I have actually utilized a great deal of various e-mail list systems throughout the years. In the last number of years, I have actually been a big advocate of digital sovereignty and having your very own platform. Therefore (and the incredible features), I have actually been using Kea Marketing LLC Beehiiv.
So, it is certainly an odd move for me to determine to utilize BeeHiiv. Besides, it is an organized application and I am paying monthly for it.
Why did I do this?
In this BeeHiiv testimonial, I intend to go over why I made the button to BeeHiiv for my newsletters. I want to deal with the problem of digital sovereignty while using the system and I would certainly additionally like to address why I picked to utilize it over Substack.
Allow’s dive in …
BeeHiiv: Constructed For E-newsletters
In Issue # 435 of my e-newsletter called My Leisure activity + A Big Change In Strategy, I talked about how and why I made a decision to turn my recreational vehicle blog right into largely a newsletter. I chose that was business version I wanted to seek with that residential property.
But, to intentionally seek it as a newsletter, I desired a platform that was purpose-built for that. I was using FluentCRM for the email list for Gladly recreational vehicle, but FluentCRM is not a newsletter platform. It is constructed to be a CRM and marketing automation tool and, honestly, using it for newsletters is a bit of a waste. A lot more on that particular in a bit.
As I claimed in that issue of the newsletter …
Put simply, BeeHiiv is a platform with tools built right into it specific to my purpose. Things such as:
- Capacity to publish (to the blog) and send out the e-mail simultaneously without having it be 2 different actions.
- Integrated in e-newsletter referral program. FluentCRM does not have that and I would certainly require a third-party device like Sparkloop.
- Built-in ability to do cross-promotions with other newsletters on the BeeHiiv system.
- ” Magic Hyperlinks”, which are essentially one-click registration links. Great for promotion in various other newsletters. FluentCRM has Smart Hyperlinks, however, so there are means to do that.
- Capacity to do paid “boosts” on the BeeHiiv network to advertise your newsletter.
- Built-in ad network, if I pick to monetize with ads in the e-newsletter. And I may.
- Integrated capability to run a paid e-newsletter upgrade and primarily run a costs e-newsletter. And BeeHiiv doesn’t take a cut.
Primarily, BeeHiiv is purpose-built for e-newsletter authors with features targeted at growth. The system was essentially built by the individuals who built up the technology for Early morning Brew. They understand what they’re doing.
That is the factor below. BeeHiiv is constructed from scratch for the objective of running an e-newsletter. FluentCRM has a various purpose.
And I finished off with this:.
I might undoubtedly be relocating The Edge over to BeeHiiv too. A minimum of, I’m highly considering it.
Well, I didn’t consider it for long. In fact, I simply went all out. And in fact, The EDGE was re-branded over to The Morning WP, triggered as it’s own property so that I can grow it extra intentionally as well.
The goal is that each newsletter has the capacity to be branded as it’s own media entity and grown individually. Gladly motor home was young, so very easy to shift. However, The Morning WP (previously The Edge) was hidden in a sea of things 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 carefully linked with the Blog site Marketing Academy, but doesn’t have to belong of it.
I changed to BeeHiiv because it was constructed for this purpose. FluentCRM was not.
Newsletters Versus Simply A Regular Email Listing
There’s a distinction in between an e-newsletter platform and just an email checklist.
You can organize your email listing anyplace you desire and there are a variety of them out there, from Aweber, ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit … over to self-hosted alternatives like GroundHogg and FluentCRM.
What’s the difference?
The key distinction is that, with a newsletter system, the act of publishing means that it is going to your website and to your email customers simultaneously.
With both BeeHiiv and Substack, you have a web site. You are releasing to that internet site. However, you are also dispatching to all customers at the same time. The website and it’s customers are all in one. This makes monitoring of the system much less complex.
With a lot of e-mail platforms, any type of e-newsletter you established is done as an email campaign. It is developed totally separately from your web site. So, for example, you might release a post to WordPress however then you would require to separately construct and send out an email to your listing to send it to subscribers. These are then 2 different sets of archives and 2 different actions due to the fact that article and your emails are not naturally linked.
The closest point that transforms WordPress right into a true newsletter system is E-newsletter Glue.
It is a fitting name since it basically “glues” your newsletter to your WordPress messages and enables them to be the exact same thing. Definitely, something like Newsletter Glue would be a strong option if I intended to remain to self-host everything. Nevertheless, you would certainly lose the growth tools that feature a platform like BeeHiiv.
