Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in newsletter platforms
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 12 tools, reviewed
#1 beehiiv
Newsletter platform with growth and ad tools built in · United States · beehiiv.com
Growth tools Ad network Paid subscriptions
beehiiv takes first place because it treats a newsletter as a business with a growth problem and a revenue problem, and ships tools for both on a plan that costs nothing to start. The free tier sends unlimited email.
- Pricing: Per subscriber tier / month. Free plan with unlimited sends. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Publishers who want to grow and monetize a list
- Strengths: Visual editor; Referral program; Recommendations network.
Where it falls short
The growth and ad features are the product, so a team that only wants a quiet, reliable sender pays attention to many menus it will not use.
Wrong for
Writers who want a plain archive and a send button, or teams that need deep CRM-style segmentation and lifecycle automation across a product.
Visit beehiiv →
#2 Ghost
Publishing platform with newsletters and memberships · Singapore · ghost.org
Website plus newsletter Non-profit owner No transaction fee
Ghost earns second place by being the one platform where the website is not an afterthought. You publish posts, send them as email, run free and paid memberships and keep the whole archive on a domain you control, all from a single admin.
- Pricing: Open source + paid hosting. Ghost(Pro) hosting is billed yearly from $18 a month (Starter) and $29 a month (Publisher) at 1,000 members, with Business at $199 a month. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Publications that want their own site and list
- Strengths: Website and newsletter; Custom domain; Membership and paid tiers.
Where it falls short
The Publisher plan includes three staff users, and costs rise with member count, so a large free list gets expensive. Growth features such as a recommendation network and ad sales are thinner than at beehiiv.
Wrong for
Teams that want marketing automation, lead scoring or multi-step lifecycle flows, and anyone who does not want to think about a website at all.
Visit Ghost →
#3 Buttondown
Independent newsletter tool with add-on pricing · United States · buttondown.com
Independent No paid-subscriber fees Markdown editor
Buttondown is third because it is the honest middle ground between a bare sender and a growth platform.
- Pricing: Per subscriber + add-ons. Free for the first 100 subscribers, then priced by active subscribers. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Writers who want a lean, fair-priced sender
- Strengths: Rich text or Markdown editor; Custom sending domain; Hosted archives.
Where it falls short
There is no discovery network or ad marketplace, so every reader comes from your own effort. Add-ons stack up: a newsletter with paid tiers, analytics and segmentation costs noticeably more than the headline number.
Wrong for
Creators who want a built-in audience, a recommendation feed or ad income, and marketers who need drag-and-drop landing pages.
Visit Buttondown →
#4 Substack
Publishing and paid-subscription network for writers · United States · substack.com
Reader network Revenue share Podcast and video
Substack sits fourth only because of the majors rule: it is the best-known name in newsletters and, by its own account, has tens of millions of weekly readers. For a writer who wants to publish today with no setup, it is hard to match.
- Pricing: Revenue share. No monthly fee to publish; writers keep 90% of paid-subscription revenue minus card processing fees. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Writers who want readers and payments handled
- Strengths: Newsletter editor; Paid subscriptions; Notes and recommendations.
Where it falls short
A percentage fee on paid revenue grows with success, where a flat tool does not. Branding, design and automation options are limited, and there is little CRM or segmentation depth.
Wrong for
Companies that need branded design, lifecycle automation, sales integrations or complete ownership of the reader relationship.
Visit Substack →
#5 Kit
Email and storefront tools for creators · United States · kit.com
Creator business Landing pages Digital products
Kit is fifth because it solves a different problem from pure publishing: turning a list into income from products, courses and subscriptions. Its pricing page shows a free plan up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, and paid tiers from $33 a month at 1,000 subscribers.
- Pricing: Per subscriber tier / month. Free plan up to 10,000 subscribers. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Creators selling products or courses by email
- Strengths: Landing pages and forms; Visual automations; Digital product sales.
Where it falls short
Paid tiers rise with list size, and several features that matter, such as automations and integrations, sit on paid plans.
Wrong for
Newsletter writers who simply want a beautiful archive, a feed and paid posts with minimal setup, and publishers who need an ad marketplace.
Visit Kit →
#6 MailerLite
Low-cost email marketing with newsletter tools · Ireland · mailerlite.com
Low entry price Landing pages Automations
MailerLite lands sixth as the sensible general-purpose pick: a free plan, two paid tiers that start at $12 and $25 a month on its pricing page, and a feature set that covers newsletters, signup forms, landing pages and basic automation without a sales call.
