Newsletters

The newsletter platform category has three meaningful choices as of 2026: Beehiiv for writers building a monetized newsletter business, Substack for writers who want zero upfront cost and built-in discovery, and Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for creators with broader product businesses. The 80/20 verdict: use Beehiiv if you expect to earn paid subscription revenue above $400 per month. Use Substack if you’re starting from zero and cost is the primary constraint.

What is the newsletter tool category?

Newsletter platforms let writers send email newsletters, manage subscriber lists, and monetize through paid subscriptions or sponsorships. The primary job-to-be-done is sending email to a large audience reliably, with tracking, without managing a mail server or dealing with spam filters.

The category thinned out between 2023 and 2024. MailChimp lost its position as the obvious default when it repriced its free tier to 500 contacts. Tinyletter was shut down by Mailchimp in 2023. What remained is a tighter competitive set where monetization model, not deliverability, is the deciding factor. Substack reports over 5 million paid subscriptions as of 2025. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) has approximately $30 million ARR. Beehiiv crossed 25,000 paid newsletters in mid-2025.

How should you pick a newsletter platform?

Pick on revenue model, not features. The deliverability gap between the leading platforms is negligible below 50,000 subscribers — every major platform has solved email delivery.

The decision tree: if you plan to charge readers for access, the revenue share model is the primary variable. Beehiiv keeps 0% of your subscription revenue. Substack takes 10% forever. If you have 0 subscribers and $0 in revenue, Substack’s free tier is a rational start. Once you reach $400 per month in paid subscriptions, the math flips to Beehiiv. See our evaluation methodology for the full criteria.

Audience size and list management also matter. Kit’s automation and segmentation tools are meaningfully stronger than Beehiiv’s for creators managing multiple product lines, courses, and audience segments. Newsletter-first writers don’t need that complexity.

Our core picks for newsletters in 2026

Beehiiv is the core pick for writers building a newsletter as a primary business. Over 25,000 paid newsletters, a referral and recommendation system that drives organic growth, a native ad network for sponsorship monetization, and a flat monthly fee that caps at $42 per month regardless of paid subscription revenue. The Scale plan unlocks full monetization features. See our full Beehiiv review for the detailed breakdown.

Beehiiv’s limitation: its audience below the 2,500 free subscriber tier is where most new writers will be for months. In that window, Substack’s zero cost and built-in discovery are hard to argue against.

When should you pick a situational newsletter tool?

For new writers starting from zero with no existing audience, Substack is the situational pick. Free to start, an active reader-discovery network, and a trusted brand among paying readers. The 10% revenue cut only becomes expensive once you have revenue worth sharing. Move to Beehiiv when monthly paid subscription revenue exceeds $400.

For creators with multi-product businesses — courses, memberships, digital downloads alongside a newsletter — Kit at $25-50 per month has the automation and segmentation depth that Beehiiv lacks. Kit treats the newsletter as one of several audience touchpoints; Beehiiv treats it as the product.

Ghost is the niche pick for writers who want to own their publishing infrastructure. Self-hosted Ghost is $9 per month for hosting with 0% transaction fees — the strongest economics in the category if you have the technical willingness to manage it.

What newsletter tools should you skip?

• Mailchimp — Repriced and hollowed out since the 2022 free tier change. Better-suited to e-commerce email than newsletter publishing. Most newsletter writers have cheaper and better options.
• MailerLite — Decent free tier, but missing the monetization and growth features that separate modern newsletter platforms. A reasonable backup but not a primary choice for writers building a business.
• ActiveCampaign — Enterprise email automation platform, not a newsletter tool. The pricing ($29-149+/month) and complexity are calibrated for marketing teams running multi-channel campaigns, not solo newsletter writers.

How much do newsletter platforms cost?

Pricing as of mid-2025, billed annually. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue on all plans; no monthly fee.

Frequently asked questions about newsletters

(See FAQ frontmatter above — rendered by the page template.)

Related categories: analytics — for tracking newsletter referral traffic and conversion on your site, crm — for writers who need to connect subscriber data to a sales pipeline. See our evaluation methodology for how we rate every tool in this directory.