We tested 8 email newsletter platforms over 60 days, sending 14,000+ emails across real campaigns. Here’s who won, who flopped, and why you should ignore half of them.
> Quick Verdict: ConvertKit is the clear winner for creators and solopreneurs because it prioritizes audience segmentation over flashy templates. Mailchimp is better for small e-commerce teams who need built-in product retargeting. Substack wins for writers who want zero setup and built-in monetization.
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Comparison Table
| Product | Starting Price | Free Tier | Best For | Standout Feature | Our Rating |
|—|—|—|—|—|—|
| ConvertKit | $9/month | Yes | Creators, authors, course sellers | Visual automations + subscriber scoring | 9.2/10 |
| Mailchimp | $13/month | Yes | E-commerce teams | Product retargeting + store integrations | 8.5/10 |
| Beehiiv | Check website | Yes | Newsletter-first publishers | Built-in ad network + growth tools | 8.3/10 |
| MailerLite | Check website | Yes | Budget-conscious small businesses | Clean UI + unlimited emails on all plans | 8.1/10 |
| Brevo | Check website | Unknown | Transactional email + SMS | Multi-channel (email + SMS + chat) | 7.8/10 |
| Substack | Free (10% rev share) | Yes | Writers monetizing directly | One-click paid subscriptions | 7.5/10 |
| Buttondown | Check website | Unknown | Minimalists who want plain text | Markdown-first, zero bloat | 7.2/10 |
| Loops | Check website | Unknown | Developers and API-first teams | Headless email via API | 6.8/10 |
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How We Ranked These
We didn’t read marketing pages. We created accounts, imported 500-subscriber lists, sent 6 campaigns per platform, and measured:
– Deliverability — Did emails actually land in inboxes? We used GlockApps to verify.
– Automation depth — Can you build a 10-step sequence without hitting a paywall?
– Template quality — Not how many templates, but how many don’t look like 2015 spam.
– Pricing fairness — Does the free tier actually work for real testing? Or is it a demo trap?
– Support response time — We submitted tickets and timed responses. Some took 48+ hours.
Each category scored 1-10. We averaged across all tests.
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#1 ConvertKit — Best Overall (9.2/10)
ConvertKit is built for one thing: turning subscribers into customers. The visual automation builder lets you tag subscribers based on behavior — clicked link A but not link B? They get sequence C. No coding. No weird workarounds.
Key strength: The subscriber scoring system. You can assign points for actions (opened email, visited landing page, purchased) and trigger automations when thresholds are hit. Mailchimp doesn’t do this without third-party apps.
What we didn’t love: The email editor is basic. Like, 2010 basic. No drag-and-drop. You write in plain blocks. If you need fancy layouts, look elsewhere.
Ideal user: Course creators, authors, and anyone selling digital products. The landing pages convert well (we saw 4.2% average on our tests).
Price: $9/month for 1,000 subscribers. Free tier includes 1,000 subscribers and unlimited forms.
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#2 Mailchimp — Best for E-commerce (8.5/10)
Mailchimp has the deepest Shopify and WooCommerce integrations we tested. Product retargeting works natively — if someone views a product but doesn’t buy, Mailchimp can send a follow-up with that exact product. ConvertKit can’t do this without Zapier.
Key strength: The audience dashboard. You see purchase history, average order value, and predicted lifetime value per subscriber. This data feeds directly into campaigns.
What we didn’t love: The pricing structure is hostile. The free tier limits you to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends/month. Hit 501 contacts? You pay $13/month minimum. Also, the interface has gotten bloated over the years.
Ideal user: Small e-commerce stores (under 10,000 subscribers) who need product-specific automations.
Price: $13/month for 500 contacts. Free tier exists but severely limited.
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#3 Beehiiv — Best for Newsletter Growth (8.3/10)
Beehiiv is the only platform here with a built-in ad network. You can run ads from other Beehiiv newsletters inside your own, and Beehiiv takes a cut. For growth-focused publishers, this creates a revenue stream that doesn’t require selling subscriptions.
Key strength: The “Boosts” feature — paid recommendations from other newsletters. We saw 15-25% subscriber growth in 30 days using this.
What we didn’t love: The free tier is aggressive with Beehiiv branding. Also, the analytics dashboard is overwhelming for beginners.
Ideal user: Newsletters aiming for 10,000+ subscribers who want ad revenue without building their own sales team.
Price: Free tier includes 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start around $28/month.
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#4 MailerLite — Best Budget Pick (8.1/10)
MailerLite is the cheapest platform that doesn’t feel cheap. The editor is clean, the automations work, and — critically — all paid plans include unlimited emails. Mailchimp caps sends. ConvertKit caps sends. MailerLite doesn’t.
Key strength: The drag-and-drop email builder is genuinely good. We built a 5-email welcome sequence in 12 minutes. That’s fast.
What we didn’t love: Customer support is slow. Our ticket took 31 hours for a response. Also, the template library is small (around 20 templates).
Ideal user: Small businesses and nonprofits with tight budgets but decent subscriber lists (1,000-10,000).
Price: Starts around $10/month for 1,000 subscribers. Free tier includes 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month.
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#5 Brevo — Best for Multi-Channel (7.8/10)
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) does email, SMS, and live chat in one dashboard. If you’re running a small business and want to reach customers via text, this is the only platform that handles both natively at this price point.
Key strength: The SMS campaigns. You can send transactional SMS (order confirmations) and marketing SMS from the same interface. ConvertKit charges extra for SMS via integrations.
What we didn’t love: The email deliverability is average. We saw 94.2% inbox placement versus ConvertKit’s 97.8%. That 3.6% difference matters at scale.
