I have actually utilized a great deal of different e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a massive supporter of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have actually been utilizing How Good Is Beehiiv.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to decide to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to deal with the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly likewise like to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Shift In Approach, I talked about exactly how and why I made a decision to transform my RV blog into mostly a newsletter. I determined that was business design I intended to go after with that residential or commercial property.
But, to deliberately seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a bit.
As I stated in that concern of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices built right into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity 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 does not have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click registration links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement 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 premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was actually developed by the people who accumulated the technology for Early morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to ensure that I can expand it much more intentionally also.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to transition. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously constantly be carefully connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Typical Email List
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and just an email list.
You can organize your email checklist anyplace you desire and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting indicates that it is going to your web site and to your e-mail subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that internet site. Yet, you are also dispatching to all clients at the same time. The web site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much simpler.
With most email platforms, any e-newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your web site. So, for example, you could release a short article to WordPress yet then you would require to independently construct and send an e-mail to your list to send it to clients. These are then two separate sets of archives and two separate activities since article and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it pretty much “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and allows them to be the exact same point. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the growth devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally features a various collection of needs than a normal e-mail checklist.
You don’t generally need much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth posting experience and growth devices to aid you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I picked to go with BeeHiiv, that does not suggest I assume Substack draws. Actually, since Substack has actually been about longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that originally got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally constructed by the same individuals that developed the modern technology behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and differentiation also implies that BeeHiiv has some fairly huge brand names and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Once more, it just tells me the client avatar difference in between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder drinking points up is if I believed I could expand the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more direct competitors.
But, let’s dive deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by individuals that recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra geared toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom areas on customers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send out an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to new actions, such as customizing custom-made fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just since I began using the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to activate automations based upon which details embed kind they was available in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it involves composing your newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more tailored towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s composing interface behaves and clean, but it would be extra equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than just kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Presence options on that particular area to reveal it just to paid customers, hide it from email, hide from subscribers, show only to customers, and so on. Substack offers nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium membership model, BeeHiiv does not take any type of profits. As a matter of fact, you actually connect up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Depending upon how many clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outside 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 seemed like BeeHiiv was extra built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops seem far better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack positions itself toward “developers” greater than email marketing professionals and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things tailored a lot more towards individuals that just assume in terms of material development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are dealt with quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … awesome for people that could need it.
Substack additionally has more social performance built-in. For example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It also has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be much more like a social media network which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either care for that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is also placed at developers (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly dealing with people who do it for service. ConvertKit has good visual automation building, it’s own business system, and much more. ConvertKit is a really wonderful system.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has a lot more 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 intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic function of e-mail listings that makes it possible for division in an even more adaptable method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain labeling at some point soon, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on How Good Is Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now offer the ability to market 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, nonetheless, I would constantly select a more direct option anyway. For me, I prefer to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. For instance, their plugin currently also supports member-gated material along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to release to your website and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active taking on the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface wherefore this indicates for the platform going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … How Good Is Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it likewise suggests that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced nearly regular release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet big features that are quite important. Their speed of growth at this point has actually gone over.
I likewise very much value how responsive they are. In fact, one of their item news concerning some design improvements to the website design features actually included a little issue with the material width. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the problem was dealt with.
Few days later, I provided one more idea …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based on the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I actually value.
An additional significant factor of differentiation here is the cost. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides much more ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more favorable. ConvertKit seems cheaper at first look due to the fact that their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nevertheless the client restrictions are FAR lower and your price swiftly enhances as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly utilize), you can grow your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point raise costs? They could as time takes place. However, I’m thinking individuals like myself who are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance rather rapidly and make brand-new item announcements rather typically, however there are some basic features I actually wish they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they need to have a setting on subscription forms where I can pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would be incredible for many factors. Already, registration kinds look OK, but there’s extremely little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would behave to have marking at the client degree. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks should belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and lower dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small management interface modifications that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit posts (for example, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic fields as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the web site (such as more flexible color selections, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Points I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t best and absolutely not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it would not much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I think you never know, though.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv rather a lot. Sufficient where I chose to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing model especially, I saw adequate value in their system to warrant the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special email list. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I purposefully have things set up to make sure that I additionally maintain my list “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply a great insurance plan, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d definitely consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various needs. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be rather simple.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a huge e-mail listing and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating swiftly. There’s also a pretty good opportunity you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t also require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can easily be a much better and more affordable fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely deliberate concerning growing an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is one of the most effective games around today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv supplies a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.