TL;DR
- The best newsletter platforms for most beginners are Beehiiv, Substack and Kit, because all three have generous free plans.
- Kit’s free plan covers the most subscribers, up to 10,000. Beehiiv’s covers 2,500, and Substack has no subscriber limit at all.
- If you want to charge for your newsletter, fees differ a lot: Substack takes 10%, Beehiiv and Ghost take nothing on top of card fees, and Kit charges 3.5% + 30ยข including card processing.
- Beehiiv changed its plans on October 1, 2026, so many older comparison articles now show outdated prices.
Why we checked every price again
A newsletter is the one audience channel you fully own. If a social app changes its algorithm or Google sends you fewer clicks, your email list stays yours. That’s why choosing the right platform matters.
The problem is that comparison articles go out of date fast. Marketer Milk’s popular list, published in January 2026, still shows Beehiiv’s old Launch, Scale and Max plans. Beehiiv replaced them with Free, Lite, Pro and Enterprise on October 1, 2026.
So for this guide, we took the six most useful platforms for bloggers and creators and checked each one’s own pricing page in November 2026. Prices are in US dollars, as each platform shows them. They change often, so check before you sign up.
The quick comparison
| Platform | Free plan | Paid plans from | Platform fee on paid newsletters | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beehiiv | Up to 2,500 subscribers | $49/month (Lite, billed yearly) | 0% (Stripe fees apply) | Growth tools and ads |
| Substack | Unlimited subscribers | No paid plans | 10% (plus Stripe fees) | Writers who want a built-in reader network |
| Kit | Up to 10,000 subscribers | $33/month (Creator, 1,000 subscribers) | 3.5% + 30ยข total, including card processing | Creators selling products |
| Ghost | No free plan | $18/month (Starter, billed yearly) | 0% from Ghost on Publisher and up | A blog and newsletter in one |
| MailerLite | Up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month | $12/month (Comfort) | Not listed on its free-plan page | Small businesses on a budget |
| Mailchimp | Up to 250 contacts, 500 sends/month | $13/month (Essentials) | Not listed on its pricing page | Businesses needing marketing features |
The platforms, one by one
1. Beehiiv: best for growth
Beehiiv’s free plan is “free forever” and covers up to 2,500 subscribers, with access to all core products. Since October 1, 2026, its paid plans are Lite, from $49 a month billed yearly, and Pro, from $95 a month billed yearly, with Enterprise on custom pricing. Lite covers up to 100,000 subscribers and Pro up to 250,000.
The big selling point for paid newsletters: Beehiiv says it takes no cut of paid subscription or digital product revenue. You pay only Stripe’s processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Choose it if you want strong growth tools and plan to earn from paid subscriptions without giving up a percentage.
2. Substack: best for getting discovered
Substack is free to publish, with no limit on subscribers. It takes 10% when you charge for subscriptions, plus Stripe’s card fees. In return, you get the Substack app and Notes, which Substack says drive 50% of new free subscriptions and 30% of new paid ones on the platform. For creators in India, Substack currently doesn’t charge its 10% fee.
Choose it if you’re starting from zero and want readers to find you inside an existing network. (We cover it in detail in our Substack for beginners guide.)
3. Kit (formerly ConvertKit): best for creators who sell
Kit has the biggest free plan here: up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts, plus digital product sales. Paid plans start with Creator at $33 a month for 1,000 subscribers, or $390 billed yearly. Pro lists at $66 a month, with a first-year discount to $50 a month at the time we checked.
On paid newsletters and digital products, Kit charges 3.5% + 30ยข per sale on every plan. That total includes card processing, and Kit says its own share is 0.6%.
Choose it if you sell digital products, courses or paid newsletters and want email automation built around them.
4. Ghost: best for a blog and newsletter in one
Ghost is a publishing platform that combines a website, newsletter and memberships. Its hosted plans start with Starter at $18 a month billed yearly for up to 1,000 members, but Starter doesn’t include paid subscriptions. Publisher, at $29 a month billed yearly, adds them, and Ghost says it takes no transaction fees on paid subscriptions from that plan up. There’s no free plan.
One note: Ghost’s pricing page lists different member limits for some plans in different sections, so check the limit for your plan before you buy.
Choose it if you want your own branded site and newsletter in one place, without platform fees on paid subscriptions.
5. MailerLite: best budget email tool
MailerLite’s free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Paid plans start with Comfort from $12 a month and Power from $25 a month.
Choose it if you run a small business and want simple, affordable email marketing.
6. Mailchimp: best for marketing features
Mailchimp’s free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily limit of 250, one user and one audience. Sending pauses if you go over. Paid plans start with Essentials at $13 a month, Standard at $20 and Premium at $350, as shown on its pricing page when we checked.
Choose it if you need a full marketing toolkit for a business, not just a newsletter.
Which one should you pick?
This is our take, based on the plans above:
- Starting from zero and want readers to find you: Substack. The reader network is the main reason to accept its 10% fee.
- Want to keep 100% of paid subscription revenue: Beehiiv or Ghost. Both say they take no cut, so you pay only card processing fees.
- Selling courses or digital products: Kit, which has the biggest free plan.
- Running a blog and want one platform for both: Ghost.
- Running a small business with a small list: MailerLite or Mailchimp, but note their free plans stop at 250 subscribers.
For The Horizon Buzz’s own readers, a tech blogger starting a newsletter alongside a WordPress site, we’d shortlist Beehiiv and Substack and compare their free plans first. Whichever you choose, export your subscriber list regularly so it stays yours.
FAQ
What is the best free newsletter platform? It depends on your size. Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, Beehiiv’s up to 2,500, and Substack has no subscriber limit. MailerLite’s and Mailchimp’s free plans stop at 250.
Which newsletter platform takes the lowest fee on paid subscriptions? Beehiiv says it takes no cut of paid subscription revenue, and Ghost says it charges no transaction fees on its Publisher plan and above. You still pay card processing fees. Substack takes 10%, and Kit charges 3.5% + 30ยข per sale including card processing.
Substack or Beehiiv? Substack is free with unlimited subscribers and a built-in reader network, but takes 10% of paid revenue. Beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers and takes no cut of paid subscriptions.
Did Beehiiv change its pricing? Yes. On October 1, 2026, Beehiiv replaced its Launch, Scale and Max plans with Free, Lite and Pro. Enterprise stays.
Does Ghost have a free plan? No. Ghost’s hosted plans start at $18 a month billed yearly, and its Starter plan doesn’t include paid subscriptions.