I have used a lot of various email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge supporter of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Discount Code.
So, it is undoubtedly a strange move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I want to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly also such as to deal with why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Shift In Method, I discussed exactly how and why I decided to transform my motor home blog site into mainly a newsletter. I chose that was business model I wished to seek with that building.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email checklist for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a bit.
As I said in that concern of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed right into it specific to my function. Points such as:
- Ability to publish (to the blog) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party tool like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at development. The system was literally developed by the people who developed the technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I just went all out. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own property so that I can expand it a lot more intentionally also.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of things here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s very own. It will clearly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and simply an email checklist.
You can host your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The primary distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is going to your internet site and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are publishing to that site. However, you are likewise dispatching to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much simpler.
With many email systems, any type of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely separately from your website. So, for example, you may publish an article to WordPress but after that you would need to individually build and send an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are after that 2 different sets of archives and 2 different actions since post and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a real e-newsletter system is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name since it basically “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and enables them to be the same point. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid choice if I wished to remain to self-host every little thing. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the development devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a different collection of requirements than a normal e-mail list.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You don’t generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to assist you build your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was going to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I assume Substack sucks. Actually, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that initially got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially constructed by the exact same individuals that constructed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “designer”. Development is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and differentiation additionally means that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brands and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo designers. Again, it just tells me the customer avatar difference between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically draw. The only reason I would certainly ponder trembling points up is if I assumed I might GROW the list faster. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than simply the placing right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv looks like it was developed by people that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared toward developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv uses custom areas on clients. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers along with new activities, such as modifying custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply since I began using the system. As an example:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which particular embed form they came in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this since the target market of Substack simply would not think to approach this like an email marketer.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the creating user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored towards e-newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it works. I discover it to be a lot more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and tidy, yet it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Exposure options on that particular section to show it only to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, hide from clients, reveal only to customers, etc. Substack uses nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a premium subscription design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of profits. In fact, you actually connect approximately your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the month-to-month expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations at all.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more developed towards genuine email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs appear better constructed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack placements itself towards “makers” greater than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared more toward people that just think in regards to content development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple magazines, they are dealt with quite independently. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, yet … trendy for people who could require it.
Substack also has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation feature to host talks with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. On the whole, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media which supports long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I looked for even more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet truthfully … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is also placed at makers (like Substack), however it is far more highly accommodating people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has great aesthetic automation building, it’s own commerce platform, and more. ConvertKit is an actually good system.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature failure here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will also claim that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a fundamental function of e-mail checklists that allows segmentation in a much more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain marking eventually quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Discount Code.
ConvertKit does now give the capability to market things through their very 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 select a much more direct option anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. As an example, their plugin currently even supports member-gated web content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active 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 newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained 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 suggests for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Discount Code
BeeHiiv is a lot previously 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. However, it additionally implies that they are quickly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed practically weekly release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are fairly crucial. Their rate of advancement at this moment has been impressive.
I additionally quite value exactly how responsive they are. In fact, among their product statements regarding some design enhancements to the web design features in fact had a tiny problem with the material width. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the problem was dealt with.
Few days later, I provided another pointer …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based upon the embed kind utilized was added to the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I really value.
One more major factor of distinction here is the price. Both platforms supply free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more positive. ConvertKit appears less costly at first glance due to the fact that their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the client restrictions are FAR lower and your rate swiftly raises as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension checklist is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly make use of), you can expand your listing up to 100,000. A checklist 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, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various organization when it concerns pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance rates? They could as time takes place. But, I’m thinking people like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to evolve rather promptly and make brand-new product news somewhat often, yet there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration forms where I could pick an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be incredible for numerous reasons. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to assist in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks should belong to automations to make built-in automations simpler and reduce reliance on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small management interface modifications that would be handy. For example:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for instance, to tag a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the site (such as even more adaptable color choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and definitely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never will be, either. As I claimed, the function is different so it would not much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I presume you never recognize, however.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I decided to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing version especially, I saw enough value in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Remember, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive email list. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, however I intentionally have points establish so that I also keep my listing “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and different needs. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch needs to be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay unless you have a huge e-mail list and are as a result being wooled with their high monthly costs. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating quickly. There’s also a pretty good chance you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a better and much more economical fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely intentional concerning expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is among the very best video games around today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out on your own. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be rather feature rich.