I have used a great deal of different e-mail list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Custom HTML.
So, it is indeed an unusual move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly also like to attend to why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Change In Method, I discussed just how and why I made a decision to turn my RV blog site right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business model I wanted to seek with that said building.
But, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. Extra on that particular in a bit.
As I stated because issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built into it details to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The platform was literally developed by the individuals who developed the innovation for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to ensure that I can grow it more purposefully as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded independently. Happily motor home was young, so easy to change. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will certainly always be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and simply an e-mail listing.
You can host your e-mail list anyplace you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing implies that it is mosting likely to your website and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are additionally sending to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With the majority of email systems, any e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely individually from your site. So, for example, you could release an article to WordPress but then you would require to independently develop and send an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and 2 different activities due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and enables them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I intended to continue to self-host whatever. However, you ‘d lose the development tools that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently features a different set of requirements than a typical email list.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not generally require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to help you develop your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has actually been around much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is actually built by the very same folks that developed the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I have an interest in right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brand names and huge magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo designers. Once again, it simply informs me the client avatar distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly consider shaking points up is if I thought I could expand the list much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I really do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was developed by people who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra tailored toward makers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers customized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal 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 activity is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as changing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just given that I started using the system. For instance:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which certain embed form they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this because the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it pertains to creating your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored towards newsletters. In 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 user interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be extra comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Presence options on that particular section to reveal it just to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, conceal from clients, show just to customers, and so on. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of earnings. In fact, you literally attach up to your very own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Relying on the amount of customers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more constructed towards real email marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page designs appear much better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack positions itself toward “creators” greater than email online marketers and e-newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some points tailored more toward individuals who just think in regards to material development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does support several publications, they are treated fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … great for people that may need it.
Substack likewise has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form content.
Overall, Substack is also extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more highly accommodating people that do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains tagging. This is simply a fundamental function of e-mail listings that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more flexible means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Custom HTML.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to sell things via their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would constantly pick a more straight choice anyway. For me, I like to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit into direct competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active dealing with the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with rewards, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promo systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Custom HTML
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also indicates that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced almost regular launch of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are quite crucial. Their rate of advancement now has actually been impressive.
I additionally quite appreciate exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item statements about some layout improvements to the web design features actually included a little problem with the content width. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the problem was fixed.
Few days later, I gave them an additional tip …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed kind used was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I really value.
An additional significant point of differentiation right here is the rate. Both systems supply complimentary plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more ability 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 additionally even more desirable. ConvertKit seems cheaper in the beginning glimpse because their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the customer limits are much lower and your cost swiftly boosts as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That exact same size checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would 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 yearly, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in a totally different organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately raise prices? They might as time takes place. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you absolutely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to progress instead promptly and make brand-new item statements somewhat typically, yet there are some fundamental features I really wish they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription kinds where I could choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous factors. Already, membership kinds look OK, but there’s really little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would behave to have labeling at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I assume webhooks should belong to automations to make integrated automations much easier and minimize dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small management user interface adjustments that would come in handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Ability to mass edit articles (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental fields as common on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization options for the site (such as more flexible shade options, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t perfect and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation system. I think you never ever understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting version particularly, I saw enough value in their system to require the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail listing. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, yet I intentionally have points establish to make sure that I likewise maintain my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply a great insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d definitely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button needs to be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large e-mail listing and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating quickly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not even using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and much more economical fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is designed to be, it is among the very best video games in town today. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be quite feature abundant.