I have actually made use of a great deal of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been using Beehiiv Integrations.
So, it is undoubtedly an odd move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized 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 newsletters. I wish to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I ‘d also such as to resolve why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Technique, I spoke about how and why I determined to turn my recreational vehicle blog into largely an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business version I wanted to seek keeping that residential property.
But, to deliberately seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed right into it details to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different activities.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click registration web links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means 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.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on development. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals that accumulated the modern technology for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not 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 Morning WP, set off as it’s very own home so that I can expand it much more purposefully as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so simple to change. However, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will certainly constantly be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not have to be a part of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Listing
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and simply an e-mail listing.
You can hold your email list everywhere you desire 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 distinction?
The key distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your website and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that internet site. Yet, you are also dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much simpler.
With the majority of e-mail platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely separately from your site. So, as an example, you could publish an article to WordPress but then you would require to separately develop and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then two different collections of archives and two separate activities since blog posts and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it basically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and enables them to be the same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. However, you ‘d lose the development devices that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently includes a various collection of requirements than a normal email listing.
You don’t generally require much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to assist you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I think Substack draws. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that at first obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially built by the very same folks who developed the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and distinction likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively large brand names and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo developers. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer character difference between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder drinking things up is if I thought I can expand the list faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I in fact don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by individuals that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more tailored toward designers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers customized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as changing customized areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations simply given that I began using the platform. As an example:
- Ability to trigger automations based on which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and handle people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this since the target market of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it comes to writing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and clean, however it would certainly be much more equal to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that particular section to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, conceal from clients, show only to clients, etc. Substack offers absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of income. Actually, you literally connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real e-mail marketing. It was developed by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page develops appear much better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though 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 claimed, Substack positions itself towards “developers” greater than email marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points geared much more towards individuals that simply believe in regards to material creation.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are dealt with fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … cool for individuals who might need it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Overall, Substack is set up to be more like a social media which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for even more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly satisfying individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and more. ConvertKit is a really wonderful platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a standard feature of email checklists that enables segmentation in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging eventually quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Integrations.
ConvertKit does now offer the ability to market points by means of their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always select an extra direct option anyhow. For me, I choose to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way much more integration alternatives. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. As an example, their plugin currently even supports member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this extra carefully places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, however you can additionally pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most well known viral promo platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall for what this implies for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Integrations
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise means that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced almost once a week launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are rather important. Their speed of advancement at this point has gone over.
I also quite appreciate exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product statements regarding some style enhancements to the website design features really included a little issue with the content width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Couple of days later on, I gave them another pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to cause automations based on the embed kind used was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I truly appreciate.
One more major factor of distinction right here is the cost. Both systems provide totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more favorable. ConvertKit appears cheaper at first glance because their pricing web page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the customer restrictions are FAR lower and your price swiftly raises as your list expands.
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 very same size listing 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 directly utilize), you can grow your checklist up to 100,000. A checklist 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, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different league when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase rates? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you absolutely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance rather swiftly and make brand-new item statements somewhat typically, but there are some fundamental features I truly desire they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription kinds where I can select an automation to run right at the form level. That would be outstanding for numerous factors. As of now, registration types look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the customer degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks need to belong to automations to make built-in automations easier and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some small management user interface modifications that would certainly be handy. As an example:
- Ability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit blog posts (for example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more modification options for the web site (such as even more versatile color selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and definitely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never ever will be, either. As I stated, the function is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never recognize, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Sufficient where I made a decision to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own system.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing version especially, I saw adequate value in their system to require the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email list. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, however I purposefully have things establish so that I likewise keep my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just an excellent insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack today, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a big email checklist and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating swiftly. There’s additionally a pretty good opportunity you’re not also using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could easily be a much better and extra economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is among the best games around today. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be fairly feature abundant.