Disclosure: Newsletter Costs is independent. We earn a commission if you sign up to MailCheap through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the prices or the ranking. How we make money.
What will your newsletter cost?
Compare the real monthly and yearly price of eight newsletter platforms for your list size and sending schedule. Prices come from each platform’s official pricing page.
Your newsletter
For 5,000 subscribers and 4 emails a month (20,000 sends), billed monthly, the most expensive option here is beehiiv at $1,308 a year. The cheapest paid plan is MailCheap Starter at $228 a year, which would save you $1,080 a year. Free options that fit: Kit, Substack (with limits; see notes).
| # | Platform & plan | Per month | Per year | Save vs priciest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kit · Free
Free plan, with limits (see the platform for details). |
$0 | $0 | $1,308/yr |
| 2 | Substack · Free to publish
$0 for a free newsletter. If you charge, Substack keeps 10% of paid-subscription revenue, plus Stripe fees. |
$0 | $0 | $1,308/yr |
| 3 | MailCheap (affiliate link) · Starter | $19 | $228 | $1,080/yr |
| 4 | Buttondown · Paid
Base price; features like paid subscriptions, analytics or automations are paid add-ons. |
$29 | $348 | $960/yr |
| 5 | MailerLite · Comfort | $49 | $588 | $720/yr |
| 6 | Mailchimp · Essentials | $75 | $900 | $408/yr |
| 7 | Ghost(Pro) · Publisher | $75 | $900 | $408/yr |
| 8 | beehiiv · Lite | $109 | $1,308 | — |
USD list prices from each platform’s official pricing page, checked on the dates below. Taxes, payment-processing fees and add-ons are not included. “Check site” means no published plan fits your inputs.
How the calculation works
For each platform, the calculator finds every published plan whose limits fit your inputs and shows the cheapest one. It applies three kinds of limits:
- List size. Most platforms price in tiers by subscribers (or “contacts” or “members”). We take the tier whose ceiling covers your list. At 5,200 subscribers, for example, you pay for the next tier up.
- Sends per month. Subscribers × emails per month = sends. MailCheap prices by sends, so we choose the smallest plan whose monthly email allowance covers them. Mailchimp lets you send 10× (Essentials), 12× (Standard) or 15× (Premium) your contact tier, and MailerLite Comfort 10× the top of your tier. Buttondown’s prices assume at most one email a day. If a plan’s limit is too low, it is skipped. We never assume you will buy a bigger tier just to get more sends.
- Billing period. “Yearly” uses the published yearly price where there is one. Mailchimp and Buttondown don’t publish a self-serve yearly price on their pricing pages, so for them yearly is 12 × monthly, and that is labelled in the results.
Free plans (beehiiv, Kit, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Buttondown) are included by default and can be switched off. They come with limits such as platform branding, fewer features or a small list cap. Substack has no subscription fee at all. It takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue instead, so it shows $0 here and a note explains the revenue share.
Not included: taxes, payment processing on paid subscriptions, paid add-ons (Buttondown sells many features as add-ons), dedicated IPs, extra seats and limited-time promotions. We show regular list prices only.
MailCheap counts every email it sends against your allowance, including test sends, welcome and confirmation emails. Leave some headroom if you are close to a plan limit. MailCheap pricing (affiliate link)
Sources and last-checked dates
| Platform | How it charges | Yearly billing | Last checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailCheap | Per email sent (monthly allowance). Every feature on every plan. | Yearly = 10x the monthly price ("2 months free"). | mailcheap.ai/pricing (affiliate link) | |
| beehiiv | Per subscriber tier. Unlimited sends. | Yearly prices published per tier (up to 20% off). | www.beehiiv.com/pricing | |
| Kit | Per subscriber tier. Unlimited broadcasts. Not verified: Kit Pro yearly list prices (a limited-time first-year promo was shown instead). | Yearly prices published per tier (about 17% off). | kit.com/pricing | |
| Mailchimp | Per contact tier, with a monthly send limit of 10x / 12x / 15x your contact tier. Not verified: Annual billing: offered through sales, prices not published. | No self-serve yearly price published; yearly shown as 12x monthly. | mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/ | |
| MailerLite | Per subscriber tier. Comfort has a send limit (10x the tier ceiling); Power has unlimited sends. | Yearly = 10% off the monthly price. | www.mailerlite.com/pricing | |
| Ghost(Pro) | Per member tier. Unlimited email sends. | Yearly prices published per tier. | ghost.org/pricing/ | |
| Substack | Free to publish at any list size. Takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue. | No subscription fee for the publisher. | support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost | |
| Buttondown | Per subscriber tier, assuming at most one email a day. Many features are paid add-ons. Not verified: Buttondown above 100,000 subscribers or more than one email a day: contact Buttondown. | No yearly price on the pricing page; yearly shown as 12x monthly. | buttondown.com/pricing |
Read next
FAQ
Which newsletter platform is cheapest?
It depends on two numbers: how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send each month. Substack costs nothing to publish if your newsletter is free. Among paid plans, per-subscriber tools like Buttondown and MailerLite are cheap for small lists, while a per-email tool like MailCheap gets relatively cheaper as your list grows if you send weekly or less. Put your own numbers into the calculator above.
Why does the number of emails per month matter?
Some platforms limit how many emails you can send. MailCheap prices by emails sent, Mailchimp caps sends at 10x to 15x your contact tier, MailerLite Comfort at 10x your tier, and Buttondown’s prices assume at most one email a day. beehiiv, Kit, Ghost(Pro) and Substack price by list size with unlimited sends.
Is Substack really free?
Publishing on Substack is free at any list size. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment and Stripe charges its own processing fees. That is why the calculator shows Substack at $0: the cost only appears once you earn.
Do these prices include taxes and payment fees?
No. They are the list prices in US dollars from each platform’s official pricing page. Sales tax or VAT, Stripe fees on paid subscriptions, add-ons and temporary promotions are not included.
What does “Check site” mean?
No published plan fits your inputs, usually because you would go over a send limit (Mailchimp), you send more than one email a day (Buttondown) or the platform only quotes large lists privately. Check the platform’s pricing page or ask its sales team.
How often are prices checked?
Each platform’s pricing page is re-checked by hand and the date is shown in the table on this page. The current data was checked on 2026-10-25. If you spot a price that has changed, the pricing page linked in the table is the authority.
Do you earn money from this site?
Yes. Some links to MailCheap are affiliate links and we may earn a commission if you sign up through them. That does not change the numbers: every platform runs through the same calculation, and the table is sorted by price only. Read the full disclosure.