Best Free Newsletter Platforms in 2026: Caps, Branding and the Cut on Paid Readers
Short answer: Kit ranks first, with the highest printed free subscriber cap in this guide (10,000), unlimited broadcasts and paid subscriptions on its free plan. For 2,500 subscribers and 100 readers paying $8 a month, Kit's fees total $58.00 a month including card processing, and Substack's 10% share alone is $80. beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers and lists a 0% take rate from its Lite plan. Prices checked 19 Oct 2026.
Ten platforms compared on free subscriber caps, monthly send limits, forced branding and what each one keeps when readers pay, with prices read on vendor pages on 19 Oct 2026.
A free newsletter plan stays free until one of three things happens: the list passes a subscriber cap, the issues pass a monthly send cap, or the writer starts charging readers. This guide follows one writer through all three. The writer has 2,500 subscribers, 100 of whom pay $8 a month ($800 before card fees), and sends one issue a week, which averages 10,833 sends a month (2,500 x 52 / 12). A platform that prints no free-plan cap can still cost more once readers pay, because a revenue share grows with every sale. Toolradar data: of the 22 newsletter tools we track, 82% offer a free or freemium plan and 18% are paid only, so a free start is the norm and the real difference is what happens when you charge readers.
Toolradar is part of Dupple, which sends its own newsletters on beehiiv, so beehiiv is ranked here on the same rules as the other nine platforms.
Methodology: we weighed 22 newsletter tools in the newsletter tools category and kept ten that a writer can start on today with a free plan or a free self-hosted edition. Every limit and price was read on the vendor's own pages on 19 Oct 2026. The order follows the free plan: first the plans that keep the 2,500-subscriber list and its monthly sends at no cost. Within that group, a platform that takes paid subscriptions on its free plan leads (Kit before Substack, on the lower scenario fee), then one that needs a paid plan for them (beehiiv), then one that has none (Sender). Plans that fall short follow, the larger printed cap first, and the two with no free hosted plan come last.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
Free to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, and paid newsletters work on the free plan at 3.5% plus 30 cents per charge.
Starting price
Free; Creator $59/mo billed monthly
Best for
Writers who expect a large free list and want to charge readers without a monthly plan.
Free to start with no tiers and no subscriber or send cap printed, but 10% of paid revenue goes to Substack.
Starting price
Free; 10% of paid revenue
2.4 (179 reviews)
Best for
Writers who want no upfront cost and will grow on Substack's own network.
Free for 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends; paid subscriptions need Lite, which lists a 0% take rate.
Starting price
Free; Lite $79/mo billed monthly
4.5 (56 reviews)
Best for
Writers planning to charge soon who prefer a flat plan to a revenue share.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Free; Creator $59/mo billed monthly | n/a | Writers who expect a large free list and want to charge readers without a monthly plan. |
| Substack | Free; 10% of paid revenue | 2.4 179 reviews | Writers who want no upfront cost and will grow on Substack's own network. |
| beehiiv | Free; Lite $79/mo billed monthly | 4.5 56 reviews | Writers planning to charge soon who prefer a flat plan to a revenue share. |
| Sender | Free; $108/yr billed yearly at 500 | 4.8 1,724 reviews | Writers who send often to a list up to 2,500 and do not plan to charge readers. |
| EmailOctopus | Free; Pro $20/mo billed monthly | 4.6 701 reviews | Writers with a list up to 2,500 who send at most four full-list issues a month. |
| MailerLite | Free; Comfort $33/mo billed monthly | 4.7 3,514 reviews | Writers starting from a small list who may add paid newsletters on Comfort. |
| Mailchimp | Free; Essentials from $13/mo monthly | 3.9 31,997 reviews | Writers with a list under 250 who want a free start before choosing a paid tier. |
| Buttondown | Free to 100; Standard $29/mo monthly | 4.8 115 reviews | Writers who want to charge readers on a flat plan with no revenue share. |
| Ghost | Self-host free; hosted $55/mo monthly | 3.9 264 reviews | Publishers who want no platform fee and will pay for hosting or run a server. |
| Listmonk | Free, self-hosted; no vendor price | n/a | Technical writers who run their own server and only need to send email. |
Kit
Free to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, and paid newsletters work on the free plan at 3.5% plus 30 cents per charge.
- Starting price
- Free; Creator $59/mo billed monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
Best for: Writers who expect a large free list and want to charge readers without a monthly plan.
- Pro: Free plan holds up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts
- Pro: Paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions are ticked on the Free plan
- Pro: Creator for up to 3,000 subscribers is $59 a month billed monthly or $590 billed yearly
- Con: Kit branding stays on emails and pages until Creator
- Con: The per-charge fee applies on every plan: $58.00 a month for 100 charges on the scenario
Kit's pricing is quite generous, especially with its robust free 'Newsletter' tier supporting up to 10,000 subscribers.
Substack
Free to start with no tiers and no subscriber or send cap printed, but 10% of paid revenue goes to Substack.
- 1.3 on Trustpilot (161 reviews)
- 4.3 on G2 (18 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; 10% of paid revenue
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 2.4 (179 reviews)
Best for: Writers who want no upfront cost and will grow on Substack's own network.
- Pro: Free to start, with no tiers and no contracts, per its about page
- Pro: No subscriber or send cap is printed on its public pages
- Pro: Its about page says over half of new subscribers come from Substack's built-in network
- Con: Writers keep 90% of revenue minus card fees, so Substack's share is $80 on the scenario
- Con: The page also says no platform fees, so read the 90% line as the real cost
Substack's pricing is incredibly generous, offering a full-featured free tier and only taking a 10% cut of revenue for paid newsletters.
