Collection №07 — Updated 9 August 2026
The 6 best email newsletter platforms in 2026
Every platform here sends a newsletter. The differences are where new readers come from and who gets paid when you charge. Substack and Beehiiv lean hardest on built-in discovery, Kit has a creator network of its own, and the others assume you bring your own audience. If paid subscriptions are the plan, check what the platform keeps before you build on it, because moving a paying list later is painful.
| Tool | Type | Cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletter platform | Free | ★ Best overall | |
| Publishing network | Free | Easiest start | |
| Creator marketing | Free | Best automations | |
| Publishing platform | Free | Best for a full publication | |
| Minimal newsletter | Free | Best minimal option | |
| Email marketing | Free | Best value |
Beehiiv
★ Best overallNewsletter growth machinery built by Morning Brew alumni
Built by ex-Morning Brew people, and it shows in the growth features: a recommendation network, a referral program, and an ad network for selling sponsorships. Paid subscriptions run through it without the platform taking a share of the revenue. If the plan is to turn a list into a business, start here.
Visit BeehiivSubstack
Easiest startA publication, a list, and payments with nothing to configure
You get a publication, an email list, and payments the day you sign up, and the app's recommendations send real readers to brand-new writers. It takes a cut of paid subscription revenue, and design, sending, and automation are all on rails. Fine at the start; limiting later.
Visit SubstackKit
Best automationsThe creator's marketing stack, formerly known as ConvertKit
Kit treats the newsletter as one piece of a creator business: visual automations, subscriber tagging, landing pages, and digital product sales sit alongside the list. Pick it when subscribers should get different emails depending on what they clicked or bought. For a plain weekly send it is more machinery than you need.
Visit KitGhost
Best for a full publicationOpen-source site, newsletter, and memberships on your own domain
Ghost is a full website with the newsletter and paid memberships built in, so the publication lives on your own domain instead of inside someone else's app. It is open source: self-host it for nothing or pay for the managed version. Either way, Ghost takes no cut of membership revenue.
Visit GhostButtondown
Best minimal optionMarkdown in, newsletter out, run by a tiny team
You write in Markdown and hit send. There is an API, RSS-to-email, and paid subscriptions if you want to charge. It is a small product from a small team, and writers who dislike dashboards tend to settle here.
Visit ButtondownMailerLite
Best valueGeneral email marketing that keeps costs down
MailerLite is general email marketing software, so the same plan covers automations, landing pages, and signup forms as well as the newsletter itself. It can sell paid newsletter subscriptions through Stripe. Pick it when the newsletter is one channel among several and you want the bill to stay small.
Visit MailerLiteFrequently asked questions
Is Substack or Beehiiv better for a paid newsletter?
Beehiiv, in most cases, because it takes no share of your paid subscription revenue, while Substack keeps a cut of every payment. Substack still makes sense if you are starting with no audience, since its app and recommendation network put new writers in front of readers.
What is the best free newsletter platform?
Substack is free with no subscriber cap and only charges once readers pay you, which makes it the easiest free start. Beehiiv, Kit, and MailerLite all have free tiers with room to grow a new list, and Buttondown has a smaller one. Ghost is the exception: it is only free if you self-host the open-source software, since the hosted version is paid.
Can I move my newsletter to a different platform later?
Yes. Every platform in this list lets you export subscribers as a CSV, and most can export your published posts as well; check before you commit. Paid subscriptions are the hard part, since the billing lives in Stripe, so choose more carefully if you plan to charge readers.