I have actually utilized a lot of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Affiliate Leaderboard.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I want to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly additionally such as to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Change In Strategy, I talked about just how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog site into primarily an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business design I wished to seek keeping that home.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email simultaneously without having it be 2 different activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promotion in other 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 monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was literally developed by the individuals that accumulated the technology for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own building to ensure that I can expand it much more intentionally as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Happily RV was young, so simple to change. But, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly always be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can host your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your email clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that web site. Yet, you are likewise sending to all customers at the same time. The internet site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With the majority of email systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely separately from your website. So, for example, you might publish a write-up to WordPress however after that you would require to separately construct and send an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then two different collections of archives and 2 different actions due to the fact that article and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the very same thing. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. However, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally includes a various set of demands than a regular email listing.
You do not usually require much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to aid you construct your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to e-newsletter publishers. Actually, it is actually constructed by the exact same individuals who developed the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brands and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Once again, it simply tells me the customer avatar difference in between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly consider shaking points up is if I assumed I could expand the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by individuals that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv provides personalized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as modifying custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations just given that I started utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Ability to set off automations based on which specific embed form they can be found in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional logic 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 think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it involves composing your newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared towards e-newsletters. Actually, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I find it to be more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, yet it would be more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and after that placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Presence alternatives on that area to show it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, hide from clients, show just to clients, and so on. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs subscription model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any type of income. As a matter of fact, you essentially attach up to your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending on the number 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 may seem unpopular, but what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built toward actual email marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page designs appear better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would like 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 actually said, Substack positions itself towards “designers” greater than email online marketers and newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some things tailored much more toward people who simply assume in terms of content creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are dealt with rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … cool for people that might need it.
Substack likewise has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which functions sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. In general, Substack is established to be extra like a social network which supports long-form content.
Overall, Substack is likewise much more … minimal. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly catering to people who do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation building, it’s very own business system, and extra. ConvertKit is a really good system.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, right here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally say that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in an even more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Affiliate Leaderboard.
ConvertKit does now provide the capacity to offer things through their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always pick an extra direct choice anyhow. For me, I favor to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way much more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. For example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this a lot more carefully places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, but you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall for what this indicates for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Affiliate Leaderboard
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise indicates that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually seen almost regular release of new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are rather essential. Their speed of development at this point has gone over.
I likewise quite appreciate just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news concerning some design enhancements to the website design features actually consisted of a tiny issue with the material size. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was taken care of.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more tip …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I actually value.
Another significant point of distinction right here is the price. Both systems offer cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less expensive in the beginning glance because their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, however the subscriber limitations are FAR lower and your rate swiftly boosts as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can grow your checklist as much as 100,000. A listing of that size would 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, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost costs? They might as time takes place. But, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the important things you definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to evolve rather rapidly and make brand-new product statements rather frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I truly wish they had that I need to just await.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership forms where I can pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would be outstanding for so many reasons. Already, membership types look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to be part of automations to make integrated automations easier and reduce dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some small management interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Ability to mass edit articles (for example, to identify a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as common on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more customization choices for the internet site (such as even more versatile shade selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I said, the function is different so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever recognize, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a great deal. Sufficient where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting design specifically, I saw enough worth in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, but I deliberately have things set up so that I additionally maintain my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is simply a good insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay unless you have a huge e-mail list and are therefore being wooled with their high month-to-month costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating rapidly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a better and a lot more cost effective fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely intentional concerning growing a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the best games around now. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.