I have actually utilized a lot of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have been using Substack Vs Beehiiv.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to resolve the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly likewise like to resolve why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Strategy, I talked about exactly how and why I decided to transform my RV blog site right into mainly an e-newsletter. I chose that was business version I intended to go after with that said building.
Yet, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that in a bit.
As I stated in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed right into it specific to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send the email all at once without having it be 2 different activities.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click subscription web links. Great for promotion in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The platform was actually built by the people who developed the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own property to make sure that I can grow it extra purposefully as well.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to change. But, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will undoubtedly always be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can host your email listing anywhere you want and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that web site. But, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With most email platforms, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely separately from your web site. So, for example, you could release an article to WordPress but then you would certainly need to individually develop and send an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and two separate activities because blog posts and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the development tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently features a different set of demands than a typical email list.
You do not generally require much marketing automation. You do not generally require autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, though, is one smooth posting experience and development tools to assist you build your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my customers that I was going to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of 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 indicate I assume Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is literally developed by the same folks who developed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. Yet, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brand names and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer avatar distinction in between the two firms.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would certainly consider trembling things up is if I assumed I can expand the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight competitors.
But, let’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more tailored towards developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides customized fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still rather restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send out an email. However, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as customizing custom areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just considering that I began using the platform. As an example:
- Ability to cause automations based upon which specific embed form they came in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based on 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 simply can’t do this since the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it comes to writing your newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored toward e-newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I discover it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be more equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure options on that section to reveal it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal just to subscribers, and so on. Substack uses nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally link as much as your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Relying on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more built toward actual e-mail marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page makes seem much better built for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack positions itself toward “developers” more than email marketers and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some points tailored more towards individuals who simply assume in terms of content production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are dealt with fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … cool for people who could need it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat feature to host chats with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be more like a social network which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise much more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works quite well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it comes to real marketing, I do not think there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better matched. I looked for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), however it is much more strongly catering to individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly also claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is just a basic function of email listings that makes it possible for division in a much more flexible means than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Substack Vs Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to sell things using their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always pick a more direct choice anyway. For me, I choose to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way more integration choices. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated content along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this more closely places ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with perks, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really awesome features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Substack Vs Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also implies that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen almost weekly release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet big features that are rather important. Their speed of development at this point has gone over.
I also very much value just how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item announcements about some design enhancements to the website design features actually consisted of a little trouble with the web content width. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them one more suggestion …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based on the embed type made use of was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I truly appreciate.
One more major point of distinction right here is the price. Both systems provide complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies a lot more capability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit seems less expensive initially glimpse because their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are much lower and your cost quickly boosts as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally utilize), you can expand your checklist up to 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various league when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase rates? They may as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the important things you certainly need to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to progress instead swiftly and make brand-new product statements rather typically, yet there are some basic features I really desire they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration kinds where I could select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be outstanding for many factors. Already, membership types look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be effective.
I think webhooks need to be part of automations to make built-in automations easier and decrease reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as common on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the website (such as even more adaptable color selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t best and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I presume you never recognize, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Sufficient where I determined to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting design specifically, I saw sufficient value in their system to call for the change.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special email listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, but I purposefully have points establish so that I additionally maintain my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button should be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large e-mail listing and are therefore being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating swiftly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not also making use of several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can quickly be a better and extra budget friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate about expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is created to be, it is one of the very best video games around today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be quite feature rich.