I have used a great deal of various e-mail list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a significant proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. For that reason (and the outstanding features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Typedream.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to make a decision to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I want to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I intend to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d likewise such as to deal with why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Shift In Method, I talked about how and why I chose to transform my motor home blog right into primarily an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business model I wanted to seek keeping that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly motor home, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I said in that issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed right into it specific to my objective. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click registration links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The platform was essentially built by the individuals who accumulated the innovation for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And actually, The EDGE 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 a lot more intentionally too.
The objective 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 simple to change. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will obviously constantly be very closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter platform and simply an email list.
You can hold your e-mail list just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your website and to your e-mail subscribers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that website. Yet, you are likewise sending off to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes administration of the system much simpler.
With most email systems, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed totally separately from your website. So, for example, you may release an article to WordPress but after that you would require to independently construct and send an e-mail to your list to send it to clients. These are after that 2 separate sets of archives and two different activities because article and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it practically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong option if I intended to remain to self-host every little thing. However, you would certainly shed the growth tools that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally comes with a various collection of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless publishing experience and growth tools to aid you build your client base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I chose to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has been around much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that initially got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the same people that constructed the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brands and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo makers. Again, it just informs me the customer avatar difference between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only reason I would contemplate trembling things up is if I assumed I can GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight rivals.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was developed by individuals who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored towards makers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies personalized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
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 performance is still early-phase. It is still rather minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send an email. However, enhancements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as brand-new actions, such as customizing personalized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations simply considering that I started making use of the platform. For example:
- Capacity to cause automations based on which certain embed form they came in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and handle people based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this since the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it concerns writing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is just much more geared toward e-newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I find it to be extra user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and clean, yet it would be a lot more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility alternatives on that particular area to show it just to paid subscribers, hide it from email, hide from customers, reveal just to subscribers, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any revenue. As a matter of fact, you essentially attach approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending upon how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, yet what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations at all.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was more developed toward real email marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page designs appear far better developed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack settings itself toward “makers” greater than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points tailored a lot more towards individuals that just assume in terms of content development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are treated fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … great for individuals that might require it.
Substack additionally has even more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with customers. It also has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be more like a social network which supports long-form material.
In general, Substack is additionally much more … minimal. You either look after that or don’t. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly via to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target market and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at designers (like Substack), but it is far more strongly dealing with individuals who do it for organization. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a really nice platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will also claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail lists that allows segmentation in a much more adaptable means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain labeling at some point soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Typedream.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capacity to market things through their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would always select a much more direct choice anyway. For me, I like to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and for that reason has way much more integration options. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this much more carefully puts ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy dealing with 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 e-newsletter with benefits, but you can also pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your listing. These are actually incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this indicates for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Typedream
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise implies that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed virtually weekly release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … but huge features that are fairly vital. Their speed of growth at this point has gone over.
I additionally significantly value exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item statements regarding some style enhancements to the web design features really included a small problem with the content width. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the concern was dealt with.
Few days later on, I provided an additional suggestion …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based upon the embed kind used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I truly appreciate.
One more major factor of distinction below is the cost. Both platforms supply totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more ability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more beneficial. ConvertKit appears more affordable at first look due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the client restrictions are FAR reduced and your rate swiftly raises as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly make use of), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would 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 every year, also. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely various organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise costs? They may as time goes on. But, I’m thinking people like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you certainly need to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to develop instead quickly and make new item announcements somewhat commonly, but there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on registration forms where I can select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be outstanding for numerous factors. As of now, subscription types look OK, but there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the client level. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks should be part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface changes that would come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Ability to bulk edit articles (for instance, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more customization choices for the web site (such as more flexible color selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t perfect and definitely not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I think you never ever understand, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I chose to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw adequate worth in their system to necessitate the change.
Remember, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail list. I make use of BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, yet I deliberately have things set up to ensure that I additionally maintain my checklist “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply a good insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are utilizing Substack now, I ‘d most definitely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be pretty simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge email list and are therefore being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating quickly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and extra affordable fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely willful regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is made to be, it is one of the best video games in the area right now. 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 with the paid plan, you’ll find the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.