How to read this page
- Source and date. Each platform has a link to its own pricing page and the date we checked it: 23 Oct 2026. If you can’t reproduce a figure from the linked page, the vendor has changed it, and the vendor’s page wins.
- List size matters. Most platforms price by subscribers or contacts. The figure shown is whatever the vendor displayed by default. Prune your list before you price it; you shouldn’t pay to store people who never read.
- Currency. US dollars as displayed to a US visitor. UK buyers should check VAT and local currency at checkout.
- What isn’t here. Taxes, add-ons, overages and negotiated enterprise deals. We also haven’t tested the products hands-on; see how we review.
At a glance
| Newsletter platform | Free option | Cheapest paid as displayed | Priced on | Selling paid subscriptions | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | Free plan, up to 2,500 subscribers | Lite $49/mo (billed yearly, at 1,000 subscribers) | Subscriber count (price shown for 1,000 subscribers; it rises with list size) | 0% beehiiv take rate on Lite and above (card processing fees from the payment provider still apply) | Visit |
| Kit | Free plan, up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $33/mo (billed yearly at $390, at 1,000 subscribers) | Subscriber count (price shown for 1,000 subscribers) | 3.5% + 30c on digital product and subscription sales (Kit says this includes card processing) | Visit |
| MailerLite | Free plan, up to 250 subscribers (2,500 emails/month) | Comfort $12/mo monthly, $10.80/mo billed yearly (at 500 subscribers) | Subscriber count (price shown for 500 subscribers) | Paid subscriptions are offered; check MailerLite for the current fee before relying on it | Visit |
| AWeber | No free plan shown on the pricing page (14-day trial instead) | Lite $12.50/mo billed annually (at 0-500 subscribers) | Subscriber count (price shown for 0-500 subscribers) | 1.0% (Lite) or 0.6% (Plus) transaction fee on AWeber ecommerce sales | Visit |
| Ghost | No free plan; free to self-host the open-source software (you pay for hosting and email sending) | Starter $18/mo billed yearly (1,000 members) | Member count (price shown for 1,000 members) | Ghost states "no payment fees" (card processing fees from Stripe still apply) | Visit |
| Substack | Free to start; no monthly fee | Free; Substack keeps 10% of paid-subscription revenue | No subscriber-based pricing; a percentage of paid-subscription revenue | 10% of paid-subscription revenue plus card processing fees | Visit |
| Email marketing platform | Free option | Cheapest paid as displayed | Priced on | Trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Free plan available (check current limits on Mailchimp's pricing page) | Essentials $13/mo (at 500 contacts) | Contact count (price shown for 500 contacts; overages apply if contact or email-send limits are exceeded) | 14-day free trial of Standard | Visit |
| Brevo | Free plan: upload contacts, send up to 300 emails per day | Starter $9/mo on monthly billing (from 5,000 emails/month) | Number of emails sent per month, not contacts | Free plan instead of a trial | Visit |
| GetResponse | Free trial (no permanent free plan shown) | Starter $19/mo monthly, $15.58/mo paid annually | Contact count (shown for the smallest list tier) | Free trial offered | Visit |
| Moosend | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | Pro from $9/mo monthly, $7/mo on annual billing (at 500 contacts) | Contact count | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | Visit |
| ActiveCampaign | Free trial | Starter $15/mo (at 1,000 contacts) | Contact count (shown for 1,000 contacts) | Free trial offered | Visit |
| Constant Contact | Free trial | Lite from $10.20/mo billed annually | Number of contacts and email sends (plan price "starting at") | Free trial offered | Visit |
Plan by plan
beehiiv
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 2,500 subscribers. Unlimited email sends, landing pages, templates, recommendation network, API. 1 team seat, 30-day analytics lookback. |
| Lite | $49/mo billed yearly (at 1,000 subscribers) | Up to 100,000 subscribers. Adds paid subscriptions at a 0% beehiiv take rate, ad monetisation, automations, A/B testing, polls. 2 seats, 12-month analytics. |
| Pro | $95/mo billed yearly (at 1,000 subscribers) | Up to 250,000 subscribers. Adds beehiiv branding removal, advanced analytics, webhooks, dynamic content, 24/7 priority support. 10 seats. |
