I have utilized a great deal of different email list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a substantial advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the amazing features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv iFrame.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to address the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I would certainly additionally like to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Strategy, I discussed just how and why I chose to turn my motor home blog right into largely a newsletter. I made a decision that was business design I intended to pursue with that said home.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that particular in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed into it details to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail concurrently without having it be 2 different activities.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The platform was essentially built by the people who accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential or commercial property to ensure that I can expand it a lot more intentionally too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Gladly RV was young, so simple to transition. Yet, The Morning WP (previously 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 undoubtedly constantly be closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction between an e-newsletter platform and just an email checklist.
You can host your email checklist anyplace you want and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of posting means that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that site. But, you are also sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the system much easier.
With a lot of email platforms, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely separately from your internet site. So, for example, you might release a write-up to WordPress however then you would require to separately build and send out an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are after that two different sets of archives and two different activities because article and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I intended to continue to self-host whatever. However, you would certainly shed the growth devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently includes a different set of requirements than a common e-mail listing.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and development tools to assist you develop your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I assume Substack draws. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that at first obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is literally constructed by the exact same folks that constructed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I want here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Once more, it simply informs me the customer avatar distinction in between both companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not exactly draw. The only factor I would contemplate drinking things up is if I thought I can GROW the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different sort of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight competitors.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored toward creators.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers along with new activities, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just given that I began utilizing the platform. For example:
- Ability to set off automations based on which particular embed kind they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it pertains to writing your newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply more geared towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I discover it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be extra equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is more than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and after that placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Visibility alternatives on that particular area to show it only to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show just to clients, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium subscription model, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of income. In fact, you actually connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of 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 constructed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs seem much better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack positions itself toward “developers” greater than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared more toward individuals who just think in terms of web content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are treated fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … great for individuals that might require it.
Substack likewise has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is likewise much more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I do not think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the exact same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at developers (like Substack), but it is much more strongly dealing with individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own business system, and more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more versatility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a standard function of email lists that enables segmentation in an even more adaptable way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging at some time soon, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv iFrame.
ConvertKit does currently supply the ability to sell points using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly pick an extra direct option anyhow. For me, I favor to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this extra closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations right now. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with benefits, however you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface for what this means for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv iFrame
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally suggests that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced almost regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but huge features that are quite vital. Their rate of growth at this moment has actually been impressive.
I also quite value exactly how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item announcements regarding some design improvements to the web design features actually contained a small issue with the material width. I just replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the concern was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I provided another recommendation …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to set off automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I truly appreciate.
Another major point of distinction right here is the price. Both platforms supply totally free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more desirable. ConvertKit appears less costly at first look due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your price quickly enhances as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same dimension list 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 make use of), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would 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 yearly, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely different organization when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance costs? They may as time takes place. However, I’m thinking people like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to progress instead rapidly and make new product news somewhat frequently, yet there are some standard features I actually want they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on registration kinds where I can pick an automation to run right at the form level. That would be incredible for many reasons. As of now, subscription types look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber degree. This would be effective.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and decrease dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some minor management interface adjustments that would come in handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit articles (for example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental fields as common on clients (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the web site (such as more flexible shade choices, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t excellent and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never recognize, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I chose to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw adequate worth in their platform to warrant the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I intentionally have things set up to make sure that I also keep my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system 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 concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button must be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge email list and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating swiftly. There’s likewise a respectable opportunity you’re not even using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can quickly be a far better and extra budget-friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be really intentional about growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is one of the best games around right now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into 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.