I have actually used a lot of various email list systems for many years. In the last couple of years, I’ve been a significant supporter of digital sovereignty and having your very own system. Because of that (and the remarkable features), I have been making use of Beehiiv Reddit.
So, it is undoubtedly an unusual move for me to make a decision to use BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I wish to go over why I made the switch to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while using the platform and I would certainly likewise like to attend to why I picked to use it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For Newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Huge Shift In Approach, I discussed how and why I chose to transform my recreational vehicle blog site right into largely a newsletter. I decided that was business version I wanted to pursue with that said home.
However, to deliberately pursue it as an e-newsletter, I desired a system that was purpose-built for that. I was making use of FluentCRM for the email list for Happily RV, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, frankly, utilizing it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. More on that in a bit.
As I stated because concern of the newsletter …
Simply put, BeeHiiv is a platform with devices developed into it certain to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send the e-mail at the same time without having it be 2 separate activities.
- Built in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not 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 system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are basically one-click subscription links. Great for promotion in other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Links, though, so there are ways to do that.
- Capability to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I pick to generate income from with ads in the newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capability to run a paid newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv does not take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for newsletter authors with features focused on development. The system was literally built by the individuals who developed the innovation for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the point below. BeeHiiv is built from scratch for the purpose of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a various objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may without a doubt be relocating The Side over to BeeHiiv as well. A minimum of, I’m strongly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I simply went for it. And as a matter of fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s very own home so that I can grow it extra deliberately also.
The objective is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s very own media entity and expanded separately. Gladly motor home was young, so simple to change. However, The Early morning WP (previously The Side) was hidden in a sea of stuff below at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By dividing it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will obviously always be closely linked with the Blog Marketing Academy, yet doesn’t need to be a part of it.
I switched to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Just A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction between a newsletter system and just an email list.
You can hold your email listing just about anywhere you want and there are a number of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key difference is that, with an e-newsletter system, the act of posting implies that it is mosting likely to your website and to your email subscribers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a website. You are releasing to that internet site. Yet, you are also sending to all customers at the same time. The site and it’s clients are all in one. This makes administration of the platform much less complex.
With most email platforms, any kind of newsletter you established is done as an e-mail campaign. It is built completely separately from your website. So, as an example, you might release a write-up to WordPress yet after that you would certainly require to individually build and send out an e-mail to your checklist to send it to clients. These are then two different collections of archives and two different actions due to the fact that post and your emails are not naturally connected.
The closest thing that transforms WordPress right into a real e-newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it basically “glues” your e-newsletter to your WordPress blog posts and permits them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like E-newsletter Glue would be a solid choice if I wanted to continue to self-host everything. However, you ‘d shed the development devices that include a platform like BeeHiiv.
Publishing an e-newsletter naturally features a various collection of demands than a common email checklist.
You do not normally require much marketing automation. You do not typically require autoresponder series, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO requirement, though, is one seamless publishing experience and growth devices to aid you develop your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I announced to my customers 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 reality that I chose to opt for BeeHiiv, that doesn’t mean I assume Substack draws. Actually, because Substack has actually been around longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Despite the fact that BeeHiiv is more youthful, there are a couple things that at first got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is particularly tailored to newsletter authors. In fact, it is essentially developed by the exact same folks that constructed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets writers. In the real world, does not matter. But, the noticeable positioning of BeeHiiv toward newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “developer”. Development is what I have an interest in right here.
- That branding and differentiation likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather huge brand names and huge magazines utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended more at solo developers. Again, it simply tells me the consumer avatar difference in between the two companies.
Sending our my newsletter using FluentCRM didn’t precisely draw. The only reason I would certainly ponder shaking points up is if I assumed I might GROW the checklist quicker. And BeeHiiv talked precisely to that objective.
Due to the targeting, I actually do not watch BeeHiiv and Substack as straight competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various sort of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being more straight rivals.
However, allow’s dive deeper than simply the placing below.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Overall, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by individuals that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack seems much more geared toward designers.
For example, BeeHiiv provides personalized areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack doesn’t.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. As a matter of fact, it is a visual automation builder that works a whole 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 capability to send out an e-mail. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly enough, automations will certainly have new triggers along with brand-new actions, such as customizing personalized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen enhancements to their automations simply given that I started utilizing the system. As an example:
- Ability to set off automations based upon which particular embed form they was available in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and deal with people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Ability to do basic conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never will. Substack simply can not do this because the target audience of Substack simply wouldn’t believe to approach this like an e-mail online marketer.
When it pertains to creating your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra tailored toward newsletters. Actually, it in fact has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I locate it to be extra instinctive, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and tidy, but it would certainly be extra equivalent to the timeless editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This distinction is more than just kind. For instance, with BeeHiiv you can put a “Area” and afterwards put anything you want in it. Then, you can put Visibility choices on that particular area to reveal it only to paid clients, conceal it from email, hide from subscribers, show just to clients, and so on. Substack offers nothing like this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a premium subscription version, BeeHiiv does not take any revenue. Actually, you actually connect up to your own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on how many clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Finally, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, however what it implies is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors using devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack literally has … nothing. No integrations in any way.
Generally, I just felt like BeeHiiv was extra built toward genuine e-mail marketing. It was constructed by individuals that “get it”. Even the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates seem better developed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Although there are still features I would love to see BeeHiiv include, I such as the direction it is going more than Substack.
Points That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have said, Substack placements itself towards “creators” more than e-mail marketing experts and e-newsletter proprietors. Because of that, you see some points geared more toward individuals that just assume in terms of web content production.
