I have used a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I’ve been a significant advocate of digital sovereignty and having your own platform. For that reason (and the incredible features), I have been using Daniel Berk Beehiiv.
So, it is without a doubt a strange move for me to make a decision to utilize BeeHiiv. After all, it is an organized application and I am paying month-to-month for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to look at why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to address the problem of digital sovereignty while making use of the system and I ‘d likewise such as to attend to why I selected to utilize it over Substack.
Let’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Built For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Hobby + A Large Change In Technique, I spoke about how and why I chose to transform my motor home blog site right into primarily a newsletter. I chose that was business design I intended to go after keeping that home.
Yet, to intentionally pursue it as an e-newsletter, I wanted a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email checklist for Happily recreational vehicle, however FluentCRM is not an e-newsletter platform. It is built to be a CRM and marketing automation device and, honestly, utilizing it for e-newsletters is a bit of a waste. Much more on that in a little bit.
As I stated because issue of the e-newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a system with devices developed into it particular to my function. Points such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail at the same time without having it be two separate activities.
- Constructed in newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly have needed a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Integrated capacity to do cross-promotions with other e-newsletters on the BeeHiiv platform.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are primarily one-click membership links. Great for promotion in other e-newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are methods to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to promote your e-newsletter.
- Integrated advertisement network, if I choose to monetize with advertisements in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Built-in capacity to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and generally run a premium e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Essentially, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features aimed at development. The platform was literally built by the individuals who accumulated the modern technology for Early morning Mixture. They recognize what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is built from the ground up for the objective of running a newsletter. FluentCRM has a different objective.
And I finished off with this:.
I may certainly be moving The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I really did not consider it for long. As a matter of fact, I just went for it. And actually, The side was re-branded over to The Early morning WP, triggered as it’s very own building to make sure that I can grow it much more intentionally too.
The goal is that each e-newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and expanded individually. Happily RV was young, so very easy to shift. Yet, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of stuff right here at the Blog Site Marketing Academy. By separating it off, I can do what I can to grow it on it’s own. It will certainly constantly be closely tied with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but does not need to belong of it.
I switched over to BeeHiiv due to the fact that it was built for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
E-newsletters Versus Simply A Normal Email Listing
There’s a distinction between a newsletter system and just an e-mail listing.
You can host your e-mail list anyplace you want and there are a variety of them around, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted options like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the distinction?
The primary difference is that, with a newsletter platform, the act of publishing suggests that it is going to your web site and to your e-mail customers all at once.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a site. You are releasing to that site. Yet, you are additionally dispatching to all subscribers at the same time. The site and it’s subscribers are all in one. This makes management of the platform much simpler.
With many email platforms, any type of e-newsletter you set up is done as an e-mail campaign. It is constructed totally separately from your website. So, as an example, you may release a post to WordPress yet after that you would certainly need to independently develop and send an email to your list to send it to subscribers. These are then two separate sets of archives and 2 different activities since article and your emails are not inherently linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter platform is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it virtually “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress posts and enables them to be the very same thing. Absolutely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong alternative if I intended to continue to self-host everything. Nonetheless, you ‘d lose the development tools that include a system like BeeHiiv.
Posting a newsletter naturally comes with a various collection of demands than a typical email checklist.
You do not generally need much marketing automation. You do not usually need autoresponder sequences, occasion monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation system.
What you DO requirement, though, is one smooth publishing experience and growth devices to aid you develop your subscriber base that specify to 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 many individuals ask me why I was picking it over Substack.
To be clear, even besides the reality that I selected to choose BeeHiiv, that doesn’t imply I assume Substack sucks. In fact, because Substack has been about longer, it is elder and has even more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that initially got my attention:.
- BeeHiiv is specifically customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally developed by the very same folks who developed the technology behind Morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, doesn’t matter. However, the apparent positioning of BeeHiiv towards e-newsletter development called me out over the more generic positioning of being a “developer”. Growth is what I’m interested in below.
- That branding and differentiation likewise suggests that BeeHiiv has some fairly big brand names and large publications utilizing it. Whereas SubStack is intended even more at solo creators. Again, it simply tells me the customer avatar distinction between the two business.
Sending our my newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not specifically draw. The only reason I would certainly ponder trembling things up is if I believed I can GROW the listing much faster. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I in fact don’t check out BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I think BeeHiiv is targeting a different type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being much more straight competitors.
However, allow’s dive much deeper than just the positioning right here.
