I have actually utilized a great deal of different e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Because of that (and the outstanding features), I have actually been using How To Migrate From Substack To Beehiiv.
So, it is without a doubt an odd move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to review why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d additionally like to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Technique, I talked about just how and why I decided to turn my recreational vehicle blog site into mostly a newsletter. I chose that was the business model I wanted to go after with that home.
However, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a little bit.
As I said in that problem of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed right into it details to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send out the email all at once without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in 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 newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in various other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was essentially constructed by the people who developed the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential property so that I can grow it much more deliberately also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to shift. Yet, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of things below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will certainly always be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and simply an email checklist.
You can organize your e-mail list everywhere you want and there are a number of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing indicates that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that site. But, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The internet site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail platforms, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely independently from your internet site. So, as an example, you may publish a post to WordPress yet after that you would certainly require to individually construct and send an e-mail to your list to send it to customers. These are then 2 different collections of archives and two separate activities due to the fact that article and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a true e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and enables them to be the exact same point. Certainly, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly shed the growth tools that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally features a various set of demands than a regular email list.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You don’t usually need autoresponder series, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one smooth posting experience and growth devices to help you build your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the fact that I picked to select BeeHiiv, that does not imply I assume Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that initially obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually developed by the same individuals that built the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I want here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise means that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brand names and huge publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo makers. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer character distinction between the two firms.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly draw. The only factor I would consider shaking points up is if I assumed I might GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I really don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of customer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more direct competitors.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by individuals who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom-made areas on customers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. Actually, it is a visual 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 quite minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as changing custom fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations just because I began using the platform. For instance:
- Capability to cause automations based upon which details embed type they can be found in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever 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 marketing professional.
When it involves composing your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared towards newsletters. In fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I locate it to be more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing user interface behaves and clean, yet it would be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than simply form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards placed anything you want in it. After that, you can put Visibility alternatives on that section to reveal it just to paid clients, conceal it from email, hide from customers, reveal just to subscribers, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium registration version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. In fact, you literally link approximately your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the number of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit even more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem unpopular, however what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in all.
Overall, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was extra developed toward actual email marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page makes seem better developed 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 instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself towards “creators” more than email marketers and newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some points tailored a lot more towards people that just assume in terms of content creation.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are dealt with rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … amazing for individuals that could need it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. For example, it has a conversation function to host talks with subscribers. It likewise has a “Notes” function which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is also extra … minimalist. You either care for that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear right here …
When it concerns real marketing, I don’t believe there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I tried to find even more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically through to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the exact same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more highly satisfying individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is popular currently. But, below’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly also say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a standard function of e-mail checklists that enables segmentation in a far more flexible method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing How To Migrate From Substack To Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to sell points using their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always choose a much more straight alternative anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and therefore has way more integration options. Tons of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also busy taking on 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 e-newsletter with benefits, yet you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are actually incredible features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface for what this suggests for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … How To Migrate From Substack To Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also implies that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed nearly regular release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but big features that are quite essential. Their speed of growth now has actually been impressive.
I likewise very much value exactly how responsive they are. Actually, one of their item announcements concerning some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact had a tiny problem with the web content size. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was fixed.
Few days later on, I provided another idea …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed form used was added to the system.
That kind of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I really value.
An additional significant factor of distinction right here is the cost. Both systems offer complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers a lot more ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more beneficial. ConvertKit appears more affordable at first look since their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limits are FAR reduced and your rate promptly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly 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, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different organization when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately increase costs? They could as time goes on. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you most definitely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to progress rather swiftly and make brand-new item announcements rather frequently, but there are some basic features I really wish they had that I need to simply wait for.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription types where I might pick an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be AWESOME for numerous factors. Currently, membership forms look OK, yet there’s really little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would behave to have identifying at the subscriber degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I believe webhooks must be part of automations to make integrated automations less complicated and reduce dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface changes that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit articles (for example, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as common on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the website (such as more flexible color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t perfect and definitely not nearly as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation platform. I think you never recognize, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I chose to switch my very own e-newsletters over to the platform regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own system.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing model particularly, I saw sufficient worth in their system to warrant the adjustment.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I intentionally have points set up to make sure that I also keep my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is just an excellent insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will certainly be).
So, the question is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack right now, I ‘d most definitely consider switching to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting different abilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button needs to be rather uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge e-mail list and are consequently being wooled with their high monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a pretty good possibility you’re not also making use of several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could conveniently be a far better and extra affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful concerning growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is created to be, it is just one of the most effective games in town now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be quite feature rich.