I have utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a significant proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Creator Accelerator.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I want to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d likewise such as to deal with why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Technique, I discussed how and why I made a decision to turn my RV blog site into mainly a newsletter. I chose that was business design I wished to pursue with that residential property.
Yet, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I stated because problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built into it specific to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly 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 links. Great for promotion 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.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The system was actually constructed by the individuals that developed the innovation for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own home to ensure that I can grow it a lot more deliberately too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so easy to change. However, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will clearly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email List
There’s a distinction between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail listing.
You can host your email checklist anyplace you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is going to your website and to your e-mail clients all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that website. But, you are additionally dispatching to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With most e-mail systems, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your web site. So, as an example, you might release a short article to WordPress however after that you would certainly need to independently develop and send an e-mail to your list to send it to subscribers. These are then two separate sets of archives and two separate activities due to the fact that post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a real newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it basically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different set of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You do not typically need autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and development tools to assist you build your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was mosting likely to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I assume Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. In fact, it is literally constructed by the same folks who developed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and distinction likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brand names and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Once again, it just informs me the customer character difference in between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only factor I would consider shaking things up is if I assumed I might expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv looks like it was developed by individuals that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored towards creators.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies customized fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capability to send an email. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as changing customized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations just considering that I started using the system. As an example:
- Ability to activate automations based upon which certain embed type they came in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this because the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more geared toward e-newsletters. In fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be extra intuitive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, however it would be extra comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Exposure alternatives on that section to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, show just to customers, and so on. Substack uses nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs membership model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any revenue. As a matter of fact, you literally connect up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Relying on how many clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
In general, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was much more developed towards real e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page develops seem better constructed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “makers” more than email online marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things tailored more toward people that just think in terms of material development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … trendy for people who may need it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. On the whole, Substack is set up to be more like a social media which sustains 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. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I searched for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at developers (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly accommodating individuals who do it for organization. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a fundamental function of email checklists that makes it possible for division in an even more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain identifying eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Creator Accelerator.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to sell things through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly always choose a more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this more very closely puts ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with perks, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most well known viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface of what this indicates for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Creator Accelerator
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it also implies that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually witnessed nearly regular launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet huge features that are rather crucial. Their speed of development at this moment has gone over.
I additionally very much value exactly how receptive they are. Actually, among their product news about some design enhancements to the web design features in fact consisted of a little issue with the material width. I simply replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I gave them another tip …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually appreciate.
An additional significant factor of differentiation below is the price. Both systems supply free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more favorable. ConvertKit appears less expensive initially look since their pricing web page shows lower numbers, however the subscriber restrictions are FAR lower and your cost promptly raises as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your list as much as 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise costs? They might as time goes on. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the things you most definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to evolve rather swiftly and make new item statements rather typically, however there are some fundamental features I actually desire they had that I require to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership types where I can pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be incredible for numerous factors. Already, registration kinds look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to aid in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks must become part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small management interface changes that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit blog posts (for example, to identify a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more personalization choices for the site (such as even more adaptable shade choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I stated, the function is different so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never know, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing version particularly, I saw adequate worth in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail list. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is good at, however I deliberately have things establish to ensure that I likewise keep my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just a great insurance plan, 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 system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d absolutely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a big e-mail list and are for that reason being wooled with their high month-to-month expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not even making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might quickly be a much better and extra budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful about expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is created to be, it is among the best games in town right now. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.