Posting an e-newsletter naturally comes with a various set of demands than a common email list.
You do not usually need much marketing automation. You do not generally need autoresponder series, event monitoring, and all the bells and whistles of a marketing automation platform.
What you DO need, however, is one smooth publishing experience and growth tools to assist you construct your client base that specify to e-newsletters.
BeeHiiv vs Substack
When I revealed to my subscribers that I was mosting likely to switch the newsletter over to BeeHiiv, I had many people ask me why I was selecting it over Substack.
To be clear, also besides the fact that I chose to select BeeHiiv, that doesn’t suggest I believe Substack sucks. As a matter of fact, since Substack has been about much longer, it is more mature and has more features.
Even though BeeHiiv is younger, there are a couple things that at first got my focus:.
- BeeHiiv is especially customized to newsletter publishers. As a matter of fact, it is literally developed by the exact same individuals that developed the technology behind Early morning Mixture. On the other hand, SubStack targets authors. In the real life, does not matter. Yet, the obvious positioning of BeeHiiv toward e-newsletter development called me out over the even more common positioning of being a “designer”. Growth is what I want below.
- That branding and distinction also suggests that BeeHiiv has some rather big brands and huge publications using it. Whereas SubStack is aimed even more at solo makers. Again, it just informs me the consumer character distinction between both companies.
Sending our my e-newsletter by means of FluentCRM really did not exactly suck. The only factor I would certainly ponder drinking things up is if I believed I can expand the listing quicker. And BeeHiiv spoke specifically to that objective.
As a result of the targeting, I really do not see BeeHiiv and Substack as direct competitors. I assume BeeHiiv is targeting a various type of consumer. As a matter of fact, if anything, I see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being a lot more straight rivals.
Yet, allow’s dive much deeper than just the placing here.
Points That Make BeeHiiv Better Than Substack
In general, BeeHiiv feels like it was developed by individuals that comprehending e-mail marketing. On the other hand, SubStack appears more geared toward makers.
For instance, BeeHiiv supplies custom-made areas on subscribers. Now, it isn’t as created as something like FluentCRM. However, it has it. Substack does not.
BeeHiiv uses Automations. Actually, it is an aesthetic automation builder that functions a great deal like what we have within FluentCRM.
To be clear, the automation functionality is still early-phase. It is still quite restricted in triggers and the only activity is the ability to send out an e-mail. Nonetheless, enhancements are coming. Soon sufficient, automations will have brand-new triggers in addition to new activities, such as customizing personalized fields, sending out webhooks, etc. I have actually already seen improvements to their automations just given that I started using the system. As an example:
- Ability to cause automations based on which details embed kind they can be found in on.
- Ability to automatically do re-engagement (and manage people based on opens up and non-opens).
- Capability to do fundamental conditional reasoning branches.
Substack does not have automations like this. Likely, it never will. Substack just can not do this since the target audience of Substack just would not believe to approach this like an e-mail marketing expert.
When it concerns creating your e-newsletters, the composing interface of BeeHiiv is simply extra geared towards e-newsletters. In fact, it really has resemblances to the WordPress block builder in just how it works. I discover it to be much more user-friendly, directly.
Substack’s composing user interface is nice and tidy, however it would be extra equal to the traditional editor for WordPress. Toolbar on top.
This difference is greater than just kind. For example, with BeeHiiv you can place a “Section” and then put anything you desire in it. Then, you can place Visibility alternatives on that area to show it just to paid subscribers, conceal it from email, conceal from customers, reveal only to clients, etc. Substack uses nothing such as this.
And when/if the time comes that I start a costs subscription design, BeeHiiv doesn’t take any revenue. Actually, you literally attach approximately your own Stripe account and it bills directly to it. With Substack, they will take 10% of your income. Depending on how many subscribers you obtain, that 10% can be a fair bit even more cash than the monthly cost of BeeHiiv.
Lastly, BeeHiiv has an API. This could appear nerdy, but what it means is that there are integrations with BeeHiiv. You can really make BeeHiiv work with the outside utilizing devices like Zapier or Make.com. This is HUGE. Substack actually has … absolutely nothing. No integrations in any way.
On the whole, I simply felt like BeeHiiv was more developed towards genuine email marketing. It was developed by individuals who “get it”. Even the opt-in types and the landing page makes appear far better constructed for conversions. Growth is nitty-gritty with BeeHiiv.
