I have actually utilized a lot of different email list systems throughout the years. In the last couple of years, I have actually been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and having your own system. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have been utilizing Jonathan Katz Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly an unusual move for me to determine to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is a held application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to discuss why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my e-newsletters. I intend to resolve the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the platform and I would certainly additionally like to deal with why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Approach, I discussed how and why I decided to transform my motor home blog site right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was the business version I wished to go after with that property.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly motor home, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, truthfully, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. Extra on that particular in a little bit.
As I stated because problem of the e-newsletter …
Basically, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools developed right into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to release (to the blog) and send out the email concurrently without having it be 2 different activities.
- Built in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would 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 subscription links. Great for promo in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Ability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your newsletter.
- Integrated ad network, if I choose to monetize with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and essentially run a premium newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Basically, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter publishers with features targeted at development. The platform was literally constructed by the people who developed the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is developed from scratch for the purpose of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I ended off with this:.
I might without a doubt be moving The Side over to BeeHiiv also. At least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went all out. And actually, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, set off as it’s very own home so that I can grow it a lot more intentionally too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Happily recreational vehicle was young, so easy to transition. But, The Morning WP (previously The Side) was buried in a sea of things right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to expand it on it’s own. It will clearly constantly be very closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between a newsletter system and simply an e-mail checklist.
You can host your e-mail list 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 main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of publishing indicates that it is going to your site and to your email customers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are publishing to that internet site. However, you are also sending to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much less complex.
With many e-mail platforms, any type of newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is constructed completely individually from your site. So, as an example, you may publish a post to WordPress yet after that you would need to individually build and send out an email to your listing to send it to customers. These are then two different collections of archives and 2 different actions since post and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name because it pretty much “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress articles and allows them to be the same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would certainly be a strong choice if I wanted to continue to self-host every little thing. However, you would certainly lose the growth tools that come with a system like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally includes a different set of requirements than a typical email listing.
You do not generally require much marketing automation. You don’t generally 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 tools to assist you build your subscriber base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my clients that I was mosting likely to switch over 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 picked to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I think Substack sucks. In fact, due to the fact that Substack has actually been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair points that initially obtained my interest:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to e-newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is essentially developed by the same individuals who built the technology behind Early morning Brew. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. Yet, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter growth called me out over the more common positioning of being a “creator”. Development is what I want right here.
- That branding and distinction likewise means that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brands and large magazines using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo designers. Once again, it just tells me the client character difference in between both business.
Sending our my newsletter via FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only factor I would certainly contemplate drinking things up is if I assumed I can expand the listing faster. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I actually don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct rivals. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different kind of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more direct rivals.
But, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people who comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra tailored toward creators.
For example, BeeHiiv provides personalized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. As a matter of fact, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a 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 activity is the ability to send an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will have new triggers in addition to new actions, such as customizing customized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve already seen improvements to their automations simply because I began utilizing the system. For instance:
- Capacity to activate automations based upon which certain embed kind they was available in on.
- Capacity to instantly do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do standard conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this since the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing professional.
When it comes to creating your newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply much more tailored toward newsletters. Actually, it in fact has similarities to the WordPress block builder in how it functions. I find it to be extra intuitive, directly.
Substack’s composing interface is nice and tidy, yet it would be much more comparable to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is more than simply type. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Section” and after that put anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility options on that area to show it only to paid customers, conceal it from e-mail, hide from customers, reveal just to subscribers, etc. Substack uses absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a costs membership version, BeeHiiv does not take any kind of earnings. In fact, you essentially attach approximately your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your earnings. Depending on the amount of clients you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the month-to-month cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear nerdy, yet what it indicates is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv deal with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
In general, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards actual e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals who “get it”. Also the opt-in types and the landing page develops appear much better built for conversions. Growth is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack settings itself toward “creators” more than e-mail marketers and newsletter owners. Because of that, you see some points geared a lot more towards individuals that just assume in terms of material development.
For example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support numerous magazines, they are treated fairly separately. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to several publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … awesome for individuals who may need it.
