What is the best newsletter platform for a solo founder?
Prices read from each vendor's own pricing page on 28 August 2026.
Free tiers in this category are unusually generous and unusually uneven, and the gap between them is the whole decision. One platform here carries ten thousand subscribers for nothing. Another stops at two hundred and fifty.
The number that actually decides it, though, is what happens next. A free tier that ends in a gentle slope is a different product from one that ends in a cliff, and you will hit that cliff on the day your list is growing, which is the worst possible day to be migrating.
Our pick
Ten thousand subscribers free, with unlimited landing pages and forms, broadcasts, one automation, and paid newsletters included. Nothing else here carries a list that far for nothing. Paid tiers are priced per subscriber band and climb quickly, and there is a 3.5% plus 30 cents fee on digital product sales.
What we judged on
- How many subscribers the free tier carries
- The size of the step from free to the first paid tier
- Whether monetisation is built in or another integration
- What sending costs once the list is real
Also worth it
Free to twenty-five hundred subscribers with unlimited sends, a real website, podcast support and the recommendation network, which is a growth channel rather than a feature. The catch is the step: automations and webhooks sit behind the $43 Scale plan, so the jump from free is steep.
Free for the first hundred subscribers, markdown-first, and transparently priced by usage rather than by band. Run by one very responsive person, which is either the reason to choose it or the reason not to. Automations and segmentation cost extra.
The cheapest genuine entry point at $10.80, with unlimited automations and landing pages from that first paid tier rather than three tiers up. The free plan is the tightest here at two hundred and fifty subscribers, so treat it as a trial.
Prices, side by side
| Tool | From | Free tier |
|---|---|---|
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Free, then $32.50/mo | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages/forms, email broadcasts, 1 automation, paid newsletters with fees |
| beehiiv | Free, then $43.08/mo | Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, website, podcast, recommendation network, custom domains, read-only API |
| Buttondown | Free | Free for your first 100 subscribers |
| MailerLite | Free, then $10.80/mo | Up to 250 active subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 3 automations, 1 website, 3 forms, 2 seats |
Read on 28 August 2026. Every price change we have recorded.
Questions people ask
Which newsletter platform has the biggest free tier?
Kit, at ten thousand subscribers with broadcasts, forms and landing pages included. beehiiv is next at twenty-five hundred, with unlimited sends and a website.
What does it cost once I outgrow the free tier?
This is the number to check before you start, not after. beehiiv's Scale plan is $43 a month and it is where automations live. MailerLite starts at $10.80 with automations included. Kit prices by subscriber band and rises fastest of the three.
Should I use a newsletter tool for transactional email?
No. Password resets and receipts want an API and deliverability built for one-to-one sending, which is a different product. There is a separate guide for that.
This is one question about email marketing. See all 15 compared, or browse the other guides.