I have made use of a lot of different email list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a substantial proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Because of that (and the awesome features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Async.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying 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 newsletters. I intend to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly additionally like to resolve why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Shift In Approach, I spoke about exactly how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog site into primarily a newsletter. I chose that was business design I wanted to seek keeping that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed right into it certain to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail concurrently without having it be two separate actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The platform was literally developed by the individuals who accumulated the innovation for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own residential property so that I can expand it extra purposefully also.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so easy to change. However, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously always be carefully tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter system and simply an email listing.
You can hold your email checklist anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your web site and to your e-mail customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that site. However, you are likewise sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much easier.
With the majority of email systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built entirely individually from your website. So, for instance, you may publish a short article to WordPress yet after that you would need to independently develop and send an e-mail to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 different collections of archives and two separate activities because post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wanted to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally includes a different set of needs than a regular e-mail listing.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to help you construct your subscriber base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was going to change 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 fact that I chose to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I assume Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has actually been around much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair things that originally got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally constructed by the exact same individuals that constructed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise implies that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brands and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Again, it simply tells me the customer character distinction in between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only factor I would consider shaking points up is if I assumed I could expand the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically 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 sort of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored toward designers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies custom fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. Actually, it is a visual automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as changing customized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply given that I began using the system. As an example:
- Ability to trigger automations based on which specific embed form they was available in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it comes to composing your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more tailored towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I discover it to be more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and clean, but it would be more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and then placed anything you want in it. Then, you can place Visibility choices on that particular area to reveal it only to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack provides nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs registration model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally connect as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Relying on how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more developed towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs seem far better constructed for conversions. Growth 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.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself towards “creators” more than e-mail marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared much more toward individuals who simply assume in terms of material production.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are dealt with quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … cool for individuals that might need it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is set up to be much more like a social network which sustains long-form content.
On the whole, Substack is likewise much more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves real marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically via to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at designers (like Substack), however it is much more strongly catering to individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has nice visual automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and extra. ConvertKit is an actually nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, below’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will also say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is just a standard function of e-mail listings that allows segmentation in a much more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Async.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to offer things through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly pick a more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and therefore has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this much more carefully places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, however you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are actually awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this means for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Async
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise means that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced nearly regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … but big features that are fairly important. Their rate of advancement now has been impressive.
I likewise significantly value exactly how receptive they are. In fact, one of their item announcements about some design improvements to the web design features really contained a tiny issue with the content width. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I gave them another pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed type made use of was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I really value.
Another major factor of differentiation below is the price. Both platforms offer totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capacity and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more positive. ConvertKit appears less costly in the beginning look due to the fact that their pricing page shows lower numbers, however the customer limits are much reduced and your rate swiftly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that places 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 annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different organization when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost rates? They might as time goes on. But, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of things you absolutely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve instead swiftly and make brand-new product statements somewhat frequently, yet there are some basic features I really wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership kinds where I might choose an automation to run right at the form level. That would be outstanding for many factors. Already, registration forms look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I think webhooks should be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative interface adjustments that would be handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for example, to label a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as standard on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the web site (such as even more adaptable shade selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I stated, the objective is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever know, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I determined to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter posting model particularly, I saw adequate value in their system to call for the change.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is good at, but I purposefully have things set up so that I also keep my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d certainly take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch must be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge e-mail listing and are therefore being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating rapidly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not also using a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a better and extra economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is among the best games in town today. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be rather feature abundant.