I have made use of a great deal of different e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a big supporter of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. For that reason (and the awesome features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Community Round.
So, it is certainly an odd move for me to choose to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized 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 switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to deal with the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly also such as to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Technique, I talked about exactly how and why I decided to turn my motor home blog right into mainly an e-newsletter. I decided that was the business model I wanted to go after with that said home.
But, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Happily motor home, however FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed in that concern of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices developed into it certain to my function. Points such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two separate actions.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promo in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The system was literally developed by the individuals who developed the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly 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. Actually, I just went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own property to ensure that I can grow it more purposefully too.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to transition. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will undoubtedly always be very closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter system and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can host your e-mail checklist everywhere you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing implies that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail clients all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that internet site. Yet, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much simpler.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely individually from your internet site. So, for example, you could publish a write-up to WordPress however after that you would need to independently construct and send out an email to your checklist to send it to customers. These are then two different sets of archives and 2 separate actions due to the fact that post and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally comes with a various set of demands than a typical email list.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You do not normally need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless posting experience and growth devices to assist you build your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that does not imply I think Substack sucks. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that originally obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to newsletter publishers. In fact, it is actually developed by the very same people who constructed the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “maker”. Development is what I’m interested in here.
- That branding and differentiation also suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather large brands and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo makers. Once more, it just tells me the client character difference between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only reason I would contemplate shaking things up is if I assumed I could GROW the checklist faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that goal.
Because of the targeting, I in fact don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv offers custom-made fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly limited in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to new actions, such as changing custom-made areas, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started using the system. As an example:
- Capacity to set off automations based on which specific embed form they can be found in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this since the target market of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it concerns writing your e-newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I discover it to be a lot more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, but it would certainly be more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is greater than just form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Visibility alternatives on that particular area to show it only to paid subscribers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, reveal only to subscribers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium membership version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. In fact, you literally attach as much as your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your revenue. Depending upon how many subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards genuine e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs appear better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack positions itself toward “makers” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared more toward individuals who simply think in terms of content production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are dealt with rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … cool for people who may require it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media which sustains long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is also more … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works quite well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I looked for even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly satisfying people who do it for company. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is an actually nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown below. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is simply a basic feature of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain labeling eventually soon, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Community Round.
ConvertKit does now give the capability to sell points using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly choose a much more direct choice anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and therefore has way more integration choices. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this more closely places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to publish to your website and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic dealing with the development devices of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with perks, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly remarkable features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall wherefore this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Community Round
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it likewise means that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced virtually regular launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but big features that are rather essential. Their rate of development now has actually been impressive.
I likewise very much appreciate how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item announcements regarding some style improvements to the website design features in fact consisted of a small trouble with the content width. I just responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was dealt with.
Few days later on, I gave them another suggestion …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based on the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I really value.
One more significant point of differentiation below is the cost. Both systems offer free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more capability and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more desirable. ConvertKit appears cheaper initially look because their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the client limitations are FAR lower and your rate rapidly enhances as your listing expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same size checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your checklist up to 100,000. A checklist of that size would 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, also. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely different league when it involves pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of things you certainly require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to develop rather rapidly and make new product announcements rather typically, however there are some standard features I really desire they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration kinds where I might pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be incredible for many reasons. Currently, subscription forms look OK, but there’s really little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would behave to have marking at the client degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and decrease dependence on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For instance:
- Ability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit messages (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more personalization choices for the website (such as even more versatile shade choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t excellent and certainly not almost as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I said, the function is different so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation system. I guess you never ever recognize, however.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv rather a great deal. Enough where I made a decision to switch my own newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing model particularly, I saw enough value in their system to require the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, but I intentionally have things set up to ensure that I also maintain my listing “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply an excellent insurance coverage, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the button should be rather straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly stay put unless you have a huge e-mail checklist and are as a result being fleeced with their high monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are repeating quickly. There’s also a pretty good possibility you’re not also using some of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a better and a lot more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely willful regarding growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is developed to be, it is among the best video games in town today. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the complimentary account to be quite feature abundant.