fairly feature rich.