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For most readers, beehiiv is the strongest all-around choice for newsletter growth and monetization; Substack is the easiest place for writers to start; Kit is best for creators selling products or memberships; and Ghost offers the most control for an owned publication. MailerLite, Mailchimp, and Buttondown are better fits for specific business, budget, or technical requirements.
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Prices below are an editorial snapshot observed on August 18, 2026. Plans, limits, regional pricing, taxes, payment-processing fees, and add-ons can change, so verify the vendor’s current pricing before subscribing.
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Quick comparison
| Platform | Best for | Pricing signal | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | Newsletter businesses and audience growth | Launch from $0; Scale from $43/month | Less suited to complex CRM-style campaigns |
| Substack | Writers and simple paid newsletters | Free to publish; 10% of paid subscription revenue | Revenue share and limited customization |
| Kit | Creators selling products, courses, or memberships | $0 plan up to 1,000 subscribers; Creator from $33/month at 1,000 | More creator-funnel focused than publication focused |
| Ghost | Owned publication websites and memberships | Verify Ghost(Pro) pricing; self-hosting has operating costs | More setup and technical responsibility |
| MailerLite | Budget-conscious small businesses | Free up to 250 subscribers; paid plans from $12/month | Free plan has relatively low limits |
| Mailchimp | Established marketing teams and integrations | Standard shown from $20/month for a 500-contact example | Contact-based pricing and possible overages |
| Buttondown | Minimalist, technical, and privacy-conscious newsletters | First 100 subscribers free; base plan shown at $9/month | Advanced features are add-ons |
These products are not interchangeable. Substack and beehiiv are publication-first platforms; Kit is a creator-business tool; Ghost combines publishing with a website and membership system; MailerLite and Mailchimp are broader email-marketing platforms; Buttondown intentionally keeps the workflow simple.
#1 Best Overall
How to choose a newsletter platform
Answer these four questions before comparing monthly prices:
- Is the newsletter the product, or is it a marketing channel? A paid publication needs different tools from a company email list.
- Do you need built-in discovery? Substack and beehiiv can help with recommendations and network-based growth. That can be valuable, but it does not guarantee new subscribers.
- Will you sell subscriptions, products, or courses? Kit and beehiiv are stronger for creator monetization; Ghost is stronger for an owned membership publication.
- Do you need advanced automation? Kit, Mailchimp, and MailerLite are generally better starting points than Substack or Buttondown for complex journeys.
Also check what “subscriber” means. One provider may bill for active subscribers, another for all stored contacts, and another may impose monthly sending limits. Free plans may restrict custom domains, automations, analytics, branding, imports, or paid subscriptions.
1. beehiiv: best overall for newsletter growth and monetization
beehiiv is built for treating a newsletter as a media or audience business. Its feature set emphasizes recommendations, paid recommendations, advertising, analytics, websites, paid subscriptions, digital products, communities, and newsletter-focused publishing.
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- Launch: from $0 per month
- Scale: from $43 per month
- Max: from $96 per month
The free Launch plan includes newsletters, websites, podcasts, unlimited sends, campaign analytics, recommendations, custom domains, and deliverability features. The Scale plan adds features including the ad network, paid recommendations, digital products, communities, automations, advanced analytics, and a stated 0% platform take rate on paid subscriptions. Payment processing is still separate.
Best for
- Newsletter startups and media operators
- Sponsorship-driven publications
- Creators expecting to add paid subscriptions
- Publishers who want growth tools in the same system
Trade-offs
beehiiv is less compelling when the central requirement is a highly designed promotional email, a deep CRM, or elaborate sales operations. It is newsletter-focused rather than a conventional drag-and-drop marketing suite. Vendor claims about optimized deliverability should not be treated as proof that it has the best inbox placement; deliverability also depends on authentication, list quality, sending behavior, complaints, content, and mailbox-provider policies.
Choose beehiiv if: you want to build a monetized newsletter business. Look elsewhere if: you primarily need CRM-heavy marketing campaigns.
