I have made use of a lot of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a substantial supporter of digital sovereignty and having your own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Double Opt In.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to make a decision to utilize 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 want to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to attend to the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I ‘d likewise such as to address why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Technique, I spoke about just how and why I determined to turn my recreational vehicle blog right into mainly an e-newsletter. I chose that was the business design I wanted to pursue keeping that property.
Yet, to deliberately seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Happily RV, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed because issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices built right into it certain to my objective. Things such as:
- Capability to release (to the blog site) and send out the e-mail at the same time without having it be two different activities.
- Integrated in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click membership web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are ways to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I pick to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Generally, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at development. The platform was actually developed by the people that accumulated the modern technology for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor right here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv also. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s own residential property so that I can grow it a lot more deliberately too.
The objective is that each newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will clearly always be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, but does not need to be a part of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your email list 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 key distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your site and to your email subscribers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. However, you are additionally sending off to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With many email platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is built completely independently from your internet site. So, for example, you could release an article to WordPress but then you would require to individually develop and send out an e-mail to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are after that two separate sets of archives and 2 separate actions since blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it virtually “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a solid alternative if I wanted to continue to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you ‘d shed the development tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a different collection of requirements than a common e-mail checklist.
You do not typically need much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO demand, though, is one smooth posting experience and development tools to assist you construct your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I selected to go with BeeHiiv, that does not mean I think Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, because Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has more features.
Although BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that originally obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is actually developed by the very same individuals who built the modern technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. Yet, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation also means that BeeHiiv has some rather big brands and large magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo makers. Again, it just tells me the customer character difference between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t precisely suck. The only reason I would contemplate drinking points up is if I thought I might GROW the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t view BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than just the placing below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was developed by people who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored toward creators.
As an example, BeeHiiv supplies personalized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an email. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as customizing custom fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply since I started making use of the system. For example:
- Capability to cause automations based upon which details embed form they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack just can’t do this since the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored towards newsletters. In fact, it actually has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I locate it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and tidy, yet it would certainly be more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and then put anything you want in it. After that, you can place Exposure choices on that section to show it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to customers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of revenue. Actually, you actually connect up to your very own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the number of subscribers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more money than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
On the whole, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was extra built towards actual email marketing. It was built by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page makes seem much better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack positions itself toward “developers” greater than email marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored extra towards people that just think in terms of web content production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … awesome for individuals that may require it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host talks with clients. It also has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. In general, Substack is established to be much more like a social media network which sustains long-form web content.
In general, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I don’t. However, if the objective is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I do not believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I searched for more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a tough time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at developers (like Substack), however it is far more strongly catering to people who do it for business. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a really good system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is well known currently. However, here’s how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it pertains to it’s automations. I will likewise say that I discover ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is simply a standard feature of email lists that makes it possible for division in a far more adaptable method than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support marking at some point quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Double Opt In.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to offer things by means of their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly select a much more straight choice anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around much longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin now also supports member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this more carefully places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely doing not have in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, however you can also pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of the most popular viral promotion platforms for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Double Opt In
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. However, it additionally indicates that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen almost once a week launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t weak little features … yet huge features that are fairly vital. Their speed of advancement at this point has actually gone over.
I likewise very much appreciate how responsive they are. In fact, one of their product news regarding some design enhancements to the website design features really contained a tiny issue with the material size. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I quickly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later, I provided one more idea …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based on the embed type used was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct participation of the group is something I truly appreciate.
Another major point of differentiation below is the rate. Both systems offer free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan uses extra ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also FAR more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive in the beginning glance since their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, however the subscriber restrictions are much reduced and your cost quickly enhances as your checklist expands.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same size list 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 make use of), you can grow your listing up to 100,000. A list of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various league when it pertains to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost rates? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m thinking individuals like myself who are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance instead swiftly and make brand-new product news somewhat frequently, but there are some basic features I really want they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription forms where I can select an automation to run right at the form degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous reasons. Already, subscription kinds look OK, but there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would be nice to have identifying at the subscriber level. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and minimize dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some small administrative user interface adjustments that would come in handy. For example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to mass edit messages (for instance, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as standard on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the internet site (such as more adaptable color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t best and definitely not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It probably never ever will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a full marketing automation system. I presume you never recognize, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I made a decision to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting version especially, I saw enough value in their platform to call for the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is good at, yet I purposefully have things set up to ensure that I also maintain my list “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list 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 make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button needs to be quite uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a huge email checklist and are consequently being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating quickly. There’s also a respectable possibility you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might easily be a far better and a lot more cost effective fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really deliberate about expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and maintain 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 games in the area right now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out on your own. And if you wind up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll locate the free account to be rather feature rich.