I have used a great deal of different e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive proponent of digital sovereignty and having your own system. For that reason (and the remarkable features), I have actually been using Beehiiv Wiki.
So, it is undoubtedly a weird move for me to decide to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to attend to the issue of digital sovereignty while utilizing the system and I ‘d likewise like to address why I chose to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For Newsletters
In Concern # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Pastime + A Big Change In Strategy, I spoke about exactly how and why I determined to turn my motor home blog site right into primarily an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business model I wanted to pursue keeping that residential property.
However, to purposefully seek it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Happily recreational vehicle, yet FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter system. It is developed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, frankly, using it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Extra on that particular in a little bit.
As I claimed because problem of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with tools constructed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog) and send out the e-mail all at once without having it be 2 separate actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click subscription web links. Great for promo in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and basically run a costs newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The system was essentially built by the people who developed the technology for Morning Brew. They know what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is constructed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I may certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I just went for it. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential or commercial property to make sure that I can expand it much more intentionally too.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capability to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so easy to change. But, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of stuff right 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 certainly always be carefully connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, however does not need to belong of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv since it was developed for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Listing
There’s a distinction between a newsletter platform and just an e-mail checklist.
You can organize your e-mail list just about anywhere you desire 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 distinction?
The key difference is that, with a newsletter system, the act of posting suggests that it is mosting likely to your internet site and to your email customers at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that website. However, you are also sending off to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s customers are all in one. This makes management of the system much easier.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any type of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is built completely individually from your internet site. So, for instance, you may release a write-up to WordPress yet after that you would certainly need to separately develop and send an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are then two different collections of archives and 2 different activities because blog posts and your e-mails are not naturally linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name due to the fact that it pretty much “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and permits them to be the very same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wished to remain to self-host every little thing. Nonetheless, you ‘d shed the growth devices that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally comes with a different collection of demands than a normal email listing.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You don’t normally need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO need, though, is one seamless posting experience and development devices to assist you develop your subscriber base that are specific to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was going to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was choosing it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the truth that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack draws. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has been around longer, it is more mature and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that originally obtained my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is actually constructed by the very same people who developed the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real world, does not matter. However, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed more at solo makers. Once again, it simply informs me the consumer character difference between the two companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM didn’t specifically suck. The only reason I would certainly ponder drinking things up is if I assumed I could GROW the list quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of customer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight competitors.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the placing right here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was built by individuals that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more tailored towards creators.
For example, BeeHiiv uses custom fields on customers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. In fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a whole lot like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite limited in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an e-mail. However, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers as well as new actions, such as customizing custom areas, sending webhooks, and so on. I have actually currently seen improvements to their automations simply given that I started making use of the platform. For example:
- Capacity to activate automations based on which specific embed form they came in on.
- Ability to instantly do re-engagement (and deal with individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability 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 audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it comes to writing your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply a lot more tailored toward e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it really has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I locate it to be much more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, but it would certainly be more equivalent to the classic editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is more than simply form. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and afterwards put anything you desire in it. After that, you can put Presence alternatives on that section to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from e-mail, conceal from subscribers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium registration design, BeeHiiv does not take any type of earnings. Actually, you essentially link approximately your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your income. Relying on how many clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This might appear unpopular, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors making use of 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 much more developed toward actual e-mail marketing. It was built by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page creates seem far better constructed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I wish to see BeeHiiv include, I like the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack positions itself toward “creators” more than e-mail online marketers and e-newsletter owners. Therefore, you see some things geared a lot more towards people who just assume in regards to content creation.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous magazines, they are dealt with quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, but … great for people that may require it.
Substack likewise has more social performance built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host talks with clients. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. On the whole, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media network which sustains long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is likewise a lot more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. However, if the objective is simpleness of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack works quite well.
But, I’ll be clear here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I tried to find even more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a tough time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the very same target audience and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise placed at makers (like Substack), yet it is far more highly dealing with people that do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation structure, it’s own business platform, and much more. ConvertKit is a really nice platform.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure right here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it involves it’s automations. I will additionally state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a fundamental feature of e-mail listings that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support marking at some point soon, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Wiki.
ConvertKit does currently offer the capability to offer things using their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would constantly select a more straight choice anyway. For me, I like to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about much longer and because of that has way extra integration options. Tons of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is fairly powerful. As an example, their plugin currently also supports member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this a lot more very closely puts ConvertKit right into direct competitors by having you have the ability to publish to your website and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic tackling the growth tools of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Referral Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with perks, yet you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are really outstanding features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you understand ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most well known viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall of what this means for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv Wiki
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this phase of the cycle. However, it additionally implies that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed practically once a week release of new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … however large features that are quite essential. Their rate of development now has gone over.
I likewise significantly appreciate how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product news regarding some design improvements to the website design features in fact included a little issue with the material size. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later on, I gave them another pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I really value.
Another significant factor of distinction right here is the price. Both systems provide free plans, nonetheless the BeeHiiv free plan provides a lot more capacity and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally even more positive. ConvertKit appears cheaper initially look since their pricing web page shows reduced numbers, nevertheless the client restrictions are FAR lower and your cost quickly increases as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first level paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same size listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly make use of), you can expand your listing approximately 100,000. A checklist of that size 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 annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various organization when it comes to pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost prices? They might as time takes place. But, I’m presuming individuals like myself that are currently in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things proceed.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do appear to develop rather promptly and make brand-new product statements somewhat frequently, yet there are some fundamental features I actually wish they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership types where I can choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be incredible for so many factors. Currently, registration kinds look OK, however there’s extremely little settings for them to aid in segmentation.
It would behave to have labeling at the customer level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks should belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and minimize dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small administrative interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to mass edit blog posts (for example, to identify a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of basic areas as common on customers (like the name).
- Some more modification alternatives for the web site (such as even more versatile color selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Things I wish they finish with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t perfect and definitely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never will be, either. As I stated, the function is various so it would not much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I presume you never know, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I chose to switch my own newsletters over to the platform in spite of my individual preference for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Put simply, for the newsletter posting version specifically, I saw sufficient worth in their platform to call for the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I make use of BeeHiiv for what it is good at, but I purposefully have things set up to ensure that I additionally maintain my list “in home” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the exact same. It is just an excellent insurance policy, for one. But, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your list will be of high use (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d absolutely take into consideration changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch must be quite straightforward.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d possibly sit tight unless you have a large email listing and are as a result being wooled with their high regular monthly bill. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good chance you’re not also making use of a few of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv can quickly be a much better and extra budget-friendly fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be very deliberate about growing a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is created to be, it is among the best games in town now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the cost-free account to be rather feature abundant.