I have actually used a lot of different email list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a huge advocate of digital sovereignty and owning your own system. Therefore (and the remarkable features), I have actually been utilizing Beehiiv Payment Methods.
So, it is certainly an odd move for me to make a decision to make use of BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a hosted 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 e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the concern of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d also such as to attend to why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Large Shift In Method, I talked about how and why I determined to turn my motor home blog site right into mainly an e-newsletter. I made a decision that was the business design I intended to seek with that said residential or commercial property.
But, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was utilizing FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I claimed in that issue of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed right into it details to my objective. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog) and send out the email all at once without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated 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 newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are generally one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various other 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 newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I choose to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was literally developed by the individuals who developed the modern technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the function of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I may certainly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own home to make sure that I can expand it much more purposefully also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so easy to shift. But, The Morning WP (formerly The Edge) was buried in a sea of things below at the Blog Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously always be carefully linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, however does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your email checklist everywhere you want and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The main difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting means that it is mosting likely to your site and to your e-mail clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The web site and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes administration of the system much easier.
With a lot of e-mail systems, any kind of newsletter you set up is done as an email campaign. It is constructed totally individually from your web site. So, as an example, you may release a write-up to WordPress however then you would need to individually construct and send an email to your list to send it to customers. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and two separate activities because article and your e-mails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that turns WordPress right into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the very same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wanted to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the growth devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally includes a different set of requirements than a regular e-mail listing.
You do not typically require much marketing automation. You do not normally require autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to aid you build your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my customers that I was going to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many individuals ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the reality that I picked to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that initially got my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually developed by the same people that constructed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the even more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and big publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer character distinction in between both firms.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only factor I would certainly consider shaking things up is if I thought I can GROW the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
But, let’s dive much deeper than just the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv seems like it was built by people that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more tailored toward developers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies personalized areas on customers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite minimal in triggers and the only activity is the capability to send out an email. However, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as changing personalized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen enhancements to their automations just considering that I began making use of the system. For instance:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which specific embed kind they was available in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can not do this because the target market of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it involves writing your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more tailored towards newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I find it to be a lot more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and tidy, but it would be a lot more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Exposure options on that particular section to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack provides nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. As a matter of fact, you actually connect as much as your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Relying on the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the regular monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear unpopular, but what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors making use of devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
In general, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was a lot more built towards genuine email marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page designs seem much better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “designers” greater than e-mail marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. Therefore, you see some things geared much more towards individuals that simply assume in terms of material development.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support numerous magazines, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, but … trendy for individuals who may require it.
Substack also has even more social performance built-in. As an example, it has a conversation feature to host chats with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from various other “Stacks” you read. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is set up to be more like a social media network which sustains long-form material.
Generally, Substack is also a lot more … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but frankly … I have a hard time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the same target market and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at designers (like Substack), but it is a lot more strongly accommodating people who do it for organization. ConvertKit has good aesthetic automation structure, it’s very own business system, and much more. ConvertKit is a really nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit extra instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains marking. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail lists that enables division in a far more versatile method than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some time quickly, truthfully. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Payment Methods.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to sell points via their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would always choose a much more straight option anyhow. For me, I prefer to use 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 alternatives. Lots of web-based tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. For instance, their plugin currently even sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. In essence, this a lot more closely places ConvertKit right into direct competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with benefits, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the interior advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are truly outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this implies for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Payment Methods
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that implies much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise suggests that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed almost once a week release of brand-new features into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … however large features that are rather vital. Their rate of advancement at this point has gone over.
I likewise significantly value how responsive they are. In fact, one of their product news about some style enhancements to the web design features in fact consisted of a little trouble with the web content width. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I quickly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That same day, the problem was dealt with.
Few days later, I provided one more tip …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed type used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I truly appreciate.
An additional significant factor of differentiation here is the rate. Both systems provide totally free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capacity and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more desirable. ConvertKit seems more affordable in the beginning glance since their pricing web page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limits are FAR reduced and your rate swiftly enhances as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay yearly, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally various league when it involves pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance prices? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m thinking people like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how things proceed.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the important things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to develop instead swiftly and make new item statements somewhat usually, yet there are some fundamental features I actually desire they had that I need to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on subscription kinds where I might select an automation to run right at the type degree. That would be incredible for a lot of reasons. Already, membership kinds look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would be nice to have labeling at the customer degree. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks need to belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and decrease dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some minor administrative user interface modifications that would be handy. For instance:
- Capability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to bulk edit messages (for instance, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization options for the web site (such as even more adaptable shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and certainly not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I stated, the purpose is different so it would not much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever recognize, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I like BeeHiiv quite a lot. Enough where I determined to change my very own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing model especially, I saw adequate worth in their platform to require the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I purposefully have things establish to make sure that I additionally keep my list “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just an excellent insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the question is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly take into consideration switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be much more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various requirements. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button should be rather uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d probably stay put unless you have a huge e-mail checklist and are as a result being wooled with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not even utilizing several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even need them. For that reason, BeeHiiv could quickly be a better and extra inexpensive fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing an e-newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about 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 best games in town today. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be rather feature abundant.