I have actually utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems over the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a massive advocate of digital sovereignty and possessing your own system. Because of that (and the incredible features), I have been using Beehiiv YouTube Referral Program.
So, it is indeed a strange move for me to decide to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv evaluation, I intend to look at why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I wish to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while utilizing the platform and I would certainly additionally like to address why I selected to use it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Developed For E-newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Shift In Technique, I spoke about just how and why I made a decision to turn my motor home blog site into mostly a newsletter. I made a decision that was business model I wished to pursue keeping that building.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a little bit of a waste. Extra on that in a little bit.
As I said because issue of the newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a system with devices constructed right into it particular to my objective. Things such as:
- Ability to release (to the blog site) and send out the email all at once without having it be two different actions.
- Built in e-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 various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Links”, which are generally one-click registration web links. Great for promo in various 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 newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to generate income from with advertisements in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter publishers with features aimed at growth. The platform was actually built by the people who developed the innovation for Morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different function.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own residential property to ensure that I can grow it much more deliberately as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded individually. Gladly RV was young, so easy to shift. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Edge) was buried in a sea of stuff here at the Blog Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s very own. It will obviously always be closely connected with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this function. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email List
There’s a difference in between a newsletter platform and just an email checklist.
You can host your email list anywhere you desire and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing suggests that it is going to your site and to your e-mail clients at the same time.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are publishing to that web site. Yet, you are additionally sending to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s subscribers are done in one. This makes management of the system much less complex.
With the majority of e-mail systems, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built totally independently from your website. So, as an example, you might release a post to WordPress but then you would need to independently build and send an e-mail to your listing to send it to customers. These are then 2 separate collections of archives and 2 different activities because blog posts and your emails are not inherently connected.
The closest point that transforms WordPress into a true newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it virtually “adhesives” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and permits them to be the same point. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I intended to continue to self-host everything. However, you would certainly lose the development devices that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally comes with a various set of demands than a normal email listing.
You do not generally require much marketing automation. You do not generally require autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to assist you build your customer base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch the e-newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack draws. As a matter of fact, since Substack has actually been about much longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to e-newsletter publishers. In fact, it is essentially built by the exact same individuals that developed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, doesn’t matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I’m interested in right here.
- That branding and distinction also indicates that BeeHiiv has some rather large brand names and big magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Again, it simply tells me the customer avatar distinction in between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only reason I would consider trembling points up is if I assumed I could expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t watch BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of customer. Actually, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
However, let’s dive much deeper than just the placing here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by individuals that understanding email marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more tailored toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv offers personalized fields on clients. Now, it isn’t as developed as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv supplies Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a 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 an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have new triggers along with brand-new activities, such as changing custom-made fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I started using the platform. For instance:
- Capacity to set off automations based upon which particular embed type they was available in on.
- Capability to instantly do re-engagement (and manage people based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this due to the fact that the target audience of Substack just wouldn’t think to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is just more geared towards newsletters. In fact, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I locate it to be a lot more instinctive, directly.
Substack’s writing interface behaves and clean, but it would be more equal to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than just form. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can insert a “Section” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility options on that particular section to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, reveal only to clients, and so on. Substack supplies nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs membership design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of earnings. In fact, you actually attach as much as your own Stripe account and it charges directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending upon the number of clients you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This may seem nerdy, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside using tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was much more built towards actual email marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in forms and the landing page creates appear far better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually stated, Substack positions itself toward “creators” greater than e-mail online marketers and e-newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored more toward people that just assume in regards to material production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support numerous publications, they are treated quite independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … trendy for individuals that may require it.
Substack also has even more social capability built-in. For example, it has a chat function to host talks with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works kind of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is established to be extra like a social network which sustains long-form web content.
Overall, Substack is additionally a lot more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Personally, I do not. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for even more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are frequently via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar capacities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is a lot more highly catering to individuals that do it for service. ConvertKit has nice aesthetic automation building, it’s very own commerce platform, and much more. ConvertKit is an actually great platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, right here’s how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has much more versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly additionally say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit much more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a fundamental feature of email checklists that makes it possible for segmentation in an even more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support marking eventually soon, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv YouTube Referral Program.
ConvertKit does now provide the capacity to offer things using their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose an extra direct choice anyhow. For me, I favor to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been about a lot longer and for that reason has way more integration options. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite effective. As an example, their plugin currently even supports member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Essentially, this much more carefully places ConvertKit right into straight competition by having you have the ability to publish to your site and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly doing not have in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll get there. Yet, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For instance, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, however you can also pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your listing. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit got Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall surface of what this indicates for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Beehiiv YouTube Referral Program
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it also indicates that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced practically regular release of new features into the system. And these aren’t undersized little features … but large features that are fairly important. Their speed of advancement now has been impressive.
I also significantly appreciate exactly how responsive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product news regarding some layout improvements to the web design features really consisted of a little problem with the content width. I simply responded to that email to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later, I gave them one more recommendation …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based upon the embed kind used was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight participation of the team is something I truly value.
An additional major point of distinction here is the rate. Both systems provide free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers extra ability and more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also even more desirable. ConvertKit appears less expensive at first glimpse because their pricing page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the client restrictions are much reduced and your price swiftly enhances as your checklist grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That same dimension listing is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their ideal plan and the one I personally use), you can expand your listing up to 100,000. A listing of that dimension would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in an entirely various organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately boost costs? They might as time goes on. However, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you absolutely need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to progress instead promptly and make brand-new product statements somewhat usually, but there are some fundamental features I really wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership types where I could pick an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would be outstanding for a lot of factors. Currently, membership types look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to aid in segmentation.
It would certainly behave to have tagging at the subscriber level. This would certainly be effective.
I assume webhooks should become part of automations to make integrated automations easier and lower dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are additionally some small management interface adjustments that would be handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capability to mass edit articles (for instance, to mark a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some more customization choices for the site (such as more flexible shade options, heading control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some imperfections. Points I hope they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, yet it isn’t excellent and absolutely not nearly as created as something like FluentCRM or any other actual CRM product.
It most likely never will certainly be, either. As I said, the purpose is various so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation system. I presume you never know, however.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a great deal. Sufficient where I made a decision to change my own e-newsletters over to the system in spite of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter posting version specifically, I saw adequate value in their system to call for the modification.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, however I purposefully have things set up to ensure that I likewise keep my checklist “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is simply an excellent insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a full marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU use BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d certainly consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various abilities and different needs. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch must be quite uncomplicated.
If you are on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are therefore being fleeced with their high regular monthly costs. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not even utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t also need them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might easily be a better and more budget friendly fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be very deliberate concerning growing a newsletter, I believe BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is designed to be, it is just one of the very best games in town right now. This is the system to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the free account to be rather feature rich.