I have made use of a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your very own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have actually been making use of Beehiiv Terms of Use.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to decide 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 review why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I wish to deal with the issue of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I would certainly additionally such as to address why I picked to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Change In Approach, I talked about how and why I made a decision to turn my recreational vehicle blog into mainly an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business version I wanted to go after with that home.
But, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I said because concern of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it certain to my objective. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (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 device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Links”, which are primarily one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The platform was literally developed by the people that built up the innovation for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I ended off with this:.
I might certainly be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I just went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to make sure that I can expand it more purposefully too.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily motor home was young, so very easy to transition. But, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can organize your email checklist just about anywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing means that it is going to your site and to your e-mail clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that internet site. Yet, you are also dispatching to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much less complex.
With many email platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed completely separately from your internet site. So, for instance, you might publish a post to WordPress however after that you would certainly need to individually construct and send an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then two different sets of archives and two different actions due to the fact that blog posts and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest thing that turns WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it practically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the same point. Certainly, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong choice if I wanted to remain to self-host everything. However, you would certainly lose the growth devices that feature a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter inherently features a different collection of demands than a normal email checklist.
You do not normally need much marketing automation. You don’t normally require autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, however, is one smooth posting experience and development devices to help you develop your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I introduced to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over the e-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 chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack draws. Actually, since Substack has actually been around longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple points that at first obtained my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the very same individuals who built the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. Yet, the evident positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I have an interest in here.
- That branding and distinction additionally means that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and big publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo developers. Again, it simply tells me the customer avatar distinction between the two business.
Sending our my e-newsletter using FluentCRM really did not specifically suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder shaking points up is if I thought I could expand the list quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
As a result of the targeting, I really don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight rivals. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra direct competitors.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning below.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv appears like it was constructed by people who recognizing email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears much more geared towards developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides customized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. However, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to new actions, such as modifying personalized areas, sending out webhooks, and so on. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just given that I started making use of the platform. As an example:
- Capacity to trigger automations based upon which certain embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with people based upon opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do standard conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an email marketing professional.
When it comes to writing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is just more tailored toward newsletters. In fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in just how it functions. I find it to be extra instinctive, directly.
Substack’s creating interface is nice and clean, yet it would certainly be a lot more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Area” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Presence choices on that area to show it only to paid clients, hide it from email, conceal from customers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack supplies nothing similar to this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs registration version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any profits. Actually, you actually attach as much as your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending upon how many clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit more money than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear nerdy, but what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more developed towards real email marketing. It was constructed by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops appear much better built for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have claimed, Substack placements itself toward “creators” more than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some things geared extra towards people who just think in terms of content production.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several magazines, they are treated rather separately. Whereas Substack does have the ability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, yet … great for individuals that could need it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation function to host chats with customers. It also has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. In general, Substack is set up to be a lot more like a social media network which supports long-form content.
Generally, Substack is also more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, frankly, features … Substack works quite well.
However, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to real marketing, I don’t assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, however honestly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the very same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is far more highly satisfying people who do it for company. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and more. ConvertKit is an actually wonderful platform.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular already. But, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally claim that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports tagging. This is simply a basic feature of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in a far more flexible way than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging at some point quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Terms of Use.
ConvertKit does currently supply the ability to sell points by means of their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly always choose a more direct alternative anyway. For me, I choose to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and because of that has way more integration alternatives. Lots of online tools and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin now even sustains member-gated material in addition to auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Essentially, this much more closely places ConvertKit into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your email list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is seriously doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the development devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with advantages, but you can additionally pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall for what this suggests for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Terms of Use
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it additionally implies that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed nearly regular launch of brand-new features right into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but big features that are fairly vital. Their speed of advancement at this point has actually been impressive.
I additionally quite appreciate how receptive they are. In fact, among their product statements about some style improvements to the website design features really consisted of a little trouble with the web content size. I simply responded to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the issue was dealt with.
Few days later, I provided an additional pointer …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to activate automations based upon the embed form made use of was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I really value.
An additional major point of differentiation right here is the cost. Both platforms supply free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan supplies much more capacity and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more favorable. ConvertKit appears more affordable initially look due to the fact that their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, however the customer limits are FAR lower and your rate quickly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid yearly), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension list 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 expand your list approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that puts you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various league when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately increase prices? They may as time goes on. However, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see just how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
Among the important things you most definitely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to progress instead swiftly and make brand-new product announcements somewhat often, but 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 subscription types where I might pick an automation to run right at the type level. That would certainly be outstanding for a lot of factors. Currently, registration forms look OK, however there’s extremely little setups for them to assist in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have identifying at the client degree. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks ought to belong to automations to make built-in automations less complicated and reduce dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor management interface adjustments that would certainly be handy. As an example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit articles (as an example, to label a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of standard fields as basic on clients (like the name).
- Some even more modification options for the internet site (such as more versatile shade choices, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they perform with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t ideal and definitely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM item.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it would not a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation system. I think you never know, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a whole lot. Sufficient where I determined to change my very own e-newsletters over to the system despite my individual choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting version specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their system to require the change.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email listing. I use BeeHiiv for what it is good at, however I intentionally have points establish so that I likewise keep my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is simply an excellent insurance policy, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your checklist will certainly be of high use (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 point of view, if you are utilizing Substack right now, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will just be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch must be quite straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d possibly stay unless you have a large e-mail list and are as a result being wooled with their high monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating quickly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not even utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might quickly be a far better and extra economical fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be really willful concerning growing an e-newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is created to be, it is among the best games in the area now. This is the platform to see.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at on your own. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be quite feature rich.