I have utilized a great deal of different e-mail list systems over the years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a substantial proponent of digital sovereignty and having your own platform. For that reason (and the outstanding features), I have actually been making use of Newsletter Templates Beehiiv.
So, it is indeed an odd move for me to determine to make use of BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized 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 address the issue of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly also such as to resolve why I chose to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Large Shift In Approach, I discussed how and why I made a decision to transform my motor home blog site right into primarily an e-newsletter. I decided that was business design I wished to seek keeping that home.
Yet, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I wanted a system that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the e-mail list for Gladly motor home, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter system. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, using it for e-newsletters is a little a waste. More on that particular in a bit.
As I said because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a system with tools developed into it certain to my purpose. Points such as:
- Capability to publish (to the blog site) and send out the email at the same time without having it be two different actions.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM doesn’t have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capability to do cross-promotions with various other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click membership web links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your e-newsletter.
- Built-in advertisement network, if I select to monetize with ads in the e-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.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on growth. The platform was literally developed by the people that built up the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point here. BeeHiiv is developed from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various function.
And I finished off with this:.
I may indeed be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv as well. At the very least, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I simply went for it. And in fact, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s own building so that I can expand it extra intentionally too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the ability to be branded as it’s very own media entity and grown independently. Happily motor home was young, so simple to change. Yet, 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 very own. It will undoubtedly always be very closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, yet does not need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv because it was built for this objective. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Just A Regular Email Checklist
There’s a difference in between a newsletter platform and just an e-mail list.
You can organize your email list anywhere you desire and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The main distinction is that, with an e-newsletter platform, the act of posting suggests that it is going to your website and to your e-mail subscribers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. But, you are additionally sending to all subscribers at the same time. The internet site and it’s customers are done in one. This makes management of the system much easier.
With the majority of email systems, any newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally independently from your site. So, for instance, you may release a post to WordPress however then you would need to independently construct and send out an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are then two different sets of archives and two different actions since post and your e-mails are not inherently linked.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress into a real newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a suitable name because it basically “adhesives” your newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and allows them to be the same point. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I intended to remain to self-host whatever. Nonetheless, you would certainly lose the development tools that come with a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing a newsletter naturally comes with a different set of requirements than a typical email listing.
You don’t typically need much marketing automation. You don’t usually require autoresponder series, event tracking, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO demand, however, is one seamless publishing experience and development devices to help you build your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to change the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had lots of people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I believe Substack sucks. Actually, due to the fact that Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Although BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a pair things that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter authors. As a matter of fact, it is actually built by the very same individuals that constructed the innovation behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real life, doesn’t matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter growth called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “maker”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and differentiation also suggests that BeeHiiv has some relatively huge brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo developers. Once again, it simply tells me the customer character difference between both companies.
Sending our my newsletter through FluentCRM didn’t exactly suck. The only reason I would contemplate trembling things up is if I thought I can expand the list much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. In fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being extra straight rivals.
However, let’s dive much deeper than simply the placing here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv looks like it was constructed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears extra geared towards developers.
For example, BeeHiiv offers custom-made areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv offers Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that works a lot like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still fairly restricted in triggers and the only action is the ability to send an email. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new actions, such as modifying custom-made fields, sending webhooks, etc. I have actually currently seen enhancements to their automations simply considering that I began utilizing the system. As an example:
- Capability to cause automations based upon which specific embed kind they can be found in on.
- Capacity to automatically do re-engagement (and take care of individuals based upon opens and non-opens).
- Capacity to do fundamental conditional logic branches.
Substack does not have automations such as this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can’t do this due to the fact that the target market of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail marketer.
When it concerns writing your e-newsletters, the writing user interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored towards e-newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it works. I locate it to be a lot more intuitive, personally.
Substack’s writing user interface is nice and clean, however it would certainly be much more comparable to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar at the top.
This difference is greater than just kind. As an example, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and after that placed anything you want in it. Then, you can place Exposure choices on that particular section to reveal it just to paid customers, hide it from email, hide from customers, reveal only to subscribers, and so on. Substack provides absolutely nothing such as this.
And when/if the moment comes that I start a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any income. Actually, you literally connect up to your own Stripe account and it charges straight to it. With Substack, they will certainly take 10% of your profits. Depending on the amount of customers you get, that 10% can be a fair bit even more money than the regular monthly price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This may appear unpopular, however what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can in fact make BeeHiiv work with the outside making use of tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack essentially has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
In general, I just felt like BeeHiiv was much more built towards actual email marketing. It was built by people that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates appear much better constructed for conversions. Development is the name of the game with BeeHiiv.
Despite the fact that there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv add, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have stated, Substack settings itself towards “makers” more than email marketing experts and e-newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some things geared extra toward individuals that just think in terms of material production.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Also, while BeeHiiv does support multiple magazines, they are treated rather individually. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I call for, however … amazing for individuals that may need it.
