I have actually used a lot of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive advocate of digital sovereignty and having your own system. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Bronze Tier.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying 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 e-newsletters. I wish to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I would certainly also like to resolve why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Change In Technique, I spoke about how and why I chose to transform my RV blog into primarily a newsletter. I chose that was the business model I wanted to go after keeping that residential property.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I said because problem of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed right into it details to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be two different activities.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership web links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The system was literally constructed by the individuals that accumulated the innovation for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right 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 may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s own building so that I can grow it much more purposefully too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to change. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will clearly always be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email listing.
You can hold your e-mail list everywhere you want and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your site and to your e-mail clients all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are likewise dispatching to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With most email systems, any newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed entirely independently from your web site. So, for instance, you might publish an article to WordPress yet after that you would need to independently construct and send an e-mail to your list to send it to subscribers. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and two separate actions due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a real newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it basically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I wished to remain to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the growth tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally features a various collection of demands than a normal email listing.
You do not generally need much marketing automation. You don’t typically need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to assist you build your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I think Substack draws. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially developed by the very same individuals who built the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and distinction also indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brand names and big magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Once more, it just tells me the consumer avatar difference in between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would certainly consider shaking points up is if I thought I can expand the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by people that recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more geared towards developers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers 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 functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only action is the ability to send out an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as customizing custom fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to set off automations based upon which particular embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this since the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I locate it to be more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and tidy, yet it would be much more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that area to show it just to paid customers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to subscribers, etc. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any profits. In fact, you actually link up to your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending on the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, however what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was extra constructed toward real email marketing. It was constructed by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem far better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack positions itself towards “creators” more than email online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared a lot more towards people that just assume in terms of material production.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … trendy for individuals who could need it.
Substack additionally has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It also has a “Notes” function which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form material.
In general, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimalist. You either care for that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is far more highly dealing with people that do it for service. ConvertKit has great visual automation building, it’s own commerce system, and more. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down below. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, right here’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will also say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail lists that makes it possible for division in an even more versatile means than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Bronze Tier.
ConvertKit does now supply the ability to market points through their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always pick a much more straight choice anyhow. For me, I choose to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For example, their plugin now also supports member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this extra very closely places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically lacking in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually remarkable features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promo systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface wherefore this means for the system moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Bronze Tier
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it likewise suggests that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced virtually regular launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet large features that are fairly essential. Their rate of growth at this point has gone over.
I additionally very much appreciate how receptive they are. In fact, among their product announcements about some layout enhancements to the web design features really included a little problem with the web content size. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was fixed.
Few days later, I provided another idea …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I really appreciate.
Another significant factor of distinction right here is the price. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers extra capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more positive. ConvertKit seems cheaper initially glance due to the fact that their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your cost swiftly enhances as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same size list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally utilize), you can expand your list up to 100,000. A list of that size would certainly 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, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different organization when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost prices? They may as time takes place. However, I’m guessing people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the things you definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to evolve rather swiftly and make new item statements somewhat usually, however there are some standard features I actually desire they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership kinds where I could choose an automation to run right at the form level. That would certainly be remarkable for so many reasons. Already, membership forms look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to assist in division.
It would behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I believe webhooks ought to become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and reduce reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit articles (for example, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as common on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more modification alternatives for the website (such as even more versatile color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It possibly never will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it would not a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never understand, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a lot. Enough where I decided to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw sufficient value in their system to call for the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, yet I purposefully have points set up to make sure that I additionally keep my checklist “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button must be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay put unless you have a big e-mail list and are for that reason being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating quickly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can quickly be a better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely deliberate concerning expanding a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is designed to be, it is just one of the most effective games around now. This is the system to view.
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 to the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be quite feature abundant.