I have utilized a lot of various email list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have been using Beehiiv Integrate with Zapier.
So, it is indeed a weird move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to address the problem of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly additionally such as to attend to why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Change In Approach, I discussed how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog site into mostly an e-newsletter. I decided that was business model I intended to go after with that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet 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 bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed because problem of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed right into it certain to my function. Things such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail all at once without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click membership links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at growth. The system was actually constructed by the people who built up the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might certainly be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv too. At least, I’m strongly 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 property so that I can expand it more purposefully as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown separately. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, 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 very own. It will certainly always be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and simply an email list.
You can hold your e-mail listing anywhere 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 difference?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your website and to your email customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that website. Yet, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With a lot of email systems, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely separately from your site. So, for instance, you could release a write-up to WordPress yet after that you would certainly require to individually develop and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to customers. These are after that 2 separate collections of archives and two different actions since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the very same point. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I intended to continue to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly shed the development devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter inherently includes a various set of requirements than a regular e-mail list.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless posting experience and growth tools to assist you develop your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people 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 assume Substack draws. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been about longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is literally built by the very same folks who constructed the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brands and big magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer character distinction in between both firms.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only reason I would consider drinking points up is if I assumed I can GROW the listing faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I in fact do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people who understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems a lot more geared towards designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made areas on subscribers. Now, 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 a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an email. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have new triggers as well as new activities, such as modifying custom-made areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply because I started utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capability to set off automations based on which details embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to immediately do re-engagement (and manage people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface is nice and tidy, however it would certainly be extra equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and after that put anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Visibility options on that section to show it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from subscribers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium subscription model, BeeHiiv does not take any type of earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally connect up to your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending on the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, yet what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Overall, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates seem far better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack placements itself towards “designers” greater than e-mail online marketers and newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some things tailored more toward individuals who just believe in regards to web content production.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are dealt with rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … trendy for individuals that may require it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host chats with customers. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
In general, Substack is likewise extra … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I do not. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more highly catering to individuals that do it for company. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really good platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, below’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is simply a standard function of email lists that makes it possible for division in a far more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some time quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Integrate with Zapier.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capability to sell things via their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly always pick an extra direct choice anyway. For me, I favor to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and for that reason has way more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this more carefully places ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with rewards, but you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall for what this implies for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Integrate with Zapier
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced virtually once a week launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … however huge features that are rather vital. Their speed of growth now has actually gone over.
I additionally significantly value how responsive they are. Actually, among their product announcements regarding some design enhancements to the website design features in fact consisted of a tiny trouble with the content size. I merely responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was taken care of.
Couple of days later, I gave them an additional tip …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based on the embed kind used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I actually value.
An additional major factor of differentiation below is the price. Both systems provide free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more ability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more favorable. ConvertKit seems less costly initially glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, however the client restrictions are much reduced and your rate promptly increases as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” 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 size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost costs? They could as time goes on. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you absolutely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance rather swiftly and make brand-new item statements somewhat frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I actually want they had that I need to simply wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription kinds where I could choose an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be amazing for so many factors. Currently, registration kinds look OK, but there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the client level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks must be part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management user interface modifications that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to identify a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some even more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as even more flexible shade options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I presume you never ever understand, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter posting version particularly, I saw adequate value in their system to necessitate the change.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I deliberately have points set up so that I likewise maintain my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, 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 will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d certainly take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch ought to be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a huge email checklist 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, yet they are repeating promptly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a far better and a lot more inexpensive fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be extremely intentional concerning expanding a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is just one of the best games around today. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv supplies 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 cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.