Even though there are still features I would like to see BeeHiiv include, I like the instructions it is going more than Substack.
Things That Make Substack Better Than BeeHiiv
As I have actually claimed, Substack positions itself toward “makers” more than email marketing experts and newsletter owners. For that reason, you see some points geared more towards individuals that simply believe in regards to content production.
For instance, Substack supports podcasts. BeeHiiv does not.
Additionally, while BeeHiiv does support multiple magazines, they are dealt with quite individually. Whereas Substack does have the capability to cross-post to multiple magazines at the same time. This isn’t something I need, however … cool for people who could require it.
Substack likewise has even more social capability built-in. For instance, it has a chat function to host chats with clients. It likewise has a “Notes” feature which functions kind of like a social media sites newsfeed where you can share points from other “Stacks” you read. Fascinating. Generally, Substack is established to be a lot more like a social media which sustains long-form web content.
On the whole, Substack is additionally much more … minimal. You either take care of that or don’t. Directly, I do not. Nonetheless, if the goal is simpleness of interface and, honestly, features … Substack functions quite well.
However, I’ll be clear right here …
When it pertains to actual marketing, I don’t believe there’s much question that BeeHiiv is much better matched. I looked for more factors that make Substack far better than BeeHiiv, but truthfully … I have a hard time locating them.
BeeHiiv Vs ConvertKit
While BeeHiiv and Substack are usually through to be the closest rivals, I really see BeeHiiv and ConvertKit being the closer competitors. Both are going after the exact same target market and have comparable capabilities.
ConvertKit is likewise positioned at creators (like Substack), but it is much more strongly accommodating people who do it for company. ConvertKit has great visual automation structure, it’s own business system, and much more. ConvertKit is a really good platform.
I’m not going to birthed you with a complete feature-by-feature malfunction below. ConvertKit is well known currently. Yet, below’s exactly how I feel BeeHiiv and ConvertKit compare …
Things ConvertKit Is Much Better At …
Currently, ConvertKit has extra versatility when it pertains to it’s automations. I will also state that I find ConvertKit’s automation builder to be a little bit a lot more user-friendly than that of BeeHiiv.
ConvertKit sustains labeling. This is simply a fundamental feature of email lists that enables segmentation in a far more versatile way than BeeHiiv currently does. I anticipate BeeHiiv to support identifying at some point quickly, truthfully. It seems like an oversight that it is missing Kea Marketing LLC Beehiiv.
ConvertKit does now give the ability to sell things using their own system. BeeHiiv does not. If that is very important to you, it might be a big deal for you. For me, nevertheless, I would constantly choose a much more straight option anyhow. For me, I choose to use my own platform powered by WooCommerce.
ConvertKit has actually been about much longer and therefore has way much more integration alternatives. Lots of web-based devices and WordPress plugins integrate with ConvertKit. ConvertKit also has their very own WordPress plugin that is fairly effective. As an example, their plugin now also supports member-gated content as well as auto-embed of your newsletter archives right into your website. In essence, this a lot more very closely places ConvertKit into direct competitors by having you have the ability to release to your website and your email checklist at the same time.
BeeHiiv is badly doing not have in these kinds of third-party integrations currently. It’ll get there. But, we’re not there yet with it.
ConvertKit is also active dealing with the development tools of BeeHiiv. For example, BeeHiiv has the referral program and the Suggestion Engine where you can not only incentivize individuals to share your newsletter with advantages, but you can also pay per lead within the interior ad network of BeeHiiv to grow your checklist. These are truly incredible features of BeeHiiv. However …
Did you know ConvertKit obtained Sparkloop? Sparkloop is among one of the most popular viral promotion systems for e-newsletters … and ConvertKit bought it. You can see the writing on the wall wherefore this means for the system going forward.
Things BeeHiiv Is Better At … Kea Marketing LLC Beehiiv
BeeHiiv is a lot previously in it’s item cycle than ConvertKit. Part of that indicates less features and less integrations, which is all-natural for this phase of the cycle. Nevertheless, it also indicates that they are quickly establishing.
In the short time that I have been a customer of BeeHiiv, I have actually experienced nearly once a week release of new features right into the system. And these aren’t puny little features … yet huge features that are rather important. Their speed of growth at this moment has actually gone over.
I likewise significantly value how responsive they are. Actually, among their item announcements concerning some style improvements to the website design features in fact had a small issue with the content size. I just responded to that email to tell them. I swiftly obtained a reply directly from the CEO:.
