Tool comparisons
The Best Newsletter Platforms for Indie Hackers, Compared
Kit has the biggest free plan for newsletter writers in 2026, with up to 10,000 subscribers, and beehiiv's free plan allows 2,500 with unlimited sends. Buttondown is the cheapest paid option at $9 a month for 1,000 subscribers. If the emails are for your SaaS users rather than readers, Loops is built for that.
Last updated October 2026
The comparison table
A newsletter for an indie product does one of two jobs. Either it is the product's audience, a list you write to every week about what you build and learn, or it is product email: onboarding, release notes and lifecycle messages to the people who signed up. Writer platforms like Kit, beehiiv, Ghost and Substack are built for the first. Loops is built for the second, and MailerLite and Mailchimp sit somewhere between.
The comparison that matters most is the price at the size you will actually reach this year. We list each free plan's cap and, where the vendor publishes it, the price at 1,000 subscribers, the point many indie lists reach first.
Pricing checked on each tool’s own pricing, feature or help pages. Prices change; confirm on the vendor’s page before you buy.
| # | Tool | Best for | Free plan | Paid from | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Growing a list for free, then automating | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts | $33 per month billed yearly at 1,000 (Creator) | Sell digital products and subscriptions on the free plan |
| 2 | beehiiv | Newsletter as a media business | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends | $49 per month billed yearly at 1,000 (Lite), $59 monthly | 0 percent beehiiv cut on paid subscriptions; Stripe fees still apply |
| 3 | Buttondown | Developers and minimalists | Up to 100 subscribers, custom sending domain included | $9 per month up to 1,000 (Basic) | Many features are $9 to $29 add-ons |
| 4 | Ghost | Owning your site and newsletter together | Self-hosting is free (open source); Ghost(Pro) has a trial | $15 per month billed yearly at 1,000 members (Starter) | No Ghost cut on payments; paid subscriptions from Publisher at $29 |
| 5 | EmailOctopus | A large free list on a budget | 2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails a month | $12 per month billed yearly at 1,000 (Pro) | Branding on free emails; no paid subscription feature found |
| 6 | MailerLite | Email plus a simple website and landing pages | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month | $19 per month at 1,000, or $17.10 billed yearly (Comfort) | No API sending on the free plan |
| 7 | Substack | Writers who want a built-in reader network | Free to publish | No monthly fee; 10 percent of paid subscription revenue | Card processing fees on top of the 10 percent |
| 8 | Loops | SaaS product and lifecycle email | 1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends per 30 days | $49 per month for 1,001 to 5,000 contacts | Marketing and transactional email from one API; no paid newsletters |
| 9 | Mailchimp | Ecommerce integrations and familiarity | 250 contacts, 500 sends a month | Essentials, priced by contacts (shown in local currency) | Prices rise with contacts; overages apply |
Which one to pick
- You want the biggest free plan: Kit. Free up to 10,000 subscribers, products and subscriptions included.
- You want to build a publication: beehiiv. Unlimited sends and growth tools, with no cut of paid subscriptions.
- You want the cheapest paid plan: Buttondown. $9 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers.
- You want to own the site and the list: Ghost. Open source, on your own domain, no payment cut.
- You are emailing your SaaS users: Loops. Lifecycle and transactional email from one API.
Whatever you choose, check two things before importing a list: that you can export subscribers as a CSV at any time, and that the platform lets you send from your own domain with proper authentication. Moving later is easy when both are true and painful when either is not.
Every tool, one by one
Each entry links to the tool’s own site, the primary source for every price above. How we source facts is on the methodology page.
1. Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit's free plan is the largest here: up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts, tagging, and the ability to sell digital products and paid subscriptions. What you pay for is automation. Sequences and visual automations, branding removal and A/B tests start on Creator.
Pros
- Free up to 10,000 subscribers
- Sell products and paid subscriptions without upgrading
- Mature automations and tagging on paid plans
Cons
- No automations or sequences on the free plan
- Kit branding on free emails
- Monthly billing costs about 18 percent more than yearly
2. beehiiv
beehiiv is built for newsletters that want to become a publication: a website, growth tools, paid subscriptions with no platform cut and an ad network. The free plan gives 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sends. A custom domain and paid subscriptions need Lite, and removing beehiiv branding needs Pro.
Pros
- Unlimited sends on every plan
- No platform cut on paid subscriptions
- Website, podcast and community tools included
Cons
- Custom domain and paid subscriptions need Lite at $49 a month yearly
- Branding removal needs Pro at $95 a month yearly
- Price steps up with each subscriber bracket
3. Buttondown
Buttondown is a small, privacy-minded platform with a Markdown editor, an API and a custom sending domain even on the free plan. At $9 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers it is the cheapest paid plan in this list. The catch is the add-on model: paid subscriptions, analytics and segmentation are each extra, and an archive on your own domain is $29 a month.
