Guides
Newsletter platforms: what to check before choosing
A practical checklist for evaluating newsletter platforms: compare pricing terms, payout rules, sending limits, subscriber exports, and compliance duties.
What to take away
- Platform costs can be a cut of paid subscriptions, a monthly bill, or both; compare the fee model with your list size.
- Substack and Beehiiv handle payments for you; Ghost, Buttondown and Kit leave you to run Stripe yourself.
- Export your subscriber list before you commit. Ownership means you can leave with the addresses.
- Free-tier sending limits matter more than feature lists when your list is small.
- CAN-SPAM duties sit with the sender, not the platform, even when a vendor sends on your behalf.
What to compare across newsletter platforms
Platform choice comes down to four numbers: what you pay monthly, what the platform takes from paid subscriptions, who holds the subscriber relationship, and what leaving costs you.
Platform fees and subscriber ownership
Substack
- Monthly cost
- Free to publish
- Platform cut
- 10% of subscription revenue
- Payment processing
- Platform handles it
- Best for
- Writers who want discovery
Beehiiv
- Monthly cost
- Free tier, then by list size
- Platform cut
- Revenue share on paid tiers
- Payment processing
- Platform handles it
- Best for
- Growth tools and ad network
Kit / Ghost / MailerLite
- Monthly cost
- Free tier or flat monthly
- Platform cut
- None
- Payment processing
- You run Stripe
- Best for
- Creators selling courses or blogs
Monthly price tier
- Beehiiv
- Free, then from about $39 a month (typical)
- Substack
- Free to publish
- Kit (ConvertKit)
- Free to 10,000 subscribers
- Ghost
- From about $9 a month managed (typical)
- Mailchimp
- Free, then by contacts
- Campaign Monitor
- Monthly by contacts; no free tier
- MailerLite
- Free to 1,000 subscribers, then from about $10 a month (typical)
- Buttondown
- Free to 100 subscribers, then monthly
- Brevo
- Free, then by volume
- HubSpot
- Free, then per seat
- ActiveCampaign
- Monthly by contacts; no free tier
- Customer.io
- Monthly by profiles; no free tier
Takes from paid subs
- Beehiiv
- Share varies; confirm the rate
- Substack
- 10% of subscription revenue
- Kit (ConvertKit)
- None; you run Stripe
- Ghost
- None; you run Stripe
- Mailchimp
- None; you run Stripe
- Campaign Monitor
- None
- MailerLite
- None
- Buttondown
- None; Stripe or PayPal
- Brevo
- None
- HubSpot
- None
- ActiveCampaign
- None
- Customer.io
- None
Free-tier sending limit
- Beehiiv
- Up to 2,500 subscribers (typical)
- Substack
- No stated send cap
- Kit (ConvertKit)
- Up to 10,000 subscribers
- Ghost
- Self-host only
- Mailchimp
- 500 contacts, 1,000 sends a month
- Campaign Monitor
- No free tier
- MailerLite
- 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails a month
- Buttondown
- 100 subscribers
- Brevo
- 300 emails a day
- HubSpot
- 2,000 emails a month
- ActiveCampaign
- No free tier
- Customer.io
- No free tier
Best for
- Beehiiv
- Growth tools and ad network
- Substack
- Writers who want discovery
- Kit (ConvertKit)
- Creators selling courses
- Ghost
- Sites that are also blogs
- Mailchimp
- Businesses already in its ecosystem
- Campaign Monitor
- Agencies managing client lists
- MailerLite
- Small lists on a budget
- Buttondown
- Plain-text, no-design newsletters
- Brevo
- Transactional plus marketing
- HubSpot
- Teams running a CRM
- ActiveCampaign
- Automation-heavy sequences
- Customer.io
- Product-triggered messaging
Confirm current numbers on each platform's own pricing page. Rates change, and list-size tiers move.
Worked example: what the fee costs you
Take a newsletter with 2,000 paying subscribers at $8 a month. Gross revenue is $16,000 a month.
What you keep on $16,000 gross
- Substack$14,400
- Beehiiv paid tiersshare applies
- Kit, Ghost, Buttondown, MailerLite$16,000
On Substack, the platform keeps 10%, leaving $14,400 before payment processing. The $16,000 comparison for Kit, Ghost, Buttondown or MailerLite is also before processing fees and monthly plan costs. Beehiiv's current revenue-share rate is not stated here, so its net cannot be calculated from this example. Confirm current terms before comparing net revenue.
The gap is real but it is not the whole decision. Substack's cut buys discovery and a payment system you never touch. Ghost's flat fee buys nothing but the software. Run your own gross figure through both models before you pick.
Payout terms
Thresholds and timing vary by platform. Stripe-based providers typically release funds on a rolling schedule, with the first payout held for about seven days. Substack and Beehiiv typically pay monthly.
Minimum withdrawal thresholds are usually $10 to $50, set by the platform or by Stripe. If you leave, funds collected for the current period usually still settle, but terms can allow a holdback for refunds and chargebacks. Read that clause first.
Checks before you commit
- Export a test list from the free tier and confirm the file opens with real email addresses.
- Read the payout termswhen money lands, what threshold applies, and what happens if you leave.
- Check the sending limit on the free tier against your current list size, not your projected one.
- Confirm who is the sender of record for compliance purposes.
- Price the migrationwhat breaks when you move 5,000 addresses to a new provider.
Moving 5,000 addresses typically takes four to eight hours: export and clean the file, map custom fields, rebuild forms, and set up automations again. Plan two to four weeks to warm the new domain. The tooling is a spreadsheet and the new plan.
The compliance side does not move with the platform
FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide sets the duties: accurate headers, honest subject lines, a physical postal address, a working opt-out, and suppression within ten business days. The sender carries those duties even when a platform sends on your behalf.
FTC: Time for a ROSCA Recap covers negative-option offers. If you sell a paid tier through a free trial, disclose the terms before you collect card details and make cancellation simple. State law can add requirements on top.
FTC: Advertising FAQs for small business governs what you can claim in a sponsorship slot. Endorsements must reflect honest experience, and paid relationships must be disclosed. A licensed attorney reviews sponsorship contracts and state consent rules, not a platform's terms page.
Common questions
Do I own my subscriber list on every platform?
On all twelve, you can export addresses, but the mechanics differ. Substack and Beehiiv export on request; Ghost, Buttondown and MailerLite give you a self-serve export. Test the export before you build on any of them.
Which platform is cheapest for a small paid newsletter?
For a list under 1,000 paying subscribers, MailerLite is the cheapest named pick. Its free plan covers 1,000 subscribers, takes no cut of subscription revenue, and allows 12,000 emails a month. Kit is free to 10,000 subscribers with no revenue share, which suits a larger low-priced list. Substack and Beehiiv take a share instead.
Do I need a lawyer to launch a paid tier?
Not to launch, but a licensed attorney should review sponsorship contracts, privacy obligations and consent rules that vary by state. The FTC guides above cover the advertising and email basics you can check yourself.
