I have actually used a great deal of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have actually been utilizing Sama Beehiiv.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to address the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly likewise like to attend to why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Method, I discussed just how and why I made a decision to turn my motor home blog site right into mostly a newsletter. I chose that was the business version I intended to seek keeping that property.
But, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email listing for Happily recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I said because issue of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it certain to my objective. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t 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 system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on development. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals that accumulated the technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, 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 property to ensure that I can grow it a lot more deliberately also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly RV was young, so very easy to change. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will undoubtedly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email List
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and simply an email checklist.
You can organize your email checklist everywhere you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key distinction is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your site and to your email subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that site. Yet, you are also dispatching to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With many email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely separately from your site. So, as an example, you could release an article to WordPress but then you would require to independently build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and two separate activities due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and enables them to be the very same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly shed the development devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently includes a various collection of requirements than a regular e-mail list.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to assist you construct your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that initially obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is essentially built by the very same people that constructed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation also indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brands and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Again, it just tells me the client avatar distinction between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only factor I would certainly contemplate trembling things up is if I assumed I could GROW the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by individuals who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored towards designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers personalized fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers along with new activities, such as modifying customized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just considering that I started using the system. For instance:
- Capacity to activate automations based upon which specific embed kind they was available in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals 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 will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just much more tailored toward newsletters. Actually, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I find it to be extra user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and tidy, however it would be much more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and then put anything you want in it. After that, you can place Exposure alternatives on that particular area to reveal it just to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, hide from clients, show only to clients, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs registration design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of revenue. In fact, you literally attach up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending on how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
On the whole, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was more built toward genuine email marketing. It was constructed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear far better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack positions itself towards “designers” more than email marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points tailored a lot more toward people who just assume in regards to content creation.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are dealt with fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … awesome for people that may need it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
In general, Substack is likewise more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better fit. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a difficult 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 going after the exact same target audience and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly dealing with individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually great system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will additionally state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is simply a basic feature of email lists that allows segmentation in a much more flexible means than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support marking eventually soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Sama Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now provide the capability to sell things via 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 constantly choose a much more straight alternative anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and for that reason has way more 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 currently even sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this more carefully puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with perks, but you can also pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-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 Much Better At … Sama Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also means that they are swiftly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen practically regular launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are fairly important. Their rate of growth at this moment has gone over.
I also significantly value just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item announcements regarding some layout enhancements to the web design features in fact consisted of a little issue with the web content size. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I swiftly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later, I gave them one more suggestion …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based on the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I truly appreciate.
An additional major factor of distinction below is the rate. Both platforms provide free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more ability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit appears more affordable in the beginning glance since their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are FAR reduced and your cost quickly boosts as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each 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 update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A checklist 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 every year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely various league when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance prices? They may as time takes place. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve rather promptly and make brand-new item announcements rather frequently, but there are some standard features I truly want they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership types where I might select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be outstanding for many reasons. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and lower reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor management interface adjustments that would come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to mass edit posts (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the internet site (such as even more adaptable color selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they do 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 will certainly be, either. As I stated, the function is various so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw enough worth in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive email listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I deliberately have things establish so that I likewise keep my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a great insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d absolutely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be rather straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a huge e-mail list and are consequently being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating swiftly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not also using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a far better and a lot more economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate about expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is created to be, it is among the very best video games in the area right now. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be quite feature rich.