For instance, Substack sustains podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Likewise, while BeeHiiv does sustain several publications, they are dealt with rather independently. Whereas Substack does have the capacity to cross-post to numerous publications at the same time. This isn’t something I require, however … awesome for people who could need it.
Substack additionally has more social functionality built-in. As an example, it has a chat function to host talks with subscribers. It also has a “Notes” feature which functions type of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share things from other “Stacks” you read. Interesting. Overall, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media which supports long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally extra … minimalist. You either care for that or do not. Personally, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the objective is simpleness of user interface and, truthfully, features … Substack functions quite well.
Yet, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to real marketing, I do not think there’s much uncertainty that BeeHiiv is better matched. I searched for more points that make Substack better than BeeHiiv, however frankly … I have a tough time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually via to be the closest competitors, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are pursuing the same target audience and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is also positioned at makers (like Substack), yet it is much more strongly satisfying people who do it for service. ConvertKit has wonderful visual automation structure, it’s very own business system, and much more. ConvertKit is a truly wonderful system.
I’m not mosting likely to bore you with a complete feature-by-feature failure below. ConvertKit is popular already. However, here’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
As of now, ConvertKit has much more flexibility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will additionally say that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a bit a lot more intuitive than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit supports labeling. This is just a basic feature of email listings that enables segmentation in an even more flexible method than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying eventually quickly, frankly. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Beehiiv Reddit.
ConvertKit does now supply the capacity to sell things via their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is necessary to you, it may be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly select a more direct alternative anyhow. For me, I like to utilize my very own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around a lot longer and because of that has way a lot more integration options. Lots of online devices and WordPress plugins incorporate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. For instance, their plugin now even supports member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your e-newsletter archives right into your site. Basically, this extra carefully puts ConvertKit into straight competitors by having you be able to publish to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is severely lacking in these sort of third-party integrations right now. It’ll arrive. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even busy tackling the growth devices of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not just incentivize individuals to share your e-newsletter with rewards, but you can additionally pay per lead within the internal advertisement network of BeeHiiv to grow your list. These are really amazing features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you recognize ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is just one of one of the most popular viral promo platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface of what this suggests for the platform moving forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Beehiiv Reddit
BeeHiiv is a lot earlier in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that means much less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nonetheless, it additionally implies that they are rapidly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have observed almost once a week release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet large features that are rather crucial. Their rate of growth at this point has gone over.
I also quite value just how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their product announcements concerning some style improvements to the website design features in fact consisted of a tiny problem with the material size. I just responded to that email to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply straight from the CEO:.
That exact same day, the issue was dealt with.
Couple of days later on, I provided one more pointer …
Sure enough, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the ability to activate automations based upon the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That type of responsiveness and straight involvement of the team is something I actually appreciate.
Another major point of differentiation below is the price. Both platforms supply complimentary plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan provides extra ability and more subscribers (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more favorable. ConvertKit seems less costly at first glimpse due to the fact that their pricing web page reveals lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limitations are much reduced and your price quickly increases as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your first degree paid plan begins at $42/mo (paid annually), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 clients. That same size list is mosting likely to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I personally make use of), you can expand your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that dimension would run you $566/month with ConvertKit. If you desire their referral network, also, that places you at the $733/month plan. That’s if you pay each year, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various organization when it comes to pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually enhance rates? They could as time takes place. But, I’m guessing individuals like myself that are already in will certainly be locked-in. We’ll see how things continue.
Things I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Add
One of the things you certainly require to remember is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to develop rather swiftly and make brand-new item announcements rather frequently, but there are some basic features I actually wish they had that I need to simply await.
One is that they need to have a setting on registration types where I might select an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be AWESOME for numerous reasons. Already, subscription kinds look OK, yet there’s very little settings for them to help in segmentation.
It would behave to have marking at the customer degree. This would be effective.
I believe webhooks must be part of automations to make integrated automations less complicated and lower dependence on outside devices like Zapier.
There are also some small administrative interface changes that would be handy. For example:
- Capability to mass edit/remove customers.
- Capacity to mass edit blog posts (for instance, to label a number of them at the same time).
- Having a few basic areas as conventional on customers (like the name).
- Some more personalization options for the web site (such as even more versatile shade selections, headline control, etc).
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 certainly not virtually as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM product.
It probably never will be, either. As I claimed, the objective is various so it wouldn’t a lot a lot of sense for BeeHiiv to end up being a full marketing automation system. I think you never ever understand, however.
Final Ideas On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv quite a whole lot. Enough where I determined to switch my very own newsletters over to the system despite my personal preference for digital sovereignty and having my own platform.
Simply put, for the e-newsletter publishing model especially, I saw sufficient worth in their system to require the adjustment.
Keep in mind, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my exclusive email checklist. I utilize BeeHiiv of what it is efficient, however I intentionally have things set up to ensure that I also maintain my list “in residence” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just an excellent insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation platform for your listing will be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never ever will be).
So, the inquiry is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are utilizing Substack today, I ‘d definitely think about switching to BeeHiiv. It will merely be much more business-friendly. It is targeting different capacities and different demands. Plus, BeeHiiv also has import tools for Substack, so the button should be pretty straightforward.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a big e-mail list and are consequently being fleeced with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating quickly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not also utilizing some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you do not also require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can easily be a better and more cost effective fit.
Finally, if you plan to be really willful about growing a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you make use of BeeHiiv with eyes wide open concerning what it is designed to be, it is just one of the best video games in town right now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv offers a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the complimentary account to be quite feature abundant.