Substack likewise has more social capability built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host chats with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” function which works sort of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you’re reading. Interesting. In general, Substack is set up to be much more like a social media which sustains long-form content.
In general, Substack is likewise extra … minimal. You either care for that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, honestly, features … Substack works pretty well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it involves actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much question that BeeHiiv is better matched. I tried to find more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but honestly … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are commonly with to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer rivals. Both are going after the exact same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally placed at developers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly accommodating people that do it for business. ConvertKit has wonderful aesthetic automation building, it’s very own business platform, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a really good platform.
I’m not going to bore you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown right here. ConvertKit is well known currently. But, right here’s just how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it concerns it’s automations. I will certainly likewise claim that I locate ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit extra user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a fundamental feature of e-mail checklists that makes it possible for division in an even more adaptable way than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to sustain tagging eventually quickly, honestly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Newsletter Templates Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now supply the capability to sell things by means of their own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would always choose a more direct option anyway. For me, I favor to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been around a lot longer and therefore has way a lot more integration choices. Tons of online tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their very own WordPress plugin that is rather effective. As an example, their plugin currently also sustains member-gated material as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this more closely places ConvertKit into direct competition by having you have the ability to release to your website and your e-mail list at the same time.
BeeHiiv is drastically lacking in these type of third-party integrations presently. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even hectic taking on the growth devices of BeeHiiv. As an example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with advantages, but you can likewise pay per lead within the internal ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are actually amazing features of BeeHiiv. However …
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 composing on the wall surface for what this implies for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Newsletter Templates Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is natural for this stage of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally suggests that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have experienced nearly regular launch of brand-new features into the platform. And these aren’t puny little features … however big features that are rather important. Their rate of growth at this point has actually gone over.
I likewise quite appreciate how responsive they are. Actually, among their item statements concerning some design enhancements to the web design features really had a small trouble with the material size. I merely replied to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the problem was dealt with.
Couple of days later, I provided an additional pointer …
Sure enough, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to cause automations based upon the embed type made use of was added to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I truly value.
One more significant factor of differentiation here is the rate. Both systems supply cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra capacity and even more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you go to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is additionally much more positive. ConvertKit seems less expensive at first glance since their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the client limitations are FAR reduced and your price rapidly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nevertheless you can have up to 10,000 subscribers. That very same dimension list is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you update to the “Range” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly make use of), you can expand your checklist up to 100,000. A list of that size would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you want their referral network, as well, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay annually.
BeeHiiv is in a completely various organization when it concerns pricing (in an excellent way).
Will BeeHiiv at some point boost rates? They may as time takes place. But, I’m guessing people like myself who are currently in will be locked-in. We’ll see how points continue.
Points I Would Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of things you definitely require to remember is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do appear to evolve rather swiftly and make new item news rather typically, yet there are some fundamental features I actually desire they had that I need to just wait on.
One is that they require to have a setting on registration types where I could choose an automation to run right at the type degree. That would certainly be outstanding for numerous reasons. Already, membership forms look OK, yet there’s very little settings for them to aid in division.
It would be nice to have tagging at the client degree. This would be powerful.
I think webhooks need to become part of automations to make built-in automations much easier and decrease dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are likewise some minor management user interface modifications that would certainly come in handy. As an example:
- Ability to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to bulk edit articles (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic fields as typical on clients (like the name).
- Some more modification options for the internet site (such as more adaptable color selections, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Things I wish they finish with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, however it isn’t perfect and certainly not virtually as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It probably never will certainly be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it wouldn’t a lot a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I presume you never recognize, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Review
I such as BeeHiiv rather a great deal. Sufficient where I chose to switch my own e-newsletters over to the platform in spite of my personal choice for digital sovereignty and having my very own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing version especially, I saw adequate worth in their platform to warrant the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive e-mail list. I use BeeHiiv wherefore it is good at, yet I deliberately have things establish so that I likewise keep my listing “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you make use of BeeHiiv, I recommend you do the very same. It is simply a great insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation system and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my opinion, if you are making use of Substack today, I ‘d absolutely consider switching over to BeeHiiv. It will simply be extra business-friendly. It is targeting various capabilities and different requirements. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the button must be quite simple.
If you are on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d probably stay unless you have a huge email list and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, but they are repeating quickly. There’s likewise a pretty good chance you’re not even using a few of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. For that reason, BeeHiiv might easily be a much better and a lot more budget friendly fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful concerning growing a newsletter, I think BeeHiiv is THE system to consider and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open regarding what it is made to be, it is among the most effective games in the area right now. This is the platform to watch.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth taking a look at for yourself. And if you end up not sticking to the paid plan, you’ll find the totally free account to be rather feature abundant.