I have utilized a lot of various e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been utilizing Dan Koe Beehiiv.
So, it is without a doubt a weird move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to address the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly likewise such as to deal with why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Change In Strategy, I discussed how and why I determined to transform my RV blog right into mainly an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business design I intended to pursue with that home.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email listing for Happily RV, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. Much more on that particular in a bit.
As I said because issue of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it certain to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send out the email concurrently without having it be 2 different activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click membership links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the 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.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The platform was essentially developed by the people that built up the technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may indeed be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own property so that I can expand it much more intentionally as well.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things 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 certainly always be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction between a newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can host your e-mail list everywhere you want and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is going to your internet site and to your email customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that website. Yet, you are likewise sending to all clients at the same time. The internet site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much simpler.
With most e-mail systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely individually from your site. So, as an example, you could release a short article to WordPress yet after that you would need to independently develop and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to customers. These are then 2 different collections of archives and two different actions since post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the growth tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of demands than a typical email listing.
You don’t usually require much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth posting experience and development devices to assist you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I chose to go with BeeHiiv, that does not mean I assume Substack draws. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually built by the same people who constructed the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo makers. Again, it just tells me the customer character distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only reason I would consider drinking points up is if I assumed I might expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I really do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared towards designers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capability to send an email. However, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to new activities, such as customizing customized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations just because I started utilizing the system. For example:
- Ability to trigger automations based upon which details embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared towards e-newsletters. Actually, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I discover it to be a lot more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, but it would certainly be much more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then placed anything you want in it. After that, you can place Visibility choices on that area to reveal it just to paid customers, conceal it from email, hide from customers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs subscription design, BeeHiiv does not take any income. In fact, you essentially link as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending upon how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more developed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page designs appear far better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack positions itself toward “developers” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points tailored extra toward individuals who simply assume in regards to material development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, but … trendy for people who might require it.
Substack additionally has more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. 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 … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I searched for more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently through to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at designers (like Substack), but it is much more highly dealing with individuals who do it for service. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly nice system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it comes to it’s automations. I will additionally claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains identifying. This is just a fundamental function of e-mail lists that allows segmentation in a much more adaptable means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying eventually quickly, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Dan Koe Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now provide the ability to market things through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly choose an extra direct alternative anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with rewards, but you can also pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are actually awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most well known viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this means for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Dan Koe Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced virtually weekly launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … however huge features that are fairly vital. Their speed of development now has gone over.
I also very much appreciate just how responsive they are. In fact, one of their item statements regarding some layout improvements to the web design features really consisted of a small problem with the content size. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more tip …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to set off automations based on the embed kind utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really appreciate.
One more significant point of distinction here is the rate. Both platforms provide cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more capacity and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more favorable. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning glance since their pricing page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber restrictions are much lower and your price quickly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally utilize), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance prices? They may as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you most definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to advance rather rapidly and make new item statements somewhat usually, yet there are some basic features I really want they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on membership kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be remarkable for a lot of reasons. Already, subscription forms look OK, but there’s very little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have marking at the subscriber level. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks ought to belong to automations to make built-in automations simpler and decrease reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Ability to mass edit posts (for example, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as even more adaptable shade selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t ideal and certainly not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I think you never recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting model especially, I saw adequate worth in their platform to require the change.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special e-mail listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I purposefully have points establish so that I additionally keep my checklist “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is just an excellent insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button must be pretty straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a large email checklist and are as a result being wooled with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating promptly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might easily be a far better and much more affordable fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely willful concerning expanding an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is one of the most effective games in the area right now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be quite feature rich.