I have actually utilized a lot of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been utilizing Half Baked Beehiiv.
So, it is indeed an unusual move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I want to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I ‘d additionally such as to attend to why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Change In Method, I spoke about how and why I made a decision to turn my RV blog right into primarily an e-newsletter. I determined that was business model I intended to pursue with that said residential or commercial property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed because issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it certain to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was literally developed by the people who built up the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I just went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential property to ensure that I can grow it extra purposefully also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so easy to shift. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things right 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 obviously constantly be closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and just an email list.
You can host your e-mail listing anywhere you want and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing implies that it is going to your site and to your e-mail subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are also sending to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With the majority of email systems, any kind of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely individually from your website. So, for instance, you might publish a short article to WordPress but then you would certainly require to independently construct and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that two separate sets of archives and 2 different activities because post and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid alternative if I intended to remain to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the development devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently features a various set of needs than a typical e-mail list.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You don’t 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 growth tools to aid you construct your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was going to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I assume Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that at first got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is actually constructed by the very same individuals that developed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Once more, it simply informs me the client avatar difference in between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would consider trembling points up is if I assumed I can expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing here.
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 designers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides customized areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic 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 rather minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as changing custom fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply because I started making use of the system. For instance:
- Ability to trigger automations based upon which details embed kind they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared toward newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I find it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and tidy, however 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 put a “Section” and after that placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Presence options on that particular section to show it only to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, reveal just to subscribers, and so on. Substack offers nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium membership design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any profits. As a matter of fact, you literally attach as much as your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Relying on how many subscribers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations at all.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards actual email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem better developed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack settings itself towards “designers” more than e-mail online marketers and newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some points geared extra toward individuals that simply believe in regards to content development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are dealt with quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … cool for individuals who might require it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works 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 set up to be extra like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
Generally, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it concerns actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better fit. I tried to find more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at makers (like Substack), but it is far more strongly catering to individuals that do it for business. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and more. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic function of e-mail lists that makes it possible for division in a far more adaptable way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Half Baked Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently provide the ability to offer things through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always choose an extra straight choice anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and because of that has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin now also supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this more closely places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the development tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface for what this implies for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Half Baked Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it additionally implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed almost weekly release of new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are quite vital. Their speed of advancement now has gone over.
I additionally significantly value how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product statements regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact included a tiny problem with the material width. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later on, I gave them one more recommendation …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed type used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I really value.
Another significant factor of differentiation below is the price. Both systems use free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies a lot more ability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less expensive initially look because their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the customer limitations are much lower and your price quickly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same dimension checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A listing of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various league when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance rates? They may as time takes place. But, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you absolutely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to evolve rather quickly and make brand-new product statements rather commonly, yet 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 kinds where I might choose an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be incredible for many factors. Currently, membership forms look OK, but there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and decrease dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management interface adjustments that would come in handy. As an example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit posts (as an example, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the website (such as even more versatile shade options, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t best and absolutely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my very own newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and owning my very own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing design especially, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to warrant the adjustment.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv for what it is proficient at, but I deliberately have things set up so that I also keep my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a huge email list and are therefore being fleeced with their high month-to-month bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s additionally a respectable chance you’re not even utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and more affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful about expanding an e-newsletter, I think 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 developed to be, it is among the very best video games around now. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be quite feature abundant.