I have actually used a lot of different email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own system. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have been utilizing Does Beehiiv Have a Free Plan.
So, it is without a doubt an unusual move for me to choose to utilize BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a hosted application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I ‘d also like to attend to why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Big Shift In Strategy, I talked about exactly how and why I determined to transform my RV blog site into mainly an e-newsletter. I chose that was business model I wished to seek with that said property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily RV, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I said because issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built right into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I choose to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was literally constructed by the people that built up the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to ensure that I can grow it extra purposefully too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so simple to transition. However, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff below 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 clearly always be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and just an email listing.
You can host your email listing anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your website and to your e-mail subscribers concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are also sending to all clients at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes administration of the platform much easier.
With many email platforms, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is built entirely independently from your internet site. So, for example, you may publish a write-up to WordPress but after that you would require to separately develop and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then two separate sets of archives and two different activities because article and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and enables them to be the same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I intended to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally comes with a different collection of requirements than a typical email list.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You do not usually require autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to aid you build your subscriber base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the truth that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that does not imply I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally built by the exact same people that developed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation additionally indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and huge publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Once more, it just informs me the client character difference in between both business.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder shaking things up is if I thought I could GROW the list much faster. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
However, allow’s dive deeper than simply the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored toward developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies personalized areas on clients. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is a visual 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 fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capability to send out an email. However, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have new triggers in addition to new activities, such as modifying custom fields, sending webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just considering that I began making use of the system. As an example:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which certain embed type they can be found in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic 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 simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to composing your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored toward e-newsletters. As a matter of 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 is nice and tidy, yet it would be much more equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure options on that section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, hide it from email, conceal from customers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium registration design, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. Actually, you essentially attach up to your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending upon the number of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Overall, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more built towards genuine email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page designs seem far better constructed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack placements itself toward “makers” more than e-mail marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points tailored a lot more toward individuals who simply believe in terms of material production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … trendy for people that may require it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host chats with clients. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is additionally much more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I don’t. However, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions quite well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to real marketing, I do not think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a difficult time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest rivals, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at developers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly satisfying people who do it for service. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is well known already. Yet, here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will additionally state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit much more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a basic feature of e-mail lists that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support tagging at some time quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Does Beehiiv Have a Free Plan.
ConvertKit does currently supply the ability to market points using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always choose a more straight option anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. For instance, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy dealing with the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with benefits, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are actually remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface wherefore this implies for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Does Beehiiv Have a Free Plan
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise indicates that they are swiftly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced virtually once a week launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … however huge features that are quite important. Their rate of development now has actually gone over.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how responsive they are. In fact, one of their product news regarding some design improvements to the web design features in fact consisted of a tiny issue with the web content width. I just replied to that email to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the issue was taken care of.
Few days later on, I provided one more pointer …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based upon the embed kind utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I actually value.
Another significant factor of distinction below is the price. Both platforms offer totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more capacity and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more desirable. ConvertKit seems less expensive initially glimpse because their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the subscriber limitations are much reduced and your cost promptly boosts as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), however you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally utilize), you can grow your listing as much as 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely different organization when it involves pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost rates? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you definitely need to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to progress rather promptly and make new item statements rather frequently, however there are some standard features I truly desire they had that I need to simply wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership forms where I could pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be AWESOME for numerous reasons. As of now, registration kinds look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have tagging at the client level. This would certainly be effective.
I think webhooks ought to belong to automations to make built-in automations easier and decrease reliance on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface changes that would come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to mass edit posts (for instance, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard areas as standard on customers (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the website (such as even more flexible color choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I hope they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and absolutely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the function is various so it would not a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I think you never ever recognize, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Enough where I chose to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my own system.
Put simply, for the newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw enough worth in their platform to warrant the change.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail list. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, however I deliberately have points set up to ensure that I likewise keep my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch needs to be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a big email listing and are as a result being fleeced with their high month-to-month expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating swiftly. There’s additionally a respectable possibility you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might quickly be a much better and extra affordable fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be really deliberate regarding expanding a newsletter, I believe 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 designed to be, it is among the most effective games around today. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the cost-free account to be quite feature abundant.