I have actually used a lot of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and having your own platform. For that reason (and the outstanding features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Newsletter Affiliate.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to decide to utilize 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 discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to attend to the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d likewise such as to attend to why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Change In Strategy, I talked about how and why I made a decision to turn my recreational vehicle blog site into largely an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business model I wanted to go after with that home.
However, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly motor home, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed because issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built right into it details to my objective. Points such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be two different activities.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The system was essentially constructed by the people that accumulated the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
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 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 Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential property so that I can expand it extra intentionally as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so simple to shift. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) 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 undoubtedly always be closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and just an email listing.
You can organize your email listing 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 main difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting indicates that it is mosting likely to your site and to your email subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that web site. However, you are additionally dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The website and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much easier.
With many email platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely individually from your web site. So, for example, you might publish a write-up to WordPress however then you would certainly need to individually build and send out an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and 2 separate actions since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that turns WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the very same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you ‘d lose the development devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally comes with a different collection of needs than a common email listing.
You don’t normally need much marketing automation. You don’t generally require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, 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 assist you construct your customer base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to change the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that does not indicate I think Substack sucks. In 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 things that originally got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially constructed by the exact same people who developed the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction also implies that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brands and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Again, it just tells me the customer character difference between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter via FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only reason I would consider trembling things up is if I thought I might expand the list quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv feels like it was developed by people who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies customized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather restricted in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as changing custom-made fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations just given that I began using the platform. As an example:
- Ability to cause automations based upon which particular embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based upon opens up 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 just would not think to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it concerns creating your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared toward e-newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I discover it to be much more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and clean, but it would be more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and after that placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure alternatives on that area to show it only to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, reveal only to clients, etc. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium registration version, BeeHiiv does not take any type of revenue. As a matter of fact, you essentially attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on the number of customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra developed towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page makes seem better built for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself towards “makers” more than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some things tailored more toward individuals that just think in regards to material creation.
For example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support numerous publications, they are dealt with quite independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … cool for people that could require it.
Substack additionally has even more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions type of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Overall, Substack is established to be much more like a social media which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally extra … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works quite well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at designers (like Substack), but it is much more strongly satisfying people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, here’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is just a basic feature of e-mail lists that allows division in a much more adaptable way than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Newsletter Affiliate.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capability to market things via their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always choose a more straight option anyway. For me, I prefer to use my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way extra integration options. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For instance, their plugin now even supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this much more closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your site and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy dealing with the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, however you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are truly awesome features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface for what this suggests for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Newsletter Affiliate
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally means that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed practically regular launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … but big features that are quite essential. Their speed of advancement now has actually been impressive.
I likewise very much appreciate how receptive they are. In fact, one of their product statements about some style improvements to the website design features in fact contained a small trouble with the content width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the concern was dealt with.
Few days later on, I gave them another suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based on the embed form used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
An additional significant factor of distinction below is the cost. Both systems supply complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot 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 also FAR more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable at first glimpse due to the fact that their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limits are FAR lower and your rate quickly increases as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same size listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly use), you can grow your list approximately 100,000. A list of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various organization when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance rates? They may as time takes place. However, I’m presuming individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to develop instead quickly and make brand-new product announcements somewhat typically, but there are some fundamental features I really want they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership forms where I might choose an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be AWESOME for a lot of reasons. As of now, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have marking at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I believe webhooks should become part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and minimize reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management user interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to bulk edit posts (for example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the site (such as more adaptable color options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t best and absolutely not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I stated, the objective is various so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I determined to switch my own newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw enough value in their platform to call for the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv for what it is good at, however I purposefully have points establish to make sure that I likewise maintain my listing “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is just a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d definitely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be pretty simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large e-mail list and are therefore being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating rapidly. There’s additionally a respectable possibility you’re not even using a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might easily be a better and extra inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful concerning growing a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is one of the best video games in town today. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be quite feature abundant.