| Enterprise | Custom | SSO/SAML, dedicated IPs, customer success manager. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: beehiiv pricing page. Trial: Free trial of premium features on paid plans, no credit card required (per the pricing page). Visit beehiiv
Kit
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 10,000 subscribers. Unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, sell digital products and subscriptions. |
| Creator | $33/mo billed yearly ($390/yr, at 1,000 subscribers) | Adds unlimited visual automations and email sequences, subject-line A/B tests, polls, Kit branding removal, 24/7 email and chat support. |
| Pro | $66/mo billed yearly (at 1,000 subscribers) | Adds subscriber engagement scoring, deliverability reporting, newsletter referral system, unlimited users. Kit was showing a first-year discount to $50/mo on the checked date. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Kit pricing page. Trial: 14-day free trial on Creator and Pro, no credit card required. Visit Kit
MailerLite
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails, 2 user seats, automations, a landing page, signup forms. Knowledge-base support only. |
| Comfort | $12/mo monthly, $10.80/mo billed yearly (at 500 subscribers) | 5,000 monthly emails at that size, 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 sites, 3 seats, email support. |
| Power | $25/mo monthly, $22.50/mo billed yearly (at 500 subscribers) | Unlimited monthly emails, unlimited automations, forms, sites and seats, live chat and email support. |
| Enterprise | Custom (200K+ subscribers) | Dedicated IP, deliverability support, onboarding. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: MailerLite pricing page. Trial: 14-day free trial of all features, no credit card required. Visit MailerLite
AWeber
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $12.50/mo billed annually (at 0-500 subscribers) | 1 email list, 3 landing pages, 3 automations, 3 users, 1 custom segment, 24/7 support. Sending capped at 10x subscriber count monthly. 1.0% transaction fee on sales. |
| Plus | $20/mo billed annually (at 0-500 subscribers) | Unlimited lists, landing pages, automations, segments and users. Sending capped at 12x subscriber count monthly. 0.6% transaction fee on sales. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: AWeber pricing page. Trial: 14-day trial. Visit AWeber
Ghost
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $18/mo billed yearly (1,000 members) | Your own website, custom domain, email newsletter, simple design settings. Paid subscriptions are not in the Starter feature list. |
| Publisher | $29/mo billed yearly (1,000 members) | 3 staff users, custom themes, 8,000+ integrations, paid subscriptions, advanced analytics. |
| Business | $199/mo billed yearly (1,000 members) | 15 staff users, priority support, higher usage limits. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Ghost pricing page. Trial: Free trial offered on every paid plan. Visit Ghost
Substack
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free to publish | $0/mo | Publish free newsletters and posts with no monthly fee. |
| Paid subscriptions | 10% of revenue + card fees | Writers keep 90% of subscription revenue minus credit card fees (Substack's own wording). |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Substack pricing page. Trial: Not applicable (no paid plan). Visit Substack
Mailchimp
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Basic Free plan exists; Mailchimp's page lets you downgrade to it. Limits change, so check them before choosing. |
| Essentials | $13/mo (at 500 contacts) | Entry paid plan. |
| Standard | $20/mo (at 500 contacts) | Up to 6,000 emails/month at that size; 14-day free trial offered. |
| Premium | $350/mo (at 500 contacts) | Highest published self-serve tier. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Mailchimp pricing page. Trial: 14-day free trial of Standard. Visit Mailchimp
Brevo
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Send up to 300 emails per day once your account is approved for sending. |
| Starter | $9/mo monthly billing ($8/mo yearly), from 5,000 emails/month | Price based on number of emails; no daily sending limit. |
| Standard | $18/mo monthly billing ($16/mo yearly), from 5,000 emails/month | Next tier up. |
| Professional | $499/mo monthly billing ($449/mo yearly) | Higher volume and team features. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Brevo pricing page. Trial: Free plan instead of a trial. Visit Brevo
