I have actually utilized a lot of various e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge proponent of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Because of that (and the outstanding features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Vs Gumroad.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular 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 wish to address the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly additionally like to attend to why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Huge Shift In Method, I discussed how and why I made a decision to turn my RV blog site right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business design I wished to go after with that residential property.
However, to purposefully pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email listing for Happily recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed because problem of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it certain to my purpose. Points such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email all at once without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The platform was actually constructed by the individuals who built up the modern technology for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, set off as it’s very own residential property to make sure that I can grow it extra purposefully as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded independently. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to change. But, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will undoubtedly always be carefully tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter system and simply an e-mail list.
You can organize your email list anywhere you desire and there are a number of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is going to your site and to your email subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that website. But, you are also dispatching to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are done in one. This makes administration of the platform much simpler.
With many e-mail platforms, any newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely independently from your internet site. So, as an example, you could release a short article to WordPress however then you would require to separately construct and send an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then 2 different collections of archives and two separate actions because article and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that turns WordPress into a true e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wished to remain to self-host every little thing. However, you ‘d lose the development devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter inherently features a various collection of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development tools to aid you develop your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch 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 fact that I chose to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack draws. In fact, since Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that initially got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is literally developed by the exact same individuals that built the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. However, the apparent 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 right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather big brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo makers. Once more, it simply informs me the client character difference in between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only reason I would consider shaking things up is if I thought I can GROW the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I actually don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by people who comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more tailored towards designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers personalized areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a 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 action is the capacity to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as brand-new activities, such as customizing personalized areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started making use of the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to cause automations based on which specific embed type they came in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and manage people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target audience of Substack simply would not believe to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it comes to composing your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I discover it to be more intuitive, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface behaves and tidy, however it would be extra equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than just form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility options on that particular area to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of income. Actually, you literally attach as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending upon the amount of customers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real e-mail marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates appear much better developed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “creators” more than e-mail marketing experts and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things tailored a lot more toward people who just think in regards to content development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are dealt with rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … cool for individuals who might need it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host talks with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is established to be extra like a social media which sustains long-form material.
Overall, Substack is additionally extra … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a tough time locating 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 rivals. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly dealing with people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a really wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is popular already. Yet, here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has extra flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail checklists that allows segmentation in a far more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Vs Gumroad.
ConvertKit does now provide the capacity to market things by means of their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly pick an extra direct alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and for that reason has way more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Basically, this a lot more carefully places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your website 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. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface of what this suggests for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Vs Gumroad
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it likewise implies that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed virtually once a week launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet big features that are fairly important. Their rate of development at this moment has gone over.
I likewise very much value just how receptive they are. In fact, one of their item announcements concerning some design enhancements to the web design features really contained a small issue with the content size. I just responded to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the concern was dealt with.
Few days later on, I gave them an additional tip …
Certainly, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to cause automations based on the embed form used was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually value.
One more major factor of distinction right here is the rate. Both systems supply complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more capacity and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more beneficial. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first glance because their pricing page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your cost rapidly boosts as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension list 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 make use of), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly 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 annually, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various league when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise costs? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you most definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to progress instead quickly and make brand-new item announcements somewhat usually, yet there are some basic features I truly want they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be amazing for numerous reasons. As of now, registration types look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would be nice to have labeling at the customer level. This would be effective.
I think webhooks ought to belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and reduce dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative interface changes that would be handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove clients.
- Capability to mass edit articles (as an example, to identify a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some even more modification choices for the internet site (such as more adaptable shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they do with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t ideal and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever understand, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I decided to switch my own e-newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter posting design particularly, I saw sufficient worth in their system to require the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special email checklist. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I purposefully have points set up to make sure that I likewise maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a great insurance policy, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack today, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different needs. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch must be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a huge email checklist and are therefore being fleeced with their high month-to-month costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating promptly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not also using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and extra economical fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really willful regarding expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is created to be, it is just one of the best games in town today. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves having a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the free account to be quite feature abundant.