I have actually used a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Because of that (and the incredible features), I have been making use of Beehiiv or Mailchimp.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to address the issue of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly also like to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Change In Technique, I spoke about just how and why I chose to turn my motor home blog site into mainly a newsletter. I determined that was business design I wished to seek with that building.
Yet, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email list for Happily RV, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed in that problem of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices built right into it specific to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail all at once without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click membership web 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 promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features targeted at development. The platform was essentially developed by the people that accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, 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 property to make sure that I can grow it much more intentionally as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to transition. But, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will certainly constantly be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter system and simply an email listing.
You can hold your e-mail checklist anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your email subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that website. Yet, you are likewise dispatching to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much simpler.
With many email systems, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed entirely independently from your website. So, as an example, you may release an article to WordPress yet then you would need to separately develop and send out an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and two separate activities since post and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it practically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wished to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally features a various collection of needs than a normal e-mail listing.
You do not usually require much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to assist you construct your subscriber base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I assume Substack sucks. In fact, because Substack has actually been about much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually constructed by the very same folks that built the innovation behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I have an interest in right here.
- That branding and distinction additionally means that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brand names and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Again, it just informs me the client avatar distinction between the two firms.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would consider drinking things up is if I assumed I can expand the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I actually do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight rivals.
Yet, let’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored toward developers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made fields on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an email. However, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers along with new activities, such as changing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations just given that I began making use of the system. For example:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which particular embed type they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this because the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more geared toward newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I locate it to be much more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and clean, yet it would certainly be extra comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and after that put anything you desire in it. After that, you can place Exposure options on that particular area to show it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show just to customers, and so on. Substack provides nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs registration model, BeeHiiv does not take any type of revenue. Actually, you essentially link approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards genuine email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops seem far better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack positions itself towards “designers” more than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some things geared a lot more toward people who just believe in regards to content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are treated fairly independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … great for people that may require it.
Substack additionally has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is established to be much more like a social network which supports long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is likewise much more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I do not. However, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I searched for more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often through to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is far more highly dealing with people who do it for business. ConvertKit has great visual automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly great platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has a lot more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a fundamental function of email lists that allows division in an even more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain labeling at some time quickly, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv or Mailchimp.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to offer things via their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly always choose a much more direct choice anyway. For me, I choose to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and therefore has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For instance, their plugin now even supports member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic dealing with the development tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv or Mailchimp
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise suggests that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed almost weekly release of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet big features that are rather crucial. Their speed of advancement at this moment has gone over.
I additionally significantly appreciate exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product news concerning some style enhancements to the web design features really included a small problem with the material width. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the problem was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them another pointer …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I actually appreciate.
Another major point of differentiation below is the price. Both platforms provide free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more ability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable initially glance because their pricing web page shows lower numbers, however the subscriber limits are FAR reduced and your rate swiftly boosts as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely various league when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost rates? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m guessing individuals like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you certainly need to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to evolve instead promptly and make brand-new item news rather often, yet there are some standard features I really want they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership types where I can pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be remarkable for numerous reasons. Already, subscription types look OK, yet there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the client degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks ought to become part of automations to make built-in automations easier and minimize dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management interface changes that would certainly come in handy. For example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (as an example, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the web site (such as even more adaptable color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and definitely not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I think you never understand, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I chose to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter posting design particularly, I saw enough value in their system to necessitate the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special e-mail listing. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, but I purposefully have points establish to ensure that I additionally keep my list “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d most definitely think about switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button should be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a big email checklist and are therefore being wooled with their high month-to-month bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s likewise a respectable possibility you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can quickly be a much better and more inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really intentional about growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is designed to be, it is one of the most effective games in town today. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be quite feature rich.