I have used a lot of different e-mail list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a big proponent of digital sovereignty and owning your very own platform. Because of that (and the outstanding features), I have been utilizing How Do I Transfer From Substack To Beehiiv.
So, it is indeed an unusual move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying regular monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv review, I want to discuss why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to deal with the concern of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly additionally like to resolve why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For Newsletters
In Problem # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Change In Technique, I discussed how and why I decided to transform my RV blog site right into largely an e-newsletter. I determined that was the business version I intended to pursue with that said residential or commercial property.
Yet, to deliberately pursue it as a newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Happily motor home, yet FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, utilizing it for newsletters is a little a waste. A lot more on that in a little bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools built into it particular to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail simultaneously without having it be two separate activities.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with various other newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click registration web links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I select to generate income from with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated ability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at growth. The platform was actually constructed by the individuals that developed the technology for Early morning Mixture. They know what they’re doing.
That is the point right here. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the function of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. Actually, I simply went all out. And as a matter of fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own home so that I can expand it extra intentionally too.
The objective is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown independently. Happily RV was young, so simple to transition. Yet, The Early morning WP (formerly The Side) was hidden in a sea of things 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 closely tied with the Blog site 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 objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email List
There’s a difference in between an e-newsletter platform and just an e-mail list.
You can organize your e-mail listing anywhere you want and there are a variety of them available, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The key difference is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of publishing means that it is mosting likely to your web site and to your email clients concurrently.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are likewise sending off to all clients at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes monitoring of the platform much easier.
With many e-mail systems, any e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely separately from your site. So, for instance, you might publish an article to WordPress yet after that you would require to individually build and send out an email to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then 2 different sets of archives and 2 different activities since post and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is Newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it practically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and permits them to be the very same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the development tools that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally features a various set of demands than a common e-mail checklist.
You don’t typically require much marketing automation. You don’t typically need autoresponder sequences, occasion tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth publishing experience and development devices to assist you construct your customer base that specify to newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers that I was going to switch over the 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 selected to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack draws. In fact, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is younger, there are a pair points that initially got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is especially tailored to e-newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is actually constructed by the very same people who developed the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv towards newsletter development called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Growth is what I want right here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise means that BeeHiiv has some relatively big brand names and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo makers. Once more, it simply informs me the consumer character distinction between both business.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM really did not precisely draw. The only factor I would certainly consider drinking points up is if I thought I could expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv talked specifically to that goal.
Due to the targeting, I really don’t see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I believe BeeHiiv is targeting a various kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
Yet, let’s dive deeper than simply the positioning below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
On the whole, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people who recognizing e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems extra geared towards designers.
For example, BeeHiiv supplies custom areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. Yet, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation performance is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only action is the capacity to send an email. However, improvements are coming. Soon enough, automations will certainly have new triggers in addition to new activities, such as modifying customized fields, sending out webhooks, and so on. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations just since I began using the system. For instance:
- Capability to trigger automations based on which certain embed type they was available in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and manage individuals based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can’t do this because the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an email online marketer.
When it involves creating your e-newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared towards newsletters. In fact, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I locate it to be much more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, but it would be more equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This distinction is greater than just type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and after that put anything you want in it. After that, you can put Exposure options on that area to reveal it just to paid customers, hide it from email, hide from customers, show just to subscribers, etc. Substack supplies absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a premium registration model, BeeHiiv does not take any type of earnings. Actually, you actually link up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Relying on the amount of clients you get, that 10% can be quite a bit even more money than the regular monthly expense of BeeHiiv.
Last but not least, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem unpopular, yet what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv collaborate with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards real e-mail marketing. It was developed by people who “get it”. Even the opt-in forms and the landing page makes seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv add, I such as the direction it is going greater than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack placements itself towards “designers” more than email marketing professionals and e-newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some things tailored extra toward people who simply believe in terms of web content creation.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does sustain numerous publications, they are dealt with fairly 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 individuals who could need it.
Substack likewise has even more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which functions sort of like a social media newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. Generally, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media which supports long-form material.
Generally, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either look after that or don’t. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simplicity of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works rather well.
Yet, I’ll be clear here …
When it comes to actual marketing, I do not assume there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better suited. I tried to find more points that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often via to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the very same target audience and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at developers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly dealing with people who do it for company. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a truly nice platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown here. ConvertKit is popular currently. However, right here’s exactly how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit contrast …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra adaptability when it involves it’s automations. I will certainly additionally claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports marking. This is simply a standard function of e-mail listings that enables segmentation in a much more flexible way than BeeHiiv currently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support identifying at some time soon, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing How Do I Transfer From Substack To Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to offer things through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that’s important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly constantly choose a more direct choice anyhow. For me, I prefer to utilize my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about a lot longer and for that reason has way a lot more integration choices. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. For example, their plugin now also supports member-gated content along with auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this extra very closely places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you have the ability to release to your site and your e-mail listing at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly lacking in these sort of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also hectic tackling the development tools 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 rewards, however you can likewise pay per lead within the inner ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most well known viral promo systems for newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the creating on the wall surface of what this suggests for the system going forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Better At … How Do I Transfer From Substack To Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it likewise means that they are swiftly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have witnessed almost weekly release of new features right into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however huge features that are fairly vital. Their speed of growth at this point has actually gone over.
I likewise very much value how responsive they are. Actually, among their item news regarding some layout enhancements to the website design features really included a little problem with the content size. I simply replied to that email to tell them. I rapidly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That same day, the problem was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I provided another pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to set off automations based upon the embed type used was included in the system.
That kind of responsiveness and direct participation of the team is something I really appreciate.
Another significant point of differentiation here is the price. Both platforms supply cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides much more capacity and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more beneficial. ConvertKit seems more affordable initially glance because their pricing page reveals reduced numbers, nonetheless the customer limitations are much reduced and your price rapidly enhances as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid every year), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That same size listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your list approximately 100,000. A listing of that size would certainly run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, too, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay every year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different league when it pertains to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately enhance costs? They may as time goes on. However, I’m thinking people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among things you certainly need to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is fairly young. They do seem to develop instead quickly and make brand-new item news somewhat usually, however there are some basic features I actually want they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they require to have a setting on membership forms where I can select an automation to run right at the kind level. That would certainly be outstanding for so many reasons. Currently, registration kinds look OK, but there’s really little setups for them to help in segmentation.
It would certainly be nice to have labeling at the client level. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations easier and reduce reliance on outdoors tools like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor administrative user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capacity to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to bulk edit articles (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a couple of fundamental areas as typical on customers (like the name).
- Some more customization alternatives for the internet site (such as even more adaptable shade options, headline control, and so on).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they make with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, but it isn’t excellent and certainly not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is different so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never know, though.
Last Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Sufficient where I chose to change my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and possessing my own system.
Basically, for the e-newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw enough value in their system to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not make use of BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, but I intentionally have points establish to make sure that I likewise maintain my listing “in house” within FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply a great insurance coverage, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will certainly be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d most definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be extra business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and various requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the switch ought to be rather uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a large email listing and are therefore being fleeced with their high regular monthly expense. You will certainly not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating rapidly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not also using several of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also need them. Therefore, BeeHiiv could easily be a better and extra affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be very willful regarding expanding a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE platform to take into consideration and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is made to be, it is among the best games in the area right now. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth having a look at on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be quite feature rich.