A newsletter platform is judged by two things: how well it grows your list and how it lets you make money. Price models differ wildly — monthly fee versus revenue cut — so the right pick depends on your stage. Verdict first.
Quick answer
beehiiv scores 88/100 as the best newsletter platform for creators serious about growth and revenue. It bundles a recommendation network, referral programs, an ad network, paid subscriptions, and strong analytics, with a free plan to 2,500 subscribers and paid plans from about $43/month (Scale, annual) — and it keeps 0% of your subscription revenue. Substack is the runner-up for the lowest-friction start (no monthly fee, 10% revenue cut), and Ghost wins for creators who want to fully own their site and audience.
The ranking
| Rank | Tool | Best for | Entry price | SR Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | beehiiv | Growth + monetization at scale | Free to 2,500; Scale ~$43/mo (annual) | 88 |
| 2 | Substack | Lowest-friction start | Free; 10% of paid revenue | 85 |
| 3 | Ghost | Full ownership, 0% cut | Pro from $15/mo (Starter) | 84 |
| 4 | Kit (ConvertKit) | Creator automation & sequences | Free to 10k; Creator from $39/mo | 82 |
| 5 | Mailchimp | All-purpose email marketing | Essentials from $13/mo | 79 |
| 6 | MailerLite | Budget-friendly clean sending | Free to 1,000; paid from ~$9/mo | 78 |
Methodology
Weights: Growth & monetization tools 30, Capability vs. claims 25, Value for money 20, Support & docs 15, Transparency 10.
Growth and monetization lead because that’s what a newsletter platform is for — building the list and turning it into revenue, whether through paid subscriptions, ads, or sponsorships. Capability covers the editor, automations, segmentation, deliverability, and analytics. Value is scored against the real cost model — monthly fee plus any revenue cut — at a representative list size. Platforms with clear pricing earn transparency credit.
beehiiv — 88
Built for newsletter growth. beehiiv was founded by ex-Morning Brew operators and shows it: a recommendation network and referral programs to grow your list, a built-in ad network and paid-subscription tools to monetize, plus website, polls, segmentation, and strong analytics. The Launch plan is free to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends; Scale is about $43/month (annual) ($49 monthly) and adds monetization, A/B testing, and AI; Max ~$96/month annual removes branding and adds priority support. beehiiv keeps 0% of your subscription revenue.
Trade-off: paid plans scale with subscriber count, so a large free or low-revenue list still incurs a rising monthly fee — the opposite of Substack’s model.
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 28 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 23 |
| Value for money (20) | 16 |
| Support & docs (15) | 13 |
| Transparency (10) | 8 |
Substack — 85
The zero-risk starting point. Publishing on Substack is free at any list size with unlimited sends; you only pay when you earn, via a flat 10% cut of paid-subscription revenue plus payment processing (≈2.9% + $0.30, plus a small recurring-billing fee). It has a built-in discovery network, recommendations, and a simple editor.
Trade-off: the 10% revenue cut becomes the most expensive option once you have meaningful paid revenue, customization and list portability are limited, and you build on Substack’s platform rather than your own.
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 24 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 21 |
| Value for money (20) | 18 |
| Support & docs (15) | 13 |
| Transparency (10) | 9 |
Ghost — 84
The ownership play. Ghost is open-source publishing software you can self-host or run on managed Ghost(Pro); either way it takes 0% of subscription revenue and gives you full control of your site, theme, and data. Ghost(Pro) Starter is $15/month (annual) for free members; the Publisher plan at $29/month annual unlocks paid memberships, tiers, and offers.
Trade-off: paid memberships require the Publisher tier, growth/discovery tooling is weaker than beehiiv’s, and self-hosting means you own the technical maintenance too.
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 23 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 22 |
| Value for money (20) | 17 |
| Support & docs (15) | 13 |
| Transparency (10) | 9 |
Kit (ConvertKit) — 82
The creator-automation specialist. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) excels at email sequences, automations, tagging, and selling digital products — more of a full creator marketing platform than a pure newsletter tool. Newsletter plan is free to 10,000 subscribers; Creator starts at $39/month for 1,000 subscribers ($33/mo annual); Creator Pro from $79/month.
Trade-off: a roughly 35% price increase in late 2025 dented its value, and its strength is automation rather than the discovery/ad-network growth tooling beehiiv and Substack offer.
