I have utilized a great deal of various email list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Therefore (and the outstanding features), I have been utilizing Beehiiv Network.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly also like to deal with why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Huge Change In Approach, I talked about how and why I made a decision to transform my recreational vehicle blog into largely an e-newsletter. I decided that was the business design I intended to seek with that said home.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I claimed because problem of the e-newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools constructed into it certain to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog site) and send out the email at the same time without having it be 2 different activities.
- Constructed in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are means to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I select to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The platform was essentially built by the people that accumulated the technology for Morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to ensure that I can grow it more deliberately as well.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to change. 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 clearly always be closely linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was developed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Typical Email List
There’s a difference between a newsletter platform and simply an email checklist.
You can host your email listing everywhere you want and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted choices like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your internet site and to your email subscribers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that web site. But, you are likewise dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With most e-mail platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is developed entirely separately from your web site. So, as an example, you could release a write-up to WordPress however after that you would certainly need to separately build and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to customers. These are after that 2 different sets of archives and two different actions due to the fact that blog posts and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and enables them to be the same thing. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I wanted to remain to self-host whatever. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter inherently features a different set of requirements than a common email checklist.
You do not normally need much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, though, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to help you build your customer base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was going to switch over the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that does not imply I think Substack draws. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around much longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that initially obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is literally 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. But, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Again, it simply informs me the consumer character distinction between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter through FluentCRM really did not exactly draw. The only reason I would certainly consider shaking things up is if I believed I can GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I in fact do not view BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
But, let’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv feels like it was built by individuals that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more geared toward developers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made fields on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still rather restricted in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an email. Nonetheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as new activities, such as customizing custom-made areas, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen enhancements to their automations just since I began utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capacity to set off automations based on which particular embed form they was available in on.
- Capability to automatically do re-engagement (and handle people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketing expert.
When it comes to composing your e-newsletters, the composing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared towards e-newsletters. In fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I discover it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface behaves and tidy, but it would certainly be much more comparable to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is more than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Visibility choices on that area to reveal it only to paid clients, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, show just to clients, and so on. Substack supplies absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium membership design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of income. Actually, you essentially attach up to your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your revenue. Relying on how many subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, but what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in all.
Generally, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more developed towards real email marketing. It was developed by people that “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page develops appear far better constructed for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack settings itself towards “developers” greater than email marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some things tailored extra towards people that simply think in regards to web content production.
As an example, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are treated quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … amazing for people who might need it.
Substack likewise has even more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat feature to host talks with clients. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is likewise more … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear here …
When it concerns actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better suited. I looked for even more factors that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically via to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have similar capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at creators (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly catering to individuals who do it for service. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation building, it’s own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction right here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it comes to it’s automations. I will certainly also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in a much more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Network.
ConvertKit does currently give the ability to sell things through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly pick a more straight option anyhow. For me, I prefer to utilize my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and for that reason has way more integration alternatives. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this much more carefully places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you be able to release to your site and your email listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the development tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, yet you can additionally pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are truly awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall for what this implies for the platform going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Network
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally indicates that they are rapidly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed practically weekly launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … yet big features that are rather vital. Their rate of growth now has actually been impressive.
I additionally very much appreciate exactly how receptive they are. In fact, among their item announcements concerning some design improvements to the website design features actually consisted of a small problem with the content size. I merely responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly got a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I provided another pointer …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based on the embed type used was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I actually appreciate.
An additional significant point of differentiation here is the rate. Both platforms supply totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses more capacity and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more beneficial. ConvertKit seems less costly in the beginning glimpse because their pricing page reveals lower numbers, nevertheless the client limits are much reduced and your rate promptly increases as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same size listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your listing up to 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different league when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point increase rates? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see just how points continue.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among things you most definitely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to progress rather swiftly and make brand-new product statements somewhat often, however there are some standard features I truly wish they had that I need to just await.
One is that they need to have a setup on registration types where I can pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would be remarkable for so many factors. Already, membership kinds look OK, however there’s very little setups for them to help in division.
It would be nice to have marking at the client degree. This would certainly be powerful.
I assume webhooks must become part of automations to make built-in automations easier and reduce dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management user interface changes that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove clients.
- Capability to bulk edit messages (as an example, to mark a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard fields as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some even more personalization options for the internet site (such as more flexible shade selections, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I hope they perform with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t ideal and absolutely not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever know, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv rather a whole lot. Sufficient where I determined to change my own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my very own platform.
Put simply, for the e-newsletter posting version especially, I saw enough value in their system to call for the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is efficient, yet I deliberately have things set up so that I additionally maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is simply a good insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack today, I ‘d certainly take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will just be more business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch needs to be rather simple.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a big e-mail list and are for that reason being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating rapidly. There’s also a respectable chance you’re not even utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not even need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv might easily be a better and much more budget friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be extremely intentional regarding expanding a newsletter, I believe 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 concerning what it is made to be, it is just one of the most effective games around right now. This is the platform to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the cost-free account to be fairly feature abundant.