7 Of The Best Substack Alternatives For Sending Newsletters

A few years ago, Substack became the platform for writers and creators looking to connect directly with an audience, build a loyal following, and make money doing it. The appeal was obvious: it’s an easy-to-use interface, has built-in subscription tools for monetization, and makes it straightforard to build an audience eager for quality content. It’s match made in self-publishing heaven.

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But, as with any platform that rises to prominence, the honeymoon phase didn’t last. What started as a creator’s dream has morphed into a crowded marketplace where standing out feels like shouting into a hurricane. The 10% platform fee is cute when you’re making pennies but painful when you’re actually building momentum. And there’s the constant hustle of converting free subscribers to paid ones, all while competing against thousands of other writers who want exactly the same thing. 

Alternatives to Substack promise to soothe all these pain points, so if you’re considering jumping ship, here’s a round-up of seven platforms that might fit the bill. We’ve focused on each platform’s key selling point, but feel free to explore their feature pages for the finer details. Let’s dive in.

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If you’re a perfectionist about your newsletter’s look and feel, Ghost might be the one for you. As an open-source platform, it allows you to tweak themes, layouts, and even add bespoke features. Where Substack sticks mainly to newsletters, Ghost offers a robust content management system that extends to blogging too. You’ll also get built-in SEO tools to boost optimization for search, no third-party plugins required. Plus, multi-author support (available on higher-tier plans) makes it a team-friendly option if guest writers or collaborators are part of your vision. If you’re migrating an existing Substack publication, Ghost offers a free concierge service to handle the transition smoothly.

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For the technically inclined, you can self-host Ghost for free (a great budget-friendly option), but it does require some know-how. If you’d rather not DIY, no problem. Ghost’s hosted plans start at $10 per month for up to 500 members. The platform gets bonus points for monetization: Ghost gives you complete control over how you monetize. You can set up revenue streams — whether that’s subscriptions, memberships, or one-time donations — and keep 100% of your earnings.

That said, Ghost isn’t without its quirks. It’s more complex than Substack’s plug-and-play setup, and hosted plans can get pricey as your audience grows. But if you’re okay navigating a bit of technical complexity, or are open to grow into it, Ghost is a powerful option. Just be sure to weigh the cost as your subscriber base grows, especially if a large chunk of your audience isn’t paying yet.

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Beehiiv offers one of the best free plans around. It supports up to 2,500 subscribers, which makes it perfect for smaller creators who want to keep things low-cost while they scale. Monetization options are pretty DIY on the free plan though — you can sell digital products or merch, or share affiliate links.

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All of beehiiv’s built-in tools for earning are tucked away in the paid tiers, which kick off at $39/month for 1,000 subs. There’s the Ad Network, which connects you with brands to feature ads in your newsletter at rates you set. You can also offer paid subscriptions or let subscribers name their price for a premium upgrade. Best of all, beehiiv doesn’t take a cut from your earnings — apart from the flat subscription fee and standard processing charges.

A built-in referral program lets you offer rewards to readers who share your newsletter, saving you the cost and hassle of third-party referral tools. For even wider reach, beehiiv’s paid Boosts feature allows you to run targeted ads in other creators’ newsletters. You can also earn by applying to boost other newsletters — you’ll get paid each time a new subscriber opts in to a boosted recommendation. Advanced analytics will show you how your growth efforts are performing, and you can use the data to segment your audience and tailor your content for maximum impact. All of these come in a user-friendly interface that doubles as a no-code website builder, with some AI-powered enhancements sprinkled in.

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Some users point out that beehiiv’s integration with other creator tools isn’t always seamless. Also, ad opportunities may not always align perfectly with your content.

Kit is a solid choice if you’re looking to build a buying audience with an all-in-one platform for blogging, newsletters, and courses. It lets you automate key stages of your conversion — from welcoming new subscribers to following up after a sale — so you can focus on creating content. There are also tagging and segment tools that allow you to tailor content based on user actions.

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When it comes to earning from your audience, Kit offers a few options. Its Sponsor Network connects you with brands looking to place ads in your newsletter, but there’s a catch — you’ll need to be publishing at least once a week, and have at least 10,000 subscribers to qualify (and Kit charges 20% of your earnings). If that’s out of reach, Kit’s built-in e-commerce platform lets you sell digital products. You can also earn by offering paid recommendation slots for other creators through the Creator Network.

Kit earns bonus points for packaging it all into an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface, although it is not without its learning curve. It also integrates with a number of other creator tools, which can help streamline your workflow.

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The platform offers a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers, which is a decent starting point if you’re testing things out. Paid plans start at $25/month, but costs go up (and more features are added) as your audience grows. That said, Kit can get pricey as your audience grows, and many key features are locked behind the higher-tier plans. Also, the selection of templates is quite limited, which could be a drawback if customization is a priority for you.

