I have actually utilized a lot of various email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own platform. Therefore (and the amazing features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv For Fitness.
So, it is certainly a strange move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d likewise like to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Technique, I discussed exactly how and why I determined to turn my recreational vehicle blog site into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was business version I intended to go after with that said property.
Yet, to intentionally pursue it as a newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail checklist for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I said in that problem of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed into it specific to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send the email concurrently without having it be 2 different actions.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was essentially developed by the individuals that accumulated the modern technology for Early 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 an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own property to ensure that I can expand it more intentionally as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so simple to change. Yet, The Morning WP (formerly The Side) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was constructed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter system and just an email listing.
You can host your e-mail listing anyplace you want 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 distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is mosting likely to your website and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are publishing to that website. However, you are likewise dispatching to all clients at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much easier.
With most email systems, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally independently from your website. So, for example, you could publish a short article to WordPress however then you would require to individually construct and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are then 2 different sets of archives and two separate actions due to the fact that article and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a true e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong alternative if I intended to continue to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the development tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently comes with a various collection of needs than a normal email checklist.
You don’t typically need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder sequences, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development devices to help you construct your client base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was going to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple points that initially got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter authors. Actually, it is literally constructed by the exact same individuals who built the modern technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. But, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I have an interest in below.
- That branding and distinction additionally suggests that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brands and large publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo creators. Once again, it just tells me the consumer avatar distinction between both business.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only factor I would certainly consider trembling points up is if I thought I can expand the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
Yet, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more tailored towards developers.
For example, BeeHiiv uses custom fields on clients. Currently, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic 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 rather minimal in triggers and the only action is the capability to send an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as changing custom fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations simply because I started utilizing the platform. As an example:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which details embed form they came in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based on opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this since the target market of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketer.
When it pertains to composing your newsletters, the creating interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more tailored toward newsletters. In fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I locate it to be much more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and clean, yet it would be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply form. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you want in it. Then, you can put Exposure choices on that area to show it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show only to customers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing like this.
And when/if the time comes that I begin a costs subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any earnings. As a matter of fact, you literally connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear nerdy, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was extra constructed towards real email marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page makes seem much better developed for conversions. Development is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I wish 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 settings itself toward “makers” greater than e-mail online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared more toward individuals who just believe in terms of web content development.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are treated fairly individually. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to several magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … trendy for people who could require it.
Substack additionally has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Generally, Substack is established to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form web content.
In general, Substack is also a lot more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I do not. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack functions rather well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a tough time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the same target market and have comparable abilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly dealing with individuals who do it for company. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce platform, and extra. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra flexibility when it concerns it’s automations. I will also state that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is simply a basic function of e-mail lists that makes it possible for segmentation in a much more versatile way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to sustain identifying at some time soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv For Fitness.
ConvertKit does currently provide the ability to sell points via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would certainly always pick a much more straight option anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and for that reason has way more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated web content in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this extra closely puts ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these type of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. However, 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 Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with perks, but you can likewise pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are actually amazing features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most popular viral promotion systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall for what this means for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv For Fitness
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it likewise means that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have seen nearly once a week launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … yet huge features that are rather crucial. Their speed of growth at this point has actually been impressive.
I additionally very much value how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, one of their item statements concerning some style enhancements to the website design features actually consisted of a little problem with the web content width. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them one more suggestion …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to cause automations based upon the embed type utilized was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I truly value.
An additional major factor of distinction here is the rate. Both systems provide totally free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more desirable. ConvertKit seems cheaper in the beginning look due to the fact that their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, however the customer limitations are much lower and your rate promptly increases as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That exact same size checklist is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly utilize), you can grow your listing approximately 100,000. A list of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually raise prices? They may as time takes place. But, I’m thinking individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to evolve instead rapidly and make brand-new item announcements somewhat commonly, yet there are some standard features I actually desire they had that I require to simply wait for.
One is that they need to have a setup on membership types where I might pick an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be outstanding for so many reasons. Already, registration forms look OK, however there’s really little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have identifying at the customer level. This would be powerful.
I believe webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations simpler and lower dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative user interface changes that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capacity to bulk edit posts (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some even more customization choices for the internet site (such as even more versatile color selections, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I hope they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, yet it isn’t best and certainly not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM product.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it would not a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never ever recognize, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I made a decision to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform regardless of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Basically, for the newsletter posting design especially, I saw enough worth in their system to call for the adjustment.
Bear in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique email checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is good at, but I purposefully have things set up so that I likewise 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 plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d definitely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be rather straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably sit tight unless you have a large email listing and are therefore being fleeced with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating rapidly. There’s additionally a respectable opportunity you’re not also using a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might easily be a better and a lot more budget-friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to take into consideration and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is among the very best games around today. This is the system to see.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be fairly feature rich.