Things That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
Generally, BeeHiiv appears like it was developed by people that understanding e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears a lot more geared toward designers.
As an example, BeeHiiv uses custom-made areas on subscribers. Currently, it isn’t as established as something like FluentCRM. But, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv provides Automations. In fact, it is a visual automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have inside of FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation capability is still early-phase. It is still rather limited in triggers and the only activity is the capacity to send an email. Nevertheless, improvements are coming. Quickly sufficient, automations will certainly have brand-new triggers in addition to brand-new activities, such as modifying customized fields, sending webhooks, etc. I’ve currently seen improvements to their automations just since I started using the platform. As an example:
- Ability to activate automations based upon which specific embed kind they was available in on.
- Capability to immediately do re-engagement (and take care of people based on opens and non-opens).
- Ability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations similar to this. Likely, it never ever will. Substack simply can’t do this since the target audience of Substack just would not think to approach this like an email marketer.
When it concerns creating your newsletters, the writing interface of BeeHiiv is just a lot more geared toward newsletters. As a matter of fact, it actually has similarities to the WordPress block builder in exactly how it functions. I locate it to be a lot more instinctive, personally.
Substack’s creating user interface is nice and clean, however it would be much more equivalent to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than simply type. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Area” and then placed anything you desire in it. Then, you can put Visibility choices on that particular section to reveal it just to paid subscribers, hide it from e-mail, hide from subscribers, show just to subscribers, etc. Substack provides absolutely nothing similar to this.
And when/if the moment comes that I begin a costs subscription model, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any kind of earnings. Actually, you literally connect approximately your very own Stripe account and it bills straight to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your profits. Depending on the amount of clients you obtain, that 10% can be quite a bit more cash than the month-to-month price of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could seem nerdy, yet what it suggests is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can actually make BeeHiiv work with the outdoors utilizing tools like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations whatsoever.
Generally, I just seemed like BeeHiiv was more constructed toward real e-mail marketing. It was built by people who “get it”. Also the opt-in kinds and the landing page creates seem much better built for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I want to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going greater than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually said, Substack placements itself towards “makers” greater than e-mail marketers and newsletter proprietors. For that reason, you see some points tailored more toward individuals who simply think in terms of material development.
As an example, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple magazines, they are treated quite separately. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple publications at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … awesome for individuals who may require it.
Substack also has more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host chats with customers. It additionally has a “Notes” feature which works sort of like a social networks newsfeed where you can share points from various other “Stacks” you’re reading. Intriguing. In general, Substack is set up to be extra like a social media network which supports long-form web content.
In general, Substack is likewise extra … minimalist. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I don’t. Nevertheless, if the goal is simpleness of user interface and, frankly, features … Substack works pretty well.
But, I’ll be clear below …
When it comes to actual marketing, I don’t think there’s much doubt that BeeHiiv is better fit. I searched for more factors that make Substack much better than BeeHiiv, yet honestly … I have a difficult time finding them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are often with to be the closest competitors, I actually see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer opponents. Both are going after the same target market and have similar abilities.
ConvertKit is additionally positioned at makers (like Substack), however it is a lot more highly accommodating people who do it for service. ConvertKit has good visual automation structure, it’s own commerce system, and a lot more. ConvertKit is a truly nice system.
I’m not going to birthed you with a full feature-by-feature breakdown right here. ConvertKit is well known already. But, below’s just how I really feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Points ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Already, ConvertKit has more flexibility when it concerns it’s automations. I will additionally state 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 basic feature of email lists that allows segmentation in a much more versatile means than BeeHiiv presently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support labeling eventually quickly, frankly. It feels like an oversight that it is missing out on Daniel Berk Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does currently offer the ability to sell points through their very own platform. BeeHiiv does not. If that is essential to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, however, I would certainly constantly pick a more straight choice anyway. For me, I favor to use my own system powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has been around much longer and for that reason has way much more integration options. Tons of web-based tools and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit even has their own WordPress plugin that is rather powerful. As an example, their plugin now also sustains member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. Fundamentally, this a lot more closely puts ConvertKit into straight competition by having you be able to release to your website and your e-mail checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is significantly lacking in these type of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. However, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is even active taking on the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Recommendation Engine where you can not only incentivize people to share your newsletter with rewards, but you can also pay per lead within the inner advertisement network of BeeHiiv to expand your checklist. These are truly awesome features of BeeHiiv. But …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is one of one of the most well known viral promotion platforms for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall surface wherefore this implies for the platform moving forward.
