I have actually made use of a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a big proponent of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Because of that (and the outstanding features), I have actually been utilizing Lindy Newsletter Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to decide to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I wish to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to address the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I ‘d also such as to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Shift In Strategy, I talked about just how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog site right into largely an e-newsletter. I chose that was business version I wanted to pursue keeping that residential or commercial property.
Yet, to intentionally pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the email listing for Gladly recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed in that concern of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it specific to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail all at once without having it be two different activities.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click registration links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity 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 newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was literally developed by the individuals that developed the technology for Morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own residential property to ensure that I can grow it more deliberately too.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to change. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will undoubtedly always be closely connected with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not have to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your e-mail checklist anyplace 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 difference?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is mosting likely to your website and to your email subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are also sending to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With most e-mail systems, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely independently from your site. So, for instance, you could release a post to WordPress but after that you would need to separately construct and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to customers. These are then two separate collections of archives and 2 separate activities since article and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the exact same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I intended to continue to self-host whatever. However, you would certainly lose the development tools that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally includes a various set of demands than a normal e-mail checklist.
You don’t usually need much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to aid you build your customer base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I assume Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is essentially built by the exact same individuals who built the innovation behind Morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction also means that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo developers. Once again, it simply informs me the client character difference in between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only reason I would certainly contemplate shaking things up is if I believed I could expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked exactly to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact do not check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv feels like it was constructed by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems more tailored towards designers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides custom areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers as well as brand-new activities, such as customizing custom fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations just given that I started making use of the system. As an example:
- Ability to trigger automations based upon which details embed type they was available in on.
- Capacity to immediately do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to creating your newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just much more tailored towards newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I locate it to be more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface behaves and tidy, but it would be more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than just type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and after that put anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility alternatives on that section to show it just to paid customers, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, reveal just to customers, etc. Substack supplies nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of income. In fact, you actually link as much as your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon the amount of subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Overall, I just felt like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards actual email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page makes appear better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself toward “designers” more than e-mail online marketers and newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some points tailored a lot more towards individuals that just assume in terms of content development.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple publications, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … amazing for individuals that may require it.
Substack also has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is established to be extra like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
On the whole, Substack is also much more … minimalist. You either take care of that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works rather well.
But, 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 much better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly catering to people who do it for company. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business platform, and more. ConvertKit is a really good platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, below’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a fundamental function of e-mail lists that enables segmentation in an even more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain labeling at some point soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Lindy Newsletter Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently supply the capability to market things through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly pick a more straight option anyway. For me, I choose to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and therefore has way a lot more integration alternatives. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Fundamentally, this a lot more carefully puts ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically doing not have in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll arrive. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy tackling the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with benefits, however you can likewise pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really incredible features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of 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 implies for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Lindy Newsletter Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also means that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed practically weekly release of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t undersized little features … but big features that are rather important. Their rate of advancement now has actually been impressive.
I also significantly appreciate how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product announcements regarding some design enhancements to the website design features really had a small trouble with the material width. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply straight from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was repaired.
Couple of days later, I gave them an additional pointer …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to activate automations based on the embed kind used was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I truly value.
One more significant factor of differentiation right here is the price. Both systems provide cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses much more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more favorable. ConvertKit seems cheaper initially glimpse since their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nonetheless the client restrictions are FAR reduced and your rate swiftly boosts as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same size list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your listing up to 100,000. A checklist 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 every year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different organization when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance prices? They could as time goes on. But, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the important things you definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to evolve instead promptly and make new item news somewhat typically, yet there are some fundamental features I actually wish they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on subscription forms where I might pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would be AWESOME for numerous factors. Currently, registration types look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks must become part of automations to make integrated automations much easier and decrease reliance on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management interface modifications that would be handy. For example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit posts (as an example, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental fields as standard on clients (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the internet site (such as even more adaptable color options, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I wish they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t best and definitely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation platform. I think you never understand, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I decided to switch my own newsletters over to the platform in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Simply put, for the newsletter publishing version specifically, I saw enough value in their platform to call for the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is proficient at, however I deliberately have things establish to ensure that I additionally keep my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is simply a great insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button must be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a big email listing and are therefore being wooled with their high month-to-month expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating promptly. There’s likewise a respectable possibility you’re not even using a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might quickly be a much better and much more affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really deliberate regarding growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is among the most effective games in town now. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the complimentary account to be quite feature rich.