- Pricing: Per subscriber tier / month. Free plan up to 250 subscribers; paid tiers start at $12 and $25 a month at the smallest list size and scale with subscribers. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small teams sending newsletters plus campaigns
- Strengths: Drag-and-drop editor; Automations; Landing pages and websites.
Where it falls short
It is an email marketing tool with newsletter features, not a publishing platform, so there is no public archive network, reader discovery or paid-membership focus. The free plan holds only 250 subscribers, and price rises with list size.
Wrong for
Writers who want paid subscriptions, a reader feed or a public site with posts.
Visit MailerLite →
#7 Sender
Email and SMS tool with a large free plan · Lithuania · sender.net
Large free plan Automation SMS add-on
Sender is seventh: a sound, inexpensive email tool that gives a small newsletter more room on the free plan than most rivals do. The vendor states 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month and unlimited automation and segmentation on the Free Forever plan, plus a 14-day trial of Pro.
- Pricing: Per subscriber tier / month. Free Forever plan for 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Budget-minded senders with a medium list
- Strengths: Drag-and-drop builder; Automation workflows; Popups and forms.
Where it falls short
It is a campaign tool, so a newsletter archive, paid subscriptions and reader discovery are not part of it.
Wrong for
Writers who plan to charge readers or want an audience network, and teams that need enterprise permissions or deep integrations.
Visit Sender →
#8 Mailchimp
General email marketing suite from Intuit · United States · mailchimp.com
Intuit-owned Broad suite Contact-based pricing
Mailchimp takes eighth place and is marked as a major, both because of its scale and because its design centers on marketing campaigns, not on writing a publication. The pricing page shows a basic Free plan with Essentials, Standard and Premium above it, priced by contacts, and the company lists its mailing address at an Intuit location in Atlanta.
- Pricing: Per contact tier / month. A basic Free plan, then Essentials, Standard and Premium priced by contact count, with a 14-day trial of Standard and a 15% first-year discount at 10,000+ contacts. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams already using Intuit or Mailchimp tools
- Strengths: Email builder; Automations; Landing pages.
Where it falls short
Pricing follows contact count, so costs can outrun a newsletter list that grows faster than its revenue. The free plan is limited and the best features sit on Standard and Premium.
Wrong for
Independent writers who want to run a paid newsletter, and anyone who dislikes per-contact billing. beehiiv, Ghost or Buttondown fit better and usually cost less.
Visit Mailchimp →
#9 MailPoet
Newsletter plugin that lives inside WordPress · United States · mailpoet.com
WordPress plugin WooCommerce emails Post notifications
MailPoet is ninth because it is a very good answer to a narrow question: how do I send a newsletter from the WordPress site I already run. Subscribers, posts and products live in the same dashboard, and the plugin can send each new blog post automatically, send welcome emails and trigger WooCommerce abandoned cart reminders.
- Pricing: Per subscriber tier / month. Free Starter plan for up to 500 subscribers and 5,000 emails a month. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: WordPress and WooCommerce site owners
- Strengths: WordPress editor; Post notifications; Welcome emails.
Where it falls short
It only makes sense on WordPress, and the free plan stops at 500 subscribers.
Wrong for
Anyone not running WordPress, and writers who want paid memberships or discovery.
Visit MailPoet →
#10 Mailcoach
Pay-per-send email from a Belgian developer studio · Belgium · mailcoach.app
Pay per send Self-host option EU hosted
Mailcoach comes tenth because its model suits a particular list. Where most tools charge by subscriber count, it charges by what you send, so a large list mailed twice a month costs less than at a per-contact vendor, and the vendor claims savings of EUR 200 to 1,000 a month as lists grow.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Hosted from EUR 9.99 a month with 2,000 emails included, then pay per email sent, with unlimited contacts, lists and automations. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Developers and large lists that rarely send
- Strengths: Campaigns; Automations; Transactional email.
Where it falls short
It is a smaller product with a developer slant: no reader network, no paid-subscription layer and few design extras. Pay-per-send pricing gets expensive for lists mailed daily, and self-hosting means you handle sending infrastructure and deliverability.
Wrong for
Non-technical writers who want a simple editor, paid subscriptions or discovery, and daily senders with large lists.