2. Substack: best for writers and the simplest launch
Substack removes much of the technical setup involved in publishing. Writers can post articles, collect email subscribers, and enable paid subscriptions without separately assembling a website, email service, payment system, and membership layer.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesIts major advantage is distribution. The Substack ecosystem includes a reader network, recommendations, an app, and Notes-style discovery. This makes it particularly attractive for writers, journalists, commentators, and creators validating an idea.
Pricing snapshot
Publishing is free. When paid subscriptions are enabled, Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue, in addition to payment-processing costs. The percentage fee can be worthwhile if the network helps you acquire paying readers, but it can become expensive as subscription revenue grows.
Trade-offs
- Branding and layout control are more limited than on Ghost or a fully controlled website.
- It is not intended to replace sophisticated automation software.
- You become more dependent on Substack’s publishing and discovery ecosystem.
- You should understand subscriber exports, custom domains, content portability, billing, and payment data before building a large business there.
Choose Substack if: speed, simplicity, and built-in discovery matter most. Look elsewhere if: you need complex funnels, extensive branding, or want to minimize percentage-based fees at high paid-subscription revenue.
For a discussion of the fee structure and payment processing, see TechRadar’s Substack review.
3. Kit: best for creators selling products or memberships
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is designed around the creator business. It combines broadcasts with forms, landing pages, tagging, segmentation, sequences, visual automations, digital products, paid subscriptions, tips, and integrations.
Pricing snapshot
At the 1,000-subscriber selector, the pricing page showed:
- Newsletter: $0 per month
- Creator: $33 per month
- Pro: $66 per month
The free Newsletter plan includes unlimited broadcasts, forms, landing pages, tagging and segmentation, one basic visual automation, and the ability to sell digital products and subscriptions. Creator adds unlimited visual automations and sequences. Product and subscription transaction fees, if applicable, should be checked for the exact feature and plan rather than assumed from the software price.
Choose Kit if: your email list supports courses, coaching, products, memberships, or other creator income. Look elsewhere if: you mainly want a public editorial publication with built-in reader discovery or a full independent media website.
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4. Ghost: best for an owned publication and membership website
Ghost combines publishing, websites, newsletters, memberships, and subscriptions. It is a strong fit when the newsletter is part of a broader media brand rather than just an email list.
Pricing and ownership
Separate Ghost(Pro) from self-hosted Ghost. Ghost(Pro) is managed hosting with recurring subscription pricing. Self-hosting can reduce platform subscription costs, but you still pay for hosting, email delivery, backups, maintenance, updates, security, and technical operations.
Because the exact cost depends on edition, hosting, traffic, sending infrastructure, and billing term, do not compare Ghost using one undifferentiated price. Verify the current Ghost pricing page before subscribing.
Trade-offs
- More control comes with more responsibility.
- Self-hosting may require a server, domain, transactional email provider, and deliverability configuration.
- Ghost has less built-in discovery than Substack.
- It may be excessive for a small personal newsletter that only needs simple publishing.
Choose Ghost if: you want an owned website, publication, or membership business. Look elsewhere if: you want zero technical setup or immediate network-driven discovery.
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Ghost explains the distinction between its broader publishing system and newsletter-first tools in its comparison with beehiiv.
5. MailerLite: best budget-friendly all-in-one email marketing
MailerLite is a practical middle ground for small businesses and solopreneurs. It includes campaigns, forms, landing pages, websites, automations, digital products, bookings, reporting, and A/B testing.
Pricing snapshot
- Free: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails
- Comfort: from $12 per month
- Power: from $25 per month
Pricing is usage-based. MailerLite says exceeding an active-subscriber limit automatically moves an account to the next tier, so check whether inactive or unsubscribed contacts affect the bill.
Choose MailerLite if: you need affordable forms, landing pages, websites, and automations for a small business. Look elsewhere if: sponsorships, built-in discovery, or a paid editorial publication is your priority.
