I have used a lot of various email list systems for many years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a significant proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. Therefore (and the awesome features), I have been using Beehiiv Vs Mailchimp.
So, it is certainly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. Nevertheless, it is an organized application and I am paying 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 newsletters. I want to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly likewise like to attend to why I chose to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Change In Technique, I discussed just how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog site right into mostly a newsletter. I chose that was the business version I intended to seek with that said residential or commercial property.
But, to purposefully pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail listing for Gladly RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I stated in that issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built into it certain to my objective. Things such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different activities.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in capability to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are essentially one-click subscription web links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features focused on growth. The system was literally developed by the people that accumulated the innovation for Early morning Brew. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I might indeed 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. Actually, I just went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own building to make sure that I can expand it more purposefully too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly recreational vehicle was young, so very easy to change. However, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden 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 undoubtedly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Listing
There’s a difference between an e-newsletter system and just an e-mail list.
You can hold your email list anywhere you want and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing suggests that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your e-mail clients simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have an internet site. You are releasing to that web site. Yet, you are additionally sending to all customers at the same time. The internet site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With a lot of email platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is built entirely separately from your site. So, for example, you could publish a write-up to WordPress but then you would need to independently construct and send out an e-mail to your list to send it to subscribers. These are after that two different collections of archives and two different activities due to the fact that article and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it pretty much “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and allows them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I intended to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the development tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally includes a various set of demands than a normal e-mail checklist.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You do not normally require autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one smooth publishing experience and development tools to aid you construct your client base that are specific to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my clients that I was mosting likely to change the e-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 chose to go with BeeHiiv, that doesn’t indicate I assume Substack sucks. Actually, since Substack has been about longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically tailored to e-newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is literally constructed by the exact same people that developed the modern technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, does not matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and distinction also means that BeeHiiv has some fairly large brands and big magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo designers. Once again, it simply informs me the consumer avatar difference in between both business.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not precisely suck. The only reason I would certainly contemplate shaking things up is if I assumed I can expand the checklist much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke exactly to that objective.
Because of the targeting, I really don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
But, allow’s dive deeper than just the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by individuals that comprehending email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra tailored towards developers.
As an example, BeeHiiv provides personalized areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still fairly minimal in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send out an email. However, enhancements are coming. Soon enough, automations will have brand-new triggers along with new activities, such as changing custom fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply because I began utilizing the system. For instance:
- Ability to trigger automations based upon which particular embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and handle individuals based on opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target market of Substack just wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it concerns composing your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared toward e-newsletters. Actually, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I find it to be more user-friendly, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, yet it would be more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than simply type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and afterwards placed anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Presence alternatives on that section to reveal it only to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal just to clients, and so on. Substack uses nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium membership design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of profits. As a matter of fact, you essentially connect as much as your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on how many customers you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This might seem nerdy, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in all.
In general, I simply seemed like BeeHiiv was much more constructed toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was developed by individuals that “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page develops seem far better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack placements itself toward “makers” greater than email marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points tailored more towards individuals who just assume in regards to material development.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain multiple publications, they are treated quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … amazing for individuals who may require it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. For instance, it has a conversation function to host talks with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. Generally, Substack is set up to be extra like a social network which sustains long-form material.
In general, Substack is also a lot more … minimalist. You either look after that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it involves real marketing, I do not believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better fit. I tried to find more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however truthfully … I have a hard time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are typically with to be the closest competitors, I in fact see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have comparable capacities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at developers (like Substack), however it is a lot more strongly satisfying people that do it for organization. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly nice system.
I’m not mosting likely to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature break down right here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it involves it’s automations. I will additionally say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more instinctive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports identifying. This is just a fundamental function of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in a much more flexible means than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling eventually soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing out on Beehiiv Vs Mailchimp.
ConvertKit does currently give the capability to sell things 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, nevertheless, I would constantly select a more direct option anyway. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and because of that has way much more integration options. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated web content along with auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this more closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competition by having you be able to publish to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually remarkable features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you understand ConvertKit acquired Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most popular viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall wherefore this means for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Vs Mailchimp
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it also indicates that they are swiftly establishing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed practically regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … however large features that are rather crucial. Their speed of advancement now has gone over.
I additionally significantly value exactly how receptive they are. Actually, among their item news regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features in fact included a little problem with the web content width. I merely replied to that e-mail to tell them. I rapidly got a reply straight from the CEO:.
That same day, the concern was fixed.
Few days later on, I gave them one more suggestion …
Indeed, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based on the embed type used was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight participation of the group is something I truly value.
An additional significant point of distinction here is the cost. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers more capability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise even more favorable. ConvertKit appears less expensive initially glimpse since their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, however the customer restrictions are FAR reduced and your cost quickly boosts as your list expands.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That exact same dimension listing 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 directly make use of), you can grow your checklist as much as 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 each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay each year.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it pertains to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point increase costs? They may as time goes on. Yet, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do seem to progress rather rapidly and make new product statements rather commonly, yet there are some fundamental features I truly want they had that I need to just await.
One is that they need to have a setting on membership types where I can select an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be outstanding for numerous factors. Already, membership types look OK, however there’s very little settings for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber level. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks ought to be part of automations to make built-in automations less complicated and minimize reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are also some minor administrative interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit blog posts (for example, to tag a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more modification choices for the internet site (such as even more adaptable shade selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t best and absolutely not almost as established as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It most likely never ever will be, either. As I said, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation platform. I think you never know, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Evaluation
I such as BeeHiiv quite a lot. Sufficient where I determined to change my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing model specifically, I saw sufficient value in their platform to require the modification.
Bear in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my special email listing. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is good at, but I purposefully have things set up to ensure that I likewise maintain my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the same. It is just a good insurance policy, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d absolutely think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be a lot more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the button ought to be pretty simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large email listing and are as a result being wooled with their high monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, however they are iterating swiftly. There’s likewise a pretty good opportunity you’re not even utilizing a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could easily be a far better and extra budget friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very willful about expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is just one of the best games in the area today. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves taking a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be fairly feature abundant.