The Best Newsletter Platforms in 2026

My Medium friends can read this over .

I ranked newsletter platforms last October. Ten months later, one free plan got cut in half. Twice. One is still great. And the tool I rarely call a newsletter platform moved up a spot.

So, here's the 2026 version. Seven platforms, counting down. The top spot is the same as last year.

7. MailerLite

MailerLite* was number five last year. The tool itself is still fine: drag-and-drop editor, automation, landing pages, clear stats. Nothing changed there.

The free plan changed. It went from 1,000 subscribers to 500 in September 2025, and from 500 to 250 in July 2026. Emails per month went from 12,000 to 2,500. That's a trial now, basically. For me this sounds like MailerLite has real issues keeping up with the industry. I wouldn't bet on them anymore.

For now, MailerLite is still a good, classic email tool. If you wanted to start for free, this is no longer the place.

Best for: Writers who want a classic email marketing tool and are fine paying from the start.

Weakness: The free plan. Cut twice in ten months.

6. Gumroad

Up from seven. Still the wildcard. Sort of...

Gumroad is my shop. Templates, guides, app icons, whatever I build. But it also has a free subscribe page (yourname.gumroad.com/subscribe), embeddable forms, email broadcasts, and workflows. So, email automation. Welcome sequences, post-purchase follow-ups, and filters like "bought product X" or "has not bought Y yet".

Other platforms charge for exactly that. Gumroad charges 10% plus $0.50 per sale and nothing per month. If you don't sell, you don't pay.

The catch is still the same one I wrote about in : you can't import an existing list. Last time I checked the help docs, the only way in is to ask your readers to sign up again. Starting from zero, Gumroad is great. Bringing 2,000 people over, no.

That's why my product emails go out via Gumroad, and the newsletter itself stays on Substack.

Best for: Creators who sell digital products and start their list from scratch.

Weakness: No import. A basic editor. Still no "classic" newsletter feel.

5. EmailOctopus

Up one spot, because MailerLite dropped. EmailOctopus didn't change much. Which is the point.

The free plan is 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month. Pro starts at $9 a month, billed yearly. Automated sequences, simple templates, enough analytics. The dashboard is small. I like that.

Best for: Budget writers, solo bloggers, anyone who wants to try email automation without a credit card.

Weakness: Design options are basic. One landing page and EmailOctopus branding on the free plan.

4. Ghost

Ghost is a blog with a newsletter attached. Open source, runs on your domain, handles paid memberships, and the design is the best on this list.

The price is the thing. Ghost(Pro) starts at $18 a month billed yearly for 1,000 members, and that Starter plan doesn't do paid subscriptions. Publisher is $29 a month, with 0% on your subscription revenue. You can self-host for free if you know what you're doing. Most of us don't.

Best for: Paid newsletters that are also a blog, and people who want full control over their data and design.

Weakness: Price. Setup. No free plan unless you host it yourself.

3. beehiiv

beehiiv is built for growth. Referral programs, an ad network, cross-promotion between newsletters, custom domains, paid subscriptions. It's Substack with a marketing department.

The Launch plan is free up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. Scale is $43 a month. And beehiiv takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue, only Stripe's fee. That's a big difference to Substack once money comes in.

Best for: Growth-focused creators and anyone who plans to make the newsletter a business.

Weakness: It's a lot of platform for "I just want to send emails". The jump from free to $43 is steep.

2. Kit

Kit (the tool formerly known as ConvertKit) has the biggest free plan here now: up to 10,000 subscribers, broadcasts, landing pages and forms, tagging, and you can sell digital products with it.

The small print: automations and email sequences are on the Creator plan, $33 a month. So the free plan is great for sending, not for funnels. The Creator Network for cross-promotion and the integrations (SparkLoop, Gumroad, Shopify) are the reasons pros pick it.

Best for: Creators building an audience from zero with a plan to sell later.

Weakness: Automation costs money. And it gets expensive once the list grows.

1. Substack

Same as last year. And I know, Substack* isn't the best in most single categories.

The editor is limited. There is little automation beyond a welcome email. And it takes 10% of paid subscriptions, plus Stripe, with no cap.

But it's free. It does newsletter, blog, podcast, and paid subscriptions in one place. Plus social media. You can connect a custom domain. You can export your list any time. And it comes with a network: recommendations, Notes, the app.

The one thing that matters most to me: it ranks on Google. My newsletter gets more readers from search than from any social feed, and that took a custom domain and some Substack SEO. Very few email tools give you that at all. A MailerLite campaign is gone the day after you send it. A Substack post is a page that keeps working.

For a writer, the newsletter platform that is also a blog wins.

Best for: Writers. Anyone who wants a newsletter, a blog, and a paid tier without paying a monthly fee.

Weakness: The 10% cut scales with your success. Limited formatting. No automation to speak of.

There is always a catch

Cost first. Substack and Gumroad take a percentage. Kit, beehiiv, Ghost take a flat fee and 0% of your revenue. At $200 a month in paid subscriptions, 10% is $20 and the flat fees look silly. At $2,000 a month, Substack takes $200 and beehiiv still costs $43. Somewhere in between, the math flips. Most of us never get there. Some do.

Second: free plans shrink. MailerLite is the proof this year, and it won't be the last. Don't build on a free tier as if it's a promise. It's an offer.

Third: every switch costs readers. A migration means a new sender, new confirmation emails, a chunk of people who never re-subscribe.

The Bottom Line

I run my newsletter on Substack and my product emails on Gumroad. Two tools, both free, both doing the thing they are good at.

If you start today with zero readers and no products: Substack. If you sell things: Gumroad on the side. If you want a business with funnels from day one: Kit or beehiiv.

The list will look different again next year. I am sure.

If you're not already, follow me on Medium.

Get PROSTACK