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 23 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 21 |
| Value for money (20) | 14 |
| Support & docs (15) | 13 |
| Transparency (10) | 9 |
Mailchimp — 79
The general-purpose option. Mailchimp does newsletters as part of a broad email-marketing suite with automations, segmentation, and reporting. Essentials from $13/month (500 contacts); Standard from $20/month adds advanced automation and send-time optimization. Pricing scales with contact count.
Trade-off: it’s built for marketing email broadly, not creator newsletters, so it lacks paid-subscription and discovery tooling, and costs climb steeply with list size (≈$75/mo on Essentials at 5,000 contacts).
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 21 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 20 |
| Value for money (20) | 14 |
| Support & docs (15) | 13 |
| Transparency (10) | 8 |
MailerLite — 78
The budget sender. MailerLite offers a clean editor, automations, and good deliverability at a low price, with a free plan to 1,000 subscribers and paid plans from about $9/month. A solid choice for simple, cost-conscious newsletters.
Trade-off: lighter on growth, discovery, and creator-monetization features than the specialists; great value for straightforward sending, less so if monetization is the goal.
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Growth & monetization tools (30) | 21 |
| Capability vs. claims (25) | 19 |
| Value for money (20) | 18 |
| Support & docs (15) | 12 |
| Transparency (10) | 8 |
How to choose
The decisive question is your revenue model. If you want to grow aggressively and monetize through subscriptions, ads, and sponsorships, beehiiv has the strongest toolkit and keeps all your subscription revenue — the monthly fee is worth it once the list is producing. If you’re just starting and don’t want any fixed cost, Substack lets you publish free and only pay (10%) when you earn, which is the lowest-risk on-ramp even though it’s the priciest model at scale.
If owning your platform matters — no revenue cut, full control of site and data — Ghost is the answer, ideally on the Publisher tier for paid memberships. Kit suits creators whose business runs on automations and digital products, while Mailchimp and MailerLite fit teams who treat the newsletter as one channel in broader email marketing rather than the product itself. Map the platform to where your revenue comes from, not just the sticker price.
Re-weighting the rank
beehiiv leads because we weight growth and monetization tooling highest and it’s the most complete on both while keeping 0% of revenue. Weight “zero fixed cost to start” to 40 and Substack overtakes it. Weight ownership and 0% cut at any cost and Ghost climbs. If you’re pre-revenue and fee-averse, Substack is genuinely your #1 today — re-weight as your list and revenue grow and the ranking flips toward beehiiv or Ghost.
Verification
- beehiiv — Launch free to 2,500 subscribers, Scale ~$43/mo annual ($49 monthly), Max ~$96/mo annual, 0% revenue cut verified on beehiiv.com/pricing.
- Substack — free publishing, 10% paid-revenue cut plus processing fees verified on support.substack.com.
- Ghost — Ghost(Pro) Starter $15/mo, Publisher $29/mo, 0% transaction fee, self-host option verified on ghost.org/pricing.
- Kit (ConvertKit) — free to 10k, Creator from $39/mo (1,000 subs), Creator Pro from $79/mo verified on kit.com/pricing.
- Mailchimp — Essentials from $13/mo (500 contacts), Standard from $20/mo verified on mailchimp.com/pricing.
- MailerLite — free to 1,000 subscribers, paid from ~$9/mo verified on mailerlite.com/pricing.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is the best newsletter platform in 2026?
- By our rubric, beehiiv (88/100). It pairs strong growth tools (recommendations, referrals, ad network) with monetization and analytics, has a free plan to 2,500 subscribers, and paid plans from about $43/month (Scale, annual). Substack is the runner-up for the easiest, no-monthly-fee start.
- Substack or beehiiv for a new newsletter?
- Substack has zero monthly fee — it takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue (plus payment processing) — so it's lowest-risk to start. beehiiv charges a monthly fee but keeps 0% of subscription revenue and offers far stronger growth and monetization tooling, which pays off as you scale.
- What's the best platform if I want to own my audience?
- Ghost. It's open-source, you can self-host, it takes 0% of subscription revenue, and you fully control your site and data. Ghost(Pro) managed hosting starts at $15/month (Starter) or $29/month (Publisher) for paid memberships.
- Can I recompute this ranking?
- Yes. Weights and per-criterion scores are published below. Weight zero-monthly-cost-to-start higher and Substack climbs; weight growth and monetization tooling and beehiiv stays first.