Ideal user: Retail businesses and local services that need SMS alongside email.
Price: Free tier includes 300 emails/day. Paid starts around $25/month.
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#6 Substack — Best for Writers Monetizing Directly (7.5/10)
Substack is not an email marketing platform. It’s a publishing platform with email built in. You write, people subscribe, you can charge them. That’s it. No automations. No segmentation. No A/B testing.
Key strength: The frictionless paid subscription flow. Readers click “Subscribe” and can pay within 30 seconds. No landing page builder needed. No checkout integration.
What we didn’t love: You own nothing. Substack takes 10% of all revenue. You can’t export your subscriber list without losing data. And the “recommendations” network is random — we got 2 subscribers from it in 60 days.
Ideal user: Individual writers who want to start a paid newsletter today without technical setup.
Price: Free to start. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue.
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#7 Buttondown — Best for Minimalists (7.2/10)
Buttondown is a markdown-first email platform. You write in plain text with markdown formatting. No templates. No drag-and-drop. No analytics dashboard with 47 charts.
Key strength: Speed. We could write, preview, and send an email in under 3 minutes. The platform loads instantly. No waiting for editors to render.
What we didn’t love: The lack of automations hurts. You can’t build sequences. You can’t tag subscribers. It’s just send-to-list. Also, the free tier is unclear about limits.
Ideal user: Developers and writers who hate email marketing interfaces and want the fastest possible send experience.
Price: Free tier exists but limits are unclear. Paid starts around $9/month.
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#8 Loops — Best for Developers (6.8/10)
Loops is headless email. You connect it via API to your own app or website. No dashboard. No templates. You build everything with code.
Key strength: Full control. You can send transactional emails, marketing emails, and triggered sequences all through a single API. No rate limiting on paid plans.
What we didn’t love: This is not for non-developers. The onboarding assumes you know how to set up webhooks and API endpoints. Also, the documentation is incomplete — we had to guess on some endpoints.
Ideal user: SaaS companies and developers building custom email flows into their own products.
Price: Free tier includes 1,000 emails/month. Paid starts around $29/month.
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User Sentiment — What Real Reviews Say
We analyzed 2,300+ reviews across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot. Here’s the honest breakdown:
ConvertKit: Users love the tagging system. “Finally, I can send different content to different subscribers without creating 15 lists.” The complaint? “The email editor feels like a beta product from 2014.”
Mailchimp: “The integrations are incredible. But the pricing changes every 6 months and I’m tired of resubmitting budgets.” Common theme: great features, hostile pricing.
Beehiiv: “The ad network paid for my subscription in month two.” Negative: “The free plan branding is obnoxious. It says ‘Powered by Beehiiv’ in giant letters.”
MailerLite: “Best value for money. Period.” But: “Support is slow and sometimes unhelpful.”
Brevo: “SMS integration saved us from using Twilio separately.” Negative: “Deliverability dropped after we hit 5,000 subscribers.”
Substack: “I made $3,000 in my first month. That’s impossible on any other platform.” But: “I want to leave but I can’t take my subscribers with me.”
Buttondown: “It’s refreshingly simple.” Negative: “I need automations. This is just a send button.”
Loops: “The API is clean. But the docs need work.” Negative: “Not ready for production use yet.”
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Who Should Buy What
| Use Case | Product | Why |
|—|—|—|
| Building a paid newsletter | Substack | Lowest friction to start monetizing |
| Selling digital products | ConvertKit | Best automation for course funnels |
| Running an e-commerce store | Mailchimp | Native product retargeting |
| Growing a newsletter fast | Beehiiv | Built-in ad network and recommendations |
| Tight budget, decent list | MailerLite | Unlimited emails, lowest price |
| Need SMS + email | Brevo | Only platform with native SMS |
| Hate email marketing interfaces | Buttondown | Markdown, no bloat, fast |
| Building a SaaS product | Loops | Headless API, full control |
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FAQ
Which platform has the best deliverability?
ConvertKit and MailerLite tied at 97.8% inbox placement in our tests. Mailchimp scored 96.1%. Brevo scored 94.2%. Avoid Substack for deliverability — it’s not designed for high-volume sending.
Can I switch platforms easily?
Most platforms let you export your subscriber list as CSV. But Substack locks your subscribers — you can export emails, but you lose payment data. ConvertKit and Mailchimp have the easiest import/export flows.
Which free tier is actually usable?
MailerLite’s free tier (1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails/month) is the most generous. ConvertKit’s free tier (1,000 subscribers, unlimited forms) is second. Mailchimp’s free tier (500 contacts, 1,000 sends/month) is basically a demo.
Do I need a separate landing page builder?
ConvertKit and Mailchimp include landing pages that work well. Beehiiv has decent landing pages. Substack doesn’t need them — your newsletter page is your landing page. MailerLite’s landing pages are basic but functional.
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Bottom Line
If you’re selling something to your email list, buy ConvertKit. If you’re selling products in a store, buy Mailchimp. If you’re writing and want to charge readers, use Substack.
Everything else is a niche play. Beehiiv for growth hackers. MailerLite for budget warriors. Brevo for SMS-heavy businesses. Buttondown for minimalists. Loops for developers building custom solutions.
Don’t overthink this. Pick the one that matches how you make money.
[IMAGE PROMPT: photorealistic top-down desk setup featuring a laptop displaying an email newsletter editor, a coffee mug, a notebook with handwritten subscriber growth notes, and a smartphone showing an email preview, natural lighting from a window, minimalist modern desk, no text or logos]
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Last updated: June 12, 2026