Substack also has more social functionality built-in. For example, it has a conversation function to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” feature which works type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. In general, Substack is set up to be more like a social network which supports long-form content.
Overall, Substack is additionally more … minimal. You either look after that or do not. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the objective is simplicity of interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions rather well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I tried to find even more points that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a difficult time discovering them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually with to be the closest rivals, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are pursuing the very same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more highly dealing with individuals who do it for business. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s very own commerce system, and extra. ConvertKit is a really nice platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature break down here. ConvertKit is popular already. However, right here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more adaptability when it concerns 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 labeling. This is just a fundamental function of email listings that allows division in a far more versatile method than BeeHiiv presently does. I expect BeeHiiv to support labeling at some point soon, honestly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing Jonathan Katz Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently provide the capacity to market points through their very own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nonetheless, I would certainly always select a more straight alternative anyway. For me, I choose to use my very own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and for that reason has way extra integration options. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is quite powerful. For instance, their plugin now even sustains member-gated content in addition to auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this more very closely places ConvertKit right into straight competitors by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these type of third-party integrations at the moment. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the growth tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can additionally pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your list. These are actually outstanding features of BeeHiiv. Yet …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of the most well known viral promo systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the composing on the wall of what this implies for the system moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Jonathan Katz Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is much earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that suggests much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it additionally implies that they are rapidly developing.
In the short time that I have actually been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced nearly regular launch of new features into the platform. And these aren’t weak little features … however big features that are quite crucial. Their speed of development now has gone over.
I also quite appreciate just how receptive they are. In fact, among their item announcements about some design improvements to the website design features really consisted of a tiny issue with the material width. I just responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly got a reply straight from the chief executive officer:.
That exact same day, the issue was repaired.
Few days later, I provided one more pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to trigger automations based upon the embed type made use of was contributed to the system.
That type of responsiveness and direct involvement of the team is something I truly value.
Another major point of differentiation below is the cost. Both platforms provide totally free plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan uses extra ability and even more customers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
As soon as you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally FAR more positive. ConvertKit seems more affordable at first glimpse since their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, however the customer limitations are much lower and your cost promptly enhances as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid each year), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same dimension list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their finest plan and the one I directly utilize), you can expand your checklist as much as 100,000. A checklist of that dimension would 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 yearly, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for just $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv remains in a totally different league when it involves pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point enhance costs? They might as time goes on. However, I’m thinking people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you definitely need to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to advance rather rapidly and make new product statements rather typically, but there are some standard features I actually wish they had that I require to just wait on.
One is that they need to have a setup on subscription types where I can select an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous reasons. Currently, subscription types look OK, yet there’s really little setups for them to aid in division.
It would be nice to have marking at the subscriber level. This would be powerful.
I assume webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations less complicated and decrease dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some small management user interface changes that would come in handy. As an example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Ability to bulk edit blog posts (as an example, to mark a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as conventional on clients (like the name).
- Some even more modification options for the website (such as more flexible color selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I wish they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t best and certainly not virtually as established as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never ever will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the purpose is different so it wouldn’t much a lot of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a complete marketing automation platform. I presume you never recognize, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv fairly a lot. Enough where I chose to switch my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my very own platform.
Basically, for the e-newsletter posting model especially, I saw enough worth in their platform to necessitate the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my special e-mail checklist. I use BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, however I purposefully have points establish to make sure that I also maintain my list “in home” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the very same. It is just a good insurance plan, for one. Yet, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will be of high use (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack today, I ‘d certainly consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different requirements. And also, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be quite simple.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a large e-mail listing and are as a result being wooled with their high regular monthly bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are iterating swiftly. There’s likewise a respectable opportunity you’re not also utilizing a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might conveniently be a much better and extra affordable fit.
Finally, if you plan to be extremely intentional concerning growing a newsletter, I think 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 developed to be, it is just one of the most effective games in the area today. This is the platform to enjoy.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth looking into for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll discover the totally free account to be quite feature abundant.