That very same day, the issue was fixed.
Couple of days later on, I gave them one more suggestion …
Indeed, in a little bit over a week of that exchange, the capacity to trigger automations based upon the embed form made use of was contributed to the system.
That sort of responsiveness and straight involvement of the group is something I truly value.
One more major factor of differentiation right here is the cost. Both platforms provide complimentary plans, nevertheless the BeeHiiv free plan offers much more capability and even more clients (2,500 vs 1,000) than ConvertKit.
Once you most likely to paid plans, the pricing of BeeHiiv is also much more positive. ConvertKit appears more affordable in the beginning look because their pricing page shows lower numbers, nevertheless the client limits are much lower and your cost promptly enhances as your list grows.
With BeeHiiv, your initial level paid plan starts at $42/mo (paid yearly), nonetheless you can have up to 10,000 customers. That very same dimension listing is going 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 list as much as 100,000. A list of that size 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 annually, too. With BeeHiiv, you can obtain all that for simply $84/month if you pay yearly.
BeeHiiv remains in a completely various league when it comes to pricing (in a great way).
Will BeeHiiv ultimately increase prices? They might as time takes place. But, I’m presuming people like myself who are already in will be locked-in. We’ll see exactly how points continue.
Things I Would Like BeeHiiv To Include
One of the things you definitely require to bear in mind is that BeeHiiv is relatively young. They do appear to advance instead swiftly and make brand-new item announcements somewhat frequently, yet there are some basic features I really wish they had that I require to just await.
One is that they require to have a setup on membership forms where I might choose an automation to run right at the kind degree. That would certainly be incredible for many factors. Currently, subscription kinds look OK, however there’s really little setups for them to help in division.
It would certainly behave to have labeling at the client level. This would certainly be effective.
I believe webhooks must belong to automations to make integrated automations simpler and minimize dependence on outside tools like Zapier.
There are also some small management user interface modifications that would certainly be handy. For example:
- Capacity to bulk edit/remove subscribers.
- Capacity to bulk edit blog posts (for instance, to label a bunch of them at the same time).
- Having a few standard areas as typical on subscribers (like the name).
- Some even more customization choices for the web site (such as even more flexible color choices, headline control, etc).
So, yeah … there are some shortcomings. Things I wish they make with it in the future. BeeHiiv is respectable, but it isn’t best and absolutely not nearly as developed as something like FluentCRM or any other real CRM item.
It possibly never will be, either. As I said, the objective is different so it wouldn’t much a great deal of sense for BeeHiiv to come to be a full marketing automation platform. I presume you never ever understand, though.
Last Thoughts On This BeeHiiv Testimonial
I like BeeHiiv quite a great deal. Enough where I determined to switch my very own newsletters over to the platform despite my personal choice for digital sovereignty and owning my own system.
Basically, for the newsletter publishing design specifically, I saw enough value in their platform to warrant the modification.
Remember, I do not utilize BeeHiiv as my unique email list. I utilize BeeHiiv for what it is efficient, yet I purposefully have points establish to make sure that I additionally keep my listing “in residence” within FluentCRM.
If you use BeeHiiv, I suggest you do the same. It is just a good insurance plan, for one. However, having a full-featured marketing automation system for your list 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 inquiry is … should YOU make use of BeeHiiv?
In my point of view, if you are making use of Substack now, I ‘d certainly think about changing to BeeHiiv. It will simply be more business-friendly. It is targeting various capacities and various demands. Plus, BeeHiiv even has import devices for Substack, so the switch should be pretty uncomplicated.
If you get on ConvertKit currently, I ‘d most likely sit tight unless you have a big e-mail checklist and are consequently being wooled with their high month-to-month bill. You will not (yet) have every feature of ConvertKit with BeeHiiv, yet they are repeating promptly. There’s also a respectable opportunity you’re not even using some of those fancier functions of ConvertKit and you don’t even require them. Because of that, BeeHiiv can conveniently be a far better and much more affordable fit.
Lastly, if you plan to be really intentional about expanding an e-newsletter, I assume BeeHiiv is THE system to think about and keep and eye on for you.
If you use BeeHiiv with eyes wide open about what it is created to be, it is among the most effective games around today. This is the system to view.
BeeHiiv uses a 14-day trial on their paid plans. It deserves checking out for yourself. And if you wind up not sticking with the paid plan, you’ll locate the totally free account to be rather feature rich.