I have utilized a lot of different email list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. Therefore (and the incredible features), I have been using Beehiiv Framer.
So, it is without a doubt a weird move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d also like to resolve why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Shift In Method, I discussed exactly how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog site right into mainly a newsletter. I made a decision that was the business design I intended to pursue with that residential or commercial property.
However, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email checklist for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed into it details to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capability to publish (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 certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click registration web links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on development. The platform was essentially developed by the people that accumulated the innovation for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may indeed be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At the very 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, set off as it’s very own home to make sure that I can grow it a lot more purposefully too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to change. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of things right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously constantly be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv since it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail listing.
You can organize your e-mail checklist everywhere you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your web site and to your email customers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that internet site. But, you are likewise sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With many e-mail platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed completely separately from your web site. So, for example, you could release an article to WordPress yet then you would certainly require to individually construct and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate collections of archives and two separate actions since post and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and allows them to be the same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid alternative if I wished to continue to self-host every little thing. However, you would certainly lose the growth tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently includes a various set of requirements than a regular email list.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one smooth publishing experience and development devices to aid you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients 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, even besides the fact that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that originally obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially built by the very same folks who built the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo designers. Again, it just tells me the consumer character difference in between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only factor I would consider drinking things up is if I thought I might expand the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct rivals.
However, let’s dive deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by individuals who recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra geared towards makers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an email. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as new actions, such as customizing custom areas, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations simply since I began utilizing the platform. For instance:
- Ability to activate automations based on which certain embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it comes to composing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared towards newsletters. In fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be a lot more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, but it would certainly be extra comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is more than just type. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and after that placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Presence alternatives on that section to reveal it just to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from clients, reveal just to clients, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs membership design, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally connect as much as your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending upon how many customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Overall, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more developed towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page makes seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I wish 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 “makers” greater than email online marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things tailored extra towards individuals that just believe in regards to web content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are dealt with fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … amazing for people who may require it.
Substack likewise has more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is established to be more like a social network which sustains long-form material.
Overall, Substack is also much more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I do not. However, if the goal is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack works quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it concerns actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at creators (like Substack), yet it is far more strongly accommodating people who do it for service. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce platform, and more. ConvertKit is a truly nice system.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction right here. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic feature of e-mail lists that enables division in a far more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain labeling eventually quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Framer.
ConvertKit does now provide the capacity to market points using their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always select a more straight option anyway. For me, I like to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this much more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, 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 also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall for what this indicates for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Framer
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally indicates that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced virtually weekly launch of brand-new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are rather vital. Their rate of growth now has actually been impressive.
I additionally very much value just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item announcements about some layout enhancements to the website design features really consisted of a tiny problem with the web content width. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I provided one more pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to set off automations based upon the embed form made use of was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I truly appreciate.
An additional major factor of distinction right here is the cost. Both platforms supply complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers more ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more beneficial. ConvertKit seems less costly at first glance since their pricing page reveals lower numbers, however the client limits are much lower and your price promptly raises as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension listing 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 use), you can grow your list up to 100,000. A list of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it involves pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you absolutely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve rather quickly and make brand-new item news rather usually, but there are some fundamental features I really desire they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they require to have a setup on registration types where I can select an automation to run right at the form level. That would certainly be AWESOME for so many reasons. As of now, registration forms look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly be nice to have identifying at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks need to be part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and decrease dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit messages (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard areas as basic on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the site (such as more adaptable shade selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I wish they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t ideal and definitely not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never recognize, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw enough value in their platform to call for the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special email list. I use BeeHiiv for what it is proficient at, but I intentionally have points establish to ensure that I additionally maintain my list “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different demands. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button should be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge email checklist and are therefore being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a respectable possibility you’re not even utilizing a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv could quickly be a far better and more budget-friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate about growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is developed to be, it is among the most effective games around right now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be rather feature abundant.