I have actually used a great deal of various email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Seed Deck.
So, it is without a doubt a strange move for me to make a decision to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I want to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to address the concern of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I would certainly additionally like to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Change In Technique, I talked about exactly how and why I chose to transform my RV blog site into mostly a newsletter. I chose that was business design I wished to pursue keeping that residential or commercial property.
However, to intentionally pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed right into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be 2 different activities.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on development. The platform was literally constructed by the individuals who developed the innovation for Morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own 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 very own media entity and expanded individually. Happily RV was young, so very easy to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will clearly always be carefully tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and just an email checklist.
You can host your email list anyplace you desire and there are a number 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 system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your website and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that web site. Yet, you are also sending to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much easier.
With many e-mail systems, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed completely independently from your site. So, for example, you might release a write-up to WordPress but after that you would certainly require to individually build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and 2 different activities because blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the very same point. Absolutely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I wanted to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally features a various set of needs than a typical e-mail checklist.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You don’t typically require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to assist you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the truth that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I believe Substack sucks. In 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 points that initially obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is actually built by the very same folks who developed the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I want here.
- That branding and distinction also means that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo developers. Again, it just informs me the customer character distinction between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would consider drinking points up is if I believed I might GROW the list faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct rivals.
However, let’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv looks like it was developed by people who understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers custom fields on customers. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an e-mail. However, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as changing customized fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started making use of the system. For example:
- Capacity to cause automations based upon which certain embed form they can be found in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can not do this since the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it involves composing your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared toward e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I locate it to be extra user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and tidy, yet it would be extra equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and after that put anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure options on that particular section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, show only to clients, etc. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any earnings. Actually, you essentially attach up to your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Relying on the number of customers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
On the whole, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra constructed toward real email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates appear far better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself toward “creators” more than e-mail marketing professionals and newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some things geared more towards individuals that simply think in regards to material development.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous 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 call for, yet … cool for individuals that may require it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Overall, Substack is established to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet frankly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often through to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at developers (like Substack), but it is far more strongly catering to individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business system, and more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known already. However, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it concerns it’s automations. I will additionally say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is just a standard feature of email checklists that enables segmentation in an even more flexible method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point quickly, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Seed Deck.
ConvertKit does now offer the capacity to sell points by means of their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always pick an extra straight option anyway. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this extra very closely places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the development 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 rewards, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this indicates for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Seed Deck
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen practically once a week release of new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … but large features that are fairly crucial. Their rate of advancement now has actually gone over.
I likewise significantly value how receptive they are. Actually, one of their item news concerning some style improvements to the web design features really contained a small problem with the material width. I merely replied to that email to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later, I gave them an additional idea …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to cause automations based upon the embed kind used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I really value.
One more major factor of differentiation here is the cost. Both systems supply free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capacity 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 even more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable at first glance due to the fact that their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limits are much reduced and your price rapidly raises as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your list as much as 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely different league when it involves pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance costs? They could as time takes place. But, I’m guessing people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the important things you absolutely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to progress rather quickly and make new item statements somewhat often, yet there are some standard features I really want they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription types where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would be incredible for so many reasons. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would be nice to have tagging at the subscriber level. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks need to be part of automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative interface modifications that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit posts (for instance, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as conventional on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more modification options for the web site (such as more adaptable color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t perfect and definitely not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it wouldn’t much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I think you never know, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Enough where I decided to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing design especially, I saw enough value in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive email listing. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, yet I deliberately have points establish so that I also keep my listing “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply a great insurance coverage, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of 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 requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch should be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a big e-mail checklist and are as a result being wooled with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good chance you’re not even using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can easily be a far better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really intentional about growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is one of the very best games in the area today. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides 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 locate the complimentary account to be fairly feature abundant.