6. Mailchimp: best for established marketing ecosystems
Mailchimp remains useful for businesses that need conventional email campaigns, templates, integrations, customer communications, and a familiar marketing ecosystem. It is not automatically the best choice for a publication-style newsletter.
Pricing snapshot
The pricing page showed a Standard-plan example starting at $20 per month after the trial for 500 contacts. Limits vary by plan, contact count, sending volume, geography, promotions, and billing conditions. Overage charges may apply when contact or email-send limits are exceeded. A 15% nonprofit discount was also displayed.
Mailchimp’s contact-based pricing can become expensive when a business stores inactive contacts or needs higher sending limits. However, existing integrations and team familiarity can justify the cost.
Choose Mailchimp if: the newsletter is one part of a broader marketing operation. Look elsewhere if: you are a solo writer who only needs simple broadcasts and paid subscriptions.
See Mailchimp marketing pricing.
7. Buttondown: best minimalist and developer-friendly option
Buttondown focuses on a clean newsletter workflow rather than trying to become a full marketing suite. It supports Markdown, custom-domain sending, hosted archives, paid subscriptions, analytics, RSS-to-email, surveys, comments, and migration assistance.
Pricing snapshot
- First 100 subscribers: free
- Base pricing shown: $9 per month or $90 per year
- Additional features, including tagging, analytics, automations, paid subscriptions, multiple newsletters, teams, and whitelabeling, may be add-ons
The total cost therefore depends on subscriber count and the features selected.
Choose Buttondown if: you prefer Markdown, privacy, custom domains, hosted archives, and a focused workflow. Look elsewhere if: you need visual campaign design, advanced commerce, built-in discovery, ad-network monetization, or enterprise automation.
Which platform fits your business model?
| Your priority | Best starting point | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest launch | Substack | Minimal setup and built-in publishing/discovery |
| Newsletter as a business | beehiiv | Growth, recommendations, advertising, analytics, and subscriptions |
| Creator sales funnel | Kit | Automations, tags, forms, products, and subscriptions |
| Owned publication | Ghost | Website, publishing, memberships, and greater control |
| Small-business budget | MailerLite | Landing pages, websites, forms, and automations at a relatively low entry price |
| Established marketing stack | Mailchimp | Integrations and conventional business workflows |
| Minimal technical publishing | Buttondown | Markdown, custom domains, archives, and simplicity |
How newsletter platform costs change as you grow
The cheapest platform at 100 subscribers may not be the cheapest at 10,000. Model at least these stages:
- 0–250 subscribers
- 250–1,000
- 1,000–2,500
- 5,000
- 10,000
- 25,000 or more
- Any point where paid subscriptions generate meaningful revenue
Compare the monthly software bill, subscriber or contact tier, monthly send limit, annual discount, taxes, add-ons, payment processing, refunds, chargebacks, and currency conversion. Also check whether inactive contacts count toward billing and whether crossing a limit automatically moves you to a more expensive tier.
Revenue-share break-even example
A simple comparison between a percentage fee and a fixed plan is:
Break-even monthly paid revenue = monthly software cost ÷ revenue-share percentageFor example:
$43 ÷ 0.10 = $430At $430 in monthly paid-subscription revenue, a $43 monthly plan is mathematically equal to a 10% platform fee, before payment processing and other costs. This is only a starting point. Discovery, automation, ownership, and switching costs may matter more than the arithmetic.
Substack’s percentage fee may be worth paying if its simplicity and network produce more paying readers. Conversely, a fixed-price plan may improve margins once paid revenue is substantial.
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“Owning your audience” is not a simple yes-or-no feature. Before committing, check whether you can:
- Export subscribers and suppression lists
- Use a custom sending and website domain
- Export or preserve your article archive
- Back up content, subscriber records, and analytics
- Move paid-member access and billing information
- Transfer domain authentication records
- Rebuild automations, forms, and integrations elsewhere
Ghost is the strongest fit for readers who want an owned publication and are willing to manage more infrastructure. Buttondown offers a simple, portable-feeling workflow. beehiiv provides substantial control within a hosted SaaS product. Substack offers powerful distribution but creates more dependence on its platform and conventions. MailerLite, Mailchimp, and Kit are generally best understood as hosted email-marketing or creator systems rather than public publishing networks.