Pros
- Cheapest paid plan here at $9 a month for 1,000
- Markdown editor, API and custom sending domain on free
- Charges only for active subscribers
Cons
- Free plan is only 100 subscribers
- Paid subscriptions, analytics and segmentation are $9 add-ons each
- Archive on your own domain costs $29 a month extra
4. Ghost
Ghost is an open source publishing platform where the blog and the newsletter are one thing, on your own domain. Ghost takes no cut of paid subscriptions. Hosted Ghost(Pro) starts at $15 a month billed yearly for 1,000 members, but paid subscriptions need the $29 Publisher plan. Self-hosting is free if you can run Node.js and MySQL and set up email delivery.
Pros
- Blog and newsletter on your own domain, open source
- No platform cut on paid subscriptions
- Custom domain on every hosted plan
Cons
- No free hosted plan
- Paid subscriptions need Publisher at $29 a month
- Self-hosting means running the server and email delivery yourself
5. EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus is a plain, inexpensive email tool. The free plan covers 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month with no time limit, and Pro at 1,000 subscribers costs $13.50 a month, or $12 billed yearly. It does not sell paid subscriptions, so it suits free newsletters and product announcements.
Pros
- Large free plan with no time limit
- Low paid price at 1,000 subscribers
- Unlimited forms, landing pages and users on Pro
Cons
- EmailOctopus branding on free emails
- No paid subscriptions
- 10,000 emails a month cap even on Pro at 1,000
6. MailerLite
MailerLite bundles email, automations, landing pages and a basic website builder, with paid newsletters and digital products listed as features. The free plan is small at 250 subscribers, but it includes automations and all three editors. At 1,000 subscribers the Comfort plan is $19 a month.
Pros
- Automations included even on the free plan
- Landing pages and a website builder in the same account
- Fair price at 1,000 subscribers
Cons
- Free plan is only 250 subscribers
- No API sending on free
- Unlimited automations and pages need Power at $39 a month
7. Substack
Substack costs nothing until you charge readers, then keeps 10 percent of paid subscription revenue plus card fees. In return you get a hosted publication, podcasts, notes and a network of readers who discover newsletters inside Substack. For an indie product the trade is control: the publication lives on Substack and design options are limited.
Pros
- Free until you earn
- Built-in reader network and recommendations
- Paid subscriptions work out of the box
Cons
- 10 percent of paid revenue, plus card fees
- Limited control over design and branding
- We could not confirm free subscriber caps or custom domain cost on its help pages
8. Loops
Loops is for software companies, not writers. It sends marketing campaigns, event based lifecycle emails and transactional email from one API, priced by contacts with unlimited sends on paid plans and no seat fees. The free plan covers 1,000 contacts. The first paid step, at 1,001 contacts, is $49 a month.
Pros
- Transactional and marketing email in one place
- Event based workflows built for SaaS signups
- No seat fees, unlimited sends on paid plans
Cons
- First paid step is $49 a month
- Free sends capped at 4,000 per 30 days, with Loops branding
- Not built for paid newsletters or publishing
9. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the best known name and has the deepest ecommerce integrations, but for an indie newsletter it is now one of the least generous: the free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Paid plans are priced by contact count with overages. Its pricing page loads prices by region, so we could not confirm a single dollar price at 1,000 contacts.
Pros
- Familiar, with many integrations
- Landing pages and forms on the free plan
- SMS add-on on paid plans
Cons
- Free plan: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month
- Prices climb with contacts and overages apply
- No paid subscription product found on its pages
Common questions
What is the best free newsletter platform?
By subscriber cap, Kit: free up to 10,000 subscribers. beehiiv and EmailOctopus are free up to 2,500, Loops up to 1,000 contacts, MailerLite and Mailchimp up to 250, and Buttondown up to 100. Substack is free to publish and takes 10 percent only when you charge.
Which newsletter platform takes no cut of paid subscriptions?
beehiiv and Ghost(Pro) state they take no cut, though Stripe's card fees still apply. Substack keeps 10 percent of paid revenue plus card fees. Buttondown charges a $9 a month add-on for paid subscriptions.
How much does a newsletter cost at 1,000 subscribers?
On 10 October 2026: Kit and Loops were free, Buttondown $9 a month, EmailOctopus $12 billed yearly, Ghost(Pro) Starter $15 billed yearly, MailerLite $19 a month, and beehiiv Lite $49 billed yearly, which adds a custom domain and paid subscriptions.
Should a SaaS use a newsletter tool or a product email tool?
Use a product email tool such as Loops for onboarding, receipts and lifecycle messages triggered by what users do in your app. Use a newsletter tool when you write to an audience. Many indie products end up with one of each.
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