Visit Mailcoach →
#11 Zoho Campaigns
Email campaigns from the Zoho suite · India · zoho.com
Zoho suite Free tier Contact-based pricing
Zoho Campaigns is eleventh: a reasonable email tool whose real appeal is the suite around it. The pricing page lists an always-free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and five users, then Standard with unlimited emails and ten users, and Professional with 20 users, scoring, pop-up forms and send-time optimization.
- Pricing: Per contact tier / month. Always-free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams already running Zoho apps
- Strengths: Email templates; Signup forms; Workflows.
Where it falls short
It is a marketing tool, so publishing features such as a public archive, paid posts and a reader network are missing.
Wrong for
Writers and publishers who want paid subscriptions or an audience, and teams with no Zoho products.
Visit Zoho Campaigns →
#12 Benchmark Email
Straightforward email campaign tool · United States · benchmarkemail.com
Simple campaigns Free plan Contact-based pricing
Benchmark Email closes the list because it does the basic job without a reason to prefer it over the tools above. Its pricing page lists a free plan with 500 contacts and a Pro plan from $19 a month, or $16 on annual billing, with the price stepping up through list tiers to 100,000 contacts and then by quote.
- Pricing: Per contact tier / month. Free for 500 contacts. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small businesses that want simple campaigns
- Strengths: Email editor; Sign-up forms; Contact management.
Where it falls short
There are no paid subscriptions, reader network or archive features aimed at publishers, and the free plan is the smallest in the list. The product is less visible in the newsletter community than Substack, Ghost or beehiiv, so templates, tutorials and migration guides are scarcer.
Wrong for
Anyone building a paid or growing publication, and companies that need deep automation or CRM links. beehiiv, Ghost, Kit or Mailchimp are better matches.
Visit Benchmark Email →
Questions and answers
What is the best newsletter platform in 2026?
beehiiv ranks first of 12, best for publishers who want to grow and monetize a list. Ghost is second (publications that want their own site and list) and Buttondown third (writers who want a lean, fair-priced sender). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Is Substack or beehiiv better for a new newsletter?
Substack suits a writer who wants zero setup, a built-in reader network and payments handled; its about page says writers keep 90% of revenue minus card fees. beehiiv suits a publisher who wants to run growth tools, referrals and ads, and who prefers a flat plan price to a share of income.
Can I start a newsletter for free?
Yes, with ten of the twelve products here. beehiiv, Kit, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Sender, MailPoet, Zoho Campaigns, Benchmark Email, Buttondown and Substack all have a free tier, with different ceilings: Buttondown stops at 100 subscribers, MailerLite at 250, Benchmark Email and MailPoet at 500, Zoho Campaigns at 2,000, Sender at 2,500 and Kit at 10,000.
What does it cost to run a paid newsletter?
It depends on the model. Substack charges no monthly fee and keeps 10% of paid revenue before card fees.
Can I move my subscribers from Substack to another platform?
Yes. The subscriber list exports as a file, and most platforms here import it, with some such as Kit offering free migration help. Paid subscribers are the hard part, because their cards sit in a payment account.
Do I need a website as well as a newsletter platform?
Not usually. Substack, beehiiv, Buttondown, Kit and Sender host signup pages, and most host an archive of past issues.
Which tool is best for a company newsletter to customers?
A general email tool usually fits better than a publishing platform.
How do per-subscriber prices compare across these tools?
At the first paid step the published entry points differ widely: Benchmark Email lists Pro from $19 a month ($16 yearly), Sender lists Standard at $9 a month on yearly billing, Kit lists Creator at $33 a month on yearly billing for 1,000 subscribers, and beehiiv lists Lite at $49 a month on yearly billing.
Is a self-hosted newsletter tool worth the effort?
Only if you have someone to run it. Ghost can be self-hosted for free and Mailcoach offers a self-hosted version, which removes per-subscriber fees but adds servers, backups, updates and the work of keeping the sending domain trusted.
Which platforms let me own my subscriber data?
All twelve let you export your list, but control differs. Ghost, as open-source software run by a non-profit foundation, and Buttondown, which describes itself as independent and self-funded, give you the most control.
What is the difference between a newsletter platform and email marketing software?
A newsletter platform is built around the issue: a writing editor, a public archive, a signup page and often paid subscriptions or ads.