Unarguably as popular as Substack, Medium is — well — a blogging medium that’s recently into the newsletter game. It offers much of what Substack does, but with a pricing model that won’t make you hate success so much. You get a sleek, easy-to-use interface, a built-in audience of readers, and seamless monetization tools, but, Medium newsletters are completely free to send. Once you’ve got a paid subscription ($5/month flat fee) and a publication set up, you can launch a newsletter and start earning without extra costs (minus the standard payment processing fees).

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Medium pays creators in two main ways: through the Partner Program,which rewards you based on how long people spend reading your content, and through referrals, where you pocket half of a new subscriber’s membership fee (although it is now discontinued for new users). Beyond that, you can monetize by selling digital products, using affiliate links, attracting clients via Medium’s SEO, or landing sponsored content deals.

Customization options are pretty barebones, however. You’ll have to embrace Medium’s minimalist vibe for your sign-up forms and emails, but hey — it’s free, so it’s hard to complain. What Medium lacks in design flexibility, it makes up for with an established audience and algorithms that can help get your content in front of the right eyes. Here’s the catch, though. Platform ownership is a trade-off. Your content lives under Medium’s rules, meaning it could be flagged or taken down if it doesn’t align with their policies. Plus, Medium does not yet support importing email lists.

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If newsletters are just one piece of your marketing puzzle, Brevo might be your perfect match. Think of it as a Swiss Army knife for digital marketing that happens to include newsletter management. The platform offers a feature-rich free plan (though your emails will sport Brevo’s logo) with up to 300 emails per day, and a good variety of email templates. Plus, you get unlimited chats with a built-in AI assistant for drafting emails or answering customer queries.

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Brevo’s unique pricing model charges per email, not per subscriber, which is great if you don’t send newsletters often. There’s also a pay-as-you-go option for buying credits to run small campaigns, including SMS and WhatsApp messages. Segmentation tools let you target audiences by location, demographics, or other metrics, with conditional displays to make content more personalized.

On the e-commerce side, handy automations and a built-in CRM make things smoother — you get fewer features than on systems like HubSpot but they’re refreshingly simple. Content creation is straightforward with about 60 templates and a drag-and-drop editor, and you can create/import your own custom HTML designs.

There are trade-offs, though. Features like A/B testing and advanced analytics are locked behind pricey Premium plans. And while Brevo’s anti-spam process is strict, it doesn’t filter spam contacts as well as you might hope. Still, it’s a great starting point if you want to blend newsletters with broader marketing efforts.

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Mailchimp is the veteran powerhouse of email marketing. If your goal is to do more than just hit “send” on a newsletter, this platform has you covered. You get advanced automations, audience segmentation, and sleek design tools, though the template library is stingier than you’d hope — unless you pay.

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There are 40+ pre-built automations (or subscriber “journeys”) for everything from onboarding to promotions, but only on paid plans. The free version caps you at 1,000 emails to 500 subscribers with limited data. Paid plans start at $20/month for up to 6,000 sends, but the pricing can feel steep since essential features are scattered across different tiers. Mailchimp does offer a pay-as-you-go model, which might be kinder on your wallet if you’re an occasional or sporadic sender.

On the bright side, the platform integrates well with website builders, e-commerce platforms, and other tools to make your entire campaign seamless. There are a handful of monetization opportunities as well — paid subscriptions, referral commissions, and the good ole product/merch sales, but you’ll want to tread carefully if you do affiliate marketing. Mailchimp’s stance on affiliate marketing is… murky at best. While affiliate links are technically allowed, they’re subject to scrutiny, and there’s a chance your content might get flagged or even restricted if it gets too close to spam territory. Traditional affiliate marketing schemes (like generating third-party leads or sales) are pretty much a no-go. If affiliate marketing is a big part of your strategy, proceed with caution.

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If you’re serious about advanced email campaigns and want your emails working harder than you do, Mailchimp won’t disappoint. Just prepare to invest time (and probably a few extra dollars) to unlock its full potential.

MailerLite is a solid choice if your primary focus is email marketing and you want a robust, user-friendly tool that doesn’t break the bank. Its free-forever plan supports up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month, which is cost-effective and a rarity in the email marketing space. Unlike many competitors, even the free plan includes essential features like basic automation workflows, a landing page builder, A/B testing, and basic analytics.

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One standout perk is MailerLite’s interactive widgets, such as surveys, quizzes, and countdown timers, which help make your emails more engaging while gathering useful subscriber data. An integration with Stripe lets you easily sell digital products, and partnerships with e-commerce platforms like Shopify further extend its capabilities. Plus, you won’t be charged for inactive contacts that have unsubscribed or bounced — a small but very thoughtful touch.

Where MailerLite stumbles a bit is in CRM sophistication; it’s not as feature-rich as some other platforms. Also, free users miss out on pre-designed templates and must start from scratch when creating emails. Custom domain publishing is also reserved for paid plans. But if your focus is sending sharp, impactful emails without wading through a maze of features, MailerLite delivers. Paid plans start at $15/month for 1,000 subscribers, scaling as your audience grows.

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