GetResponse
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19/mo monthly, $15.58/mo paid annually | Entry plan. |
| Marketer | $59/mo monthly, $48.38/mo paid annually | Mid tier. |
| Creator | $69/mo monthly, $56.58/mo paid annually | Mid tier with creator features. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: GetResponse pricing page. Trial: Free trial offered. Visit GetResponse
Moosend
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $9/mo monthly, $7/mo on annual billing (at 500 contacts) | Unlimited campaigns, automation, landing pages, subscription forms, transactional email. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Moosend pricing page. Trial: 30-day free trial, no credit card required. Visit Moosend
ActiveCampaign
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15/mo (at 1,000 contacts, as displayed) | Entry plan. |
| Plus | $49/mo (at 1,000 contacts) | Mid tier. |
| Pro | $79/mo (at 1,000 contacts, billed yearly) | AI optimisation of sends. |
| Enterprise | $145/mo (at 1,000 contacts, billed yearly) | SSO, dedicated team. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: ActiveCampaign pricing page. Trial: Free trial offered. Visit ActiveCampaign
Constant Contact
| Plan | Price as displayed | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | from $10.20/mo billed annually | Email and social tools for beginners. |
| Standard | from $29.75/mo billed annually | Automation tools. |
| Premium | from $68/mo billed annually | Automation, segmentation. |
Checked 23 Oct 2026. Source: Constant Contact pricing page. Trial: Free trial offered. Visit Constant Contact
What to do with these numbers
- Price your pruned list, not your total. If a third of your list never clicks, price the other two thirds and decide what to do with the rest.
- Match plan to need, not to headline price. Which plan includes automations, A/B testing, segments or paid subscriptions differs by platform, and the cheapest plan often lacks the feature that made you want the tool.
- Check the billing basis. Subscribers (beehiiv, Kit, MailerLite, AWeber), members (Ghost), contacts (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign) and emails sent (Brevo) all behave differently as you grow.
- For paid newsletters, work out the break-even. A flat monthly fee beats a revenue percentage once revenue passes the point where the percentage equals the fee. At a 10% take, that’s ten times the monthly fee. Our beehiiv vs Substack page works through an example.
- Annual billing changes the price. Many figures here are monthly-equivalent prices billed annually; the monthly price is higher where the vendor lists one.
Need a recommendation rather than a table? See best newsletter platforms, free newsletter platforms, email marketing for small business, Substack alternatives and Mailchimp alternatives. The individual reviews go through each plan’s trade-offs.
Change log
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 23 Oct 2026 | First snapshot of all twelve platforms, read from each vendor’s own page |
Which links are affiliate links
Some “Visit” links on this page are affiliate links; others are plain vendor links. Which is which is listed on the disclosure page. It doesn’t affect the figures above, which are copied from the vendors’ own pages.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this pricing page?
Every figure was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 23 Oct 2026 and each section links to its source. Vendors change prices and limits without notice, so confirm on the vendor's page before buying.
Why are prices shown at different list sizes?
We copy what each vendor displays by default (for example 500 contacts for Mailchimp and MailerLite, 1,000 for Kit and beehiiv). Prices rise with list size, so use the vendor's own slider for your number.
Are these prices in pounds?
No. They're US dollar list prices as shown to a US visitor. UK buyers should check currency and VAT at checkout.
How often do you update the tracker?
We plan to re-check every platform monthly and on any announced change, and we date the page. Last full check: 23 Oct 2026.
Which platform is cheapest?
It depends on list size and what you need. Substack has no monthly fee, Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, and several others have small free plans. Compare at your own list size.