If you already have a large list, confirm import rules, consent records, duplicate handling, suppression-list treatment, domain authentication, and any warm-up requirements. Moving a list without proper consent or authentication can create compliance and deliverability problems.
Common decision mistakes
- Choosing by brand recognition: Mailchimp may be familiar but unnecessary for a solo writer.
- Comparing only free plans: the feature you need may be locked behind a paid tier.
- Treating subscriber limits as equivalent: contacts, active subscribers, and monthly sends are different measures.
- Assuming 0% fees means free payments: payment processors may still charge transaction fees.
- Confusing feature availability with feature quality: two platforms may both offer automations, but with very different depth and usability.
- Assuming built-in growth guarantees growth: recommendations and discovery still depend on content, audience fit, and distribution.
- Ignoring migration: a platform that is inexpensive today may be difficult to leave after years of archives and complex automations.
- Assuming self-hosting is free: hosting, email delivery, maintenance, backups, and security still cost money and time.
Final recommendations
Choose Substack if you are a writer who wants to publish immediately. Choose beehiiv if you are building a newsletter business around growth, advertising, recommendations, or paid subscriptions. Choose Kit if email will sell your courses, products, coaching, or memberships. Choose Ghost if you want an independent publication website with memberships. Choose MailerLite for affordable small-business email marketing, Mailchimp for a mature integration-heavy marketing stack, and Buttondown for a clean, Markdown-first technical newsletter.
Before paying, calculate the cost at your expected list size and confirm what happens when you exceed the next subscriber, contact, or sending limit. The best platform is the one whose economics, publishing workflow, and ownership model still fit after the newsletter succeeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free newsletter platform?
Substack is the simplest free option for writers, while beehiiv Launch and Kit Newsletter offer stronger starting points for growth-focused publishers and creators. MailerLite is free only up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, and Buttondown is free for the first 100 subscribers.
Is Substack really free?
Publishing is free, but Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue when you enable paid subscriptions. Payment-processing fees are additional.
Is beehiiv better than Substack?
Neither is universally better. beehiiv is stronger for newsletter growth and monetization tools; Substack is easier for writers who value simple publishing and built-in discovery.
What is the best platform for paid newsletters?
Substack is the easiest to launch, beehiiv is strong for a growing newsletter business, Kit suits creator products and memberships, and Ghost is strongest when paid content belongs on an owned publication website.
Which platform has the best automation?
Kit is generally the strongest creator-focused option. Mailchimp and MailerLite are better starting points for conventional marketing workflows. Substack and Buttondown are not designed for complex funnels.
Can I move my newsletter later?
Usually, but the difficulty depends on subscriber exports, content archives, domains, payment records, automations, integrations, and membership access. Check portability before building a large audience.
Do newsletter platforms own my subscribers?
You generally retain rights to your subscriber relationship subject to the platform’s terms, but the practical level of control varies. Evaluate exports, custom domains, archives, payment data, and dependence on the platform’s discovery network.
How much does a newsletter platform cost at 10,000 subscribers?
There is no single answer. Costs depend on the provider’s subscriber or contact tiers, monthly sends, add-ons, billing term, taxes, and payment fees. Use each vendor’s current calculator rather than extrapolating from an entry-level price.
Should a business use Mailchimp or a newsletter-first platform?
Choose Mailchimp when integrations, conventional campaigns, and broader customer communications matter. Choose beehiiv or Substack when the newsletter itself is the publication and audience product.
Is Ghost worth the technical setup?
Ghost can be worth it for an owned publication, website, or membership business. It is probably excessive for a small newsletter that only needs quick publishing and minimal maintenance.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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