Points BeeHiiv Is Much Better At … Daniel Berk Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s product cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and much less integrations, which is all-natural for this stage of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also means that they are quickly creating.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually observed practically regular launch of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet huge features that are rather vital. Their rate of growth now has gone over.
I also significantly value how receptive they are. As a matter of fact, among their item news concerning some style improvements to the web design features really contained a small issue with the material size. I just responded to that e-mail to tell them. I promptly obtained a reply directly from the chief executive officer:.
That very same day, the problem was dealt with.
Few days later on, I gave them an additional recommendation …
Certainly, in a bit over a week of that exchange, the capability to cause automations based on the embed type utilized was included in the system.
That sort of responsiveness and direct involvement of the group is something I truly value.
An additional significant factor of distinction below is the rate. Both platforms supply cost-free plans, however the BeeHiiv free plan offers extra ability and more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
When you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is likewise much more positive. ConvertKit appears more affordable at first glance due to the fact that their pricing page shows lower numbers, nonetheless the subscriber limits are much reduced and your rate promptly boosts as your listing grows.
With BeeHiiv, your very first degree paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid annually), however you can have up to 10,000 clients. That very same dimension listing is going to run you $100/month with ConvertKit.
If you upgrade to the “Scale” plan with BeeHiiv (their best plan and the one I directly use), you can expand your checklist approximately 100,000. A listing of that size would 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 every year, as well. With BeeHiiv, you can get all that for simply $84/month if you pay every year.
BeeHiiv is in an entirely different organization when it concerns pricing (in a good way).
Will BeeHiiv eventually increase rates? They might as time takes place. Yet, I’m presuming people like myself that are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how things proceed.
Points I Would Certainly Like BeeHiiv To Include
Among the things you absolutely require to keep in mind is that BeeHiiv is reasonably young. They do seem to advance instead promptly and make brand-new product statements somewhat frequently, but there are some fundamental features I really wish they had that I require to just wait for.
One is that they need to have a setting on membership types where I can select an automation to run right at the form level. That would certainly be incredible for many reasons. Currently, membership kinds look OK, yet there’s very little settings for them to assist in segmentation.
It would be nice to have labeling at the subscriber level. This would certainly be powerful.
I think webhooks should be part of automations to make integrated automations easier and reduce dependence on outdoors devices like Zapier.
There are also some small management user interface adjustments that would certainly come in handy. For instance:
- Capability to mass edit/remove subscribers.
- Capability to mass edit messages (as an example, to label a lot of them at the same time).
- Having a few fundamental areas as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some more personalization alternatives for the web site (such as even more versatile shade choices, heading control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some drawbacks. Points I hope they do with it in the near future. BeeHiiv is pretty good, however it isn’t best and absolutely not almost as created as something like FluentCRM or any other genuine CRM item.
It possibly never will certainly be, either. As I said, the function is various so it would not much a great deal of feeling for BeeHiiv to become a complete marketing automation platform. I guess you never ever know, though.
Final Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I such as BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Sufficient where I determined to change my own newsletters over to the system regardless of my personal preference for digital sovereignty and owning my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter posting model especially, I saw adequate worth in their platform to require the change.
Keep in mind, I do not use BeeHiiv as my unique e-mail listing. I use BeeHiiv of what it is proficient at, but I intentionally have things establish so that I additionally maintain my list “in house” inside of FluentCRM.
If you utilize BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the exact same. It is just a good insurance coverage, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your checklist will certainly be of high usage (FluentCRM is a complete marketing automation platform and BeeHiiv is not and likely never will be).
So, the concern is … should YOU utilize BeeHiiv?
In my viewpoint, if you are using Substack now, I ‘d absolutely consider changing to BeeHiiv. It will merely be more business-friendly. It is targeting different capabilities and various demands. And also, BeeHiiv also has import devices for Substack, so the switch ought to be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit now, I ‘d most likely stay unless you have a large e-mail checklist and are as a result being fleeced with their high regular monthly expense. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are iterating promptly. There’s additionally a pretty good possibility you’re not also utilizing several of those fancier features of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv might easily be a much better and more cost effective fit.
Last but not least, if you plan to be really intentional about expanding a newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE platform to think about and maintain and eye on for you.
If you utilize BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is developed to be, it is one of the very best video games around right now. This is the system to enjoy.
BeeHiiv provides a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It is worth checking out on your own. And if you end up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll discover the totally free account to be fairly feature abundant.