- Starting price
- Free; Lite $79/mo billed monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (56 reviews)
Best for: Writers planning to charge soon who prefer a flat plan to a revenue share.
- Pro: Free plan has unlimited email sends and holds up to 2,500 subscribers
- Pro: Lite lists a 0% take rate on paid subscriptions; Stripe's card fee still applies
- Pro: Lite at 2,500 subscribers is $69 a month billed yearly
- Con: The free cap is exactly 2,500; the next Lite step, 5,000 subscribers, is $95 a month billed yearly or $109 billed monthly
- Con: Paid subscriptions need Lite, which is $79 a month billed monthly at 2,500 subscribers
beehiiv's pricing is quite generous, especially with its robust free 'Launch' tier supporting up to 2,500 subscribers.
Sender
Free for 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with Sender branding and no paid-subscription feature listed.
- 4.8 on Trustpilot (1,445 reviews)
- 4.7 on G2 (279 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; $108/yr billed yearly at 500
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.8 (1,724 reviews)
Best for: Writers who send often to a list up to 2,500 and do not plan to charge readers.
- Pro: Free plan allows 15,000 emails a month, above the 10,833 a weekly issue to 2,500 subscribers needs
- Pro: Free plan includes newsletters, automation, landing pages and signup forms
- Pro: New accounts get a 14-day Professional trial, then stay on the free plan
- Con: Sender branding stays on emails and forms until a paid plan
- Con: No paid-subscription feature is listed, so charging readers needs another tool
Sender offers a very generous 'Free Forever!' tier, providing substantial features for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month, which is excellent for startups and small businesses.
EmailOctopus
Free for 2,500 subscribers but capped at 10,000 emails a month, which a weekly issue to 2,500 subscribers exceeds.
- Starting price
- Free; Pro $20/mo billed monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (701 reviews)
Best for: Writers with a list up to 2,500 who send at most four full-list issues a month.
- Pro: Free plan holds 2,500 subscribers, with no time limit and no card needed
- Pro: Pro for up to 2,500 subscribers raises the cap to 25,000 emails a month
- Pro: Pro adds unlimited landing pages, forms and users, and reports kept forever
- Con: The 10,000 email cap covers four full-list issues to 2,500 subscribers, not five
- Con: Branding stays on free emails, and free reports are kept for 30 days
EmailOctopus offers a very generous free tier for up to 2,500 subscribers, which is excellent for startups and small businesses.
MailerLite
Free for 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month; paid newsletters and a custom domain start at Comfort.
- 4.7 on Capterra (2,323 reviews)
- 4.6 on G2 (1,113 reviews)
- 4.8 on SourceForge (78 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; Comfort $33/mo billed monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.7 (3,514 reviews)
Best for: Writers starting from a small list who may add paid newsletters on Comfort.
- Pro: Comfort at 2,500 subscribers is $33 a month billed monthly, or $29.70 a month billed yearly
- Pro: Comfort ticks paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions, and MailerLite's paid-newsletter page lists a 0% sales fee
- Pro: Comfort allows 25,000 emails a month at the 2,500-subscriber tier
- Con: Free stops at 250 subscribers, and sending locks when active subscribers pass it
- Con: Free has no paid newsletters or custom domain, and keeps the MailerLite logo
Mailerlite's pricing is very fair and generous, especially with its robust free tier.
Mailchimp
Free for 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, the lowest monthly send cap printed in this guide.
- 4.5 on Capterra (17,598 reviews)
- 4.3 on G2 (12,988 reviews)
- 2.6 on Trustpilot (1,411 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free; Essentials from $13/mo monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 3.9 (31,997 reviews)
Best for: Writers with a list under 250 who want a free start before choosing a paid tier.
- Pro: A 14-day free trial of Standard or Essentials comes before any paid charge
- Pro: Essentials starts at $13 a month and Standard at $20 a month for 500 contacts
- Pro: Standard allows 12 times the contact count in monthly sends, Essentials 10 times
- Con: Free stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day), and sending pauses past either limit
- Con: The Mailchimp badge stays on free emails and signup forms
Mailchimp was once the default email marketing tool for small businesses, and its free tier was legendary.
Watch out
ALL contacts count: subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, and 'cleaned' contacts all count toward your plan limit. You pay for contacts who unsubscribed last year unless you manually archive them. This inflates costs by 20-40% for most lists
Buttondown
Free for the first 100 subscribers; paid tiers include paid subscriptions with no fees from Buttondown.
- Starting price
- Free to 100; Standard $29/mo monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.8 (115 reviews)
Best for: Writers who want to charge readers on a flat plan with no revenue share.
- Pro: Standard covers up to 5,000 subscribers at $29 a month billed monthly, or $290 billed yearly
- Pro: Its paid-subscriptions page says writers keep all revenue after card fees
- Pro: Sending from a custom domain is included at every tier, free included
- Con: The free tier stops at 100 subscribers, so a 2,500-subscriber list is always paid
- Con: Paid subscriptions are a +$9 a month add-on on the free tier
Buttondown's pricing is quite generous, especially for smaller newsletters.
Watch out
Add-ons can significantly increase monthly cost
Ghost
Free to self-host with 0% payment fees from Ghost; hosted Ghost(Pro) lists no free plan.
- 4.8 on Capterra (164 reviews)
- 2.4 on SourceForge (61 reviews)
- 4.5 on G2 (39 reviews)
- Starting price
- Self-host free; hosted $55/mo monthly
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 3.9 (264 reviews)
Best for: Publishers who want no platform fee and will pay for hosting or run a server.
- Pro: Ghost's hosting docs show 0% payment processing fees on Ghost(Pro) and self-hosting
- Pro: Publisher at 2,500 members is $55 a month billed monthly, or $552 billed yearly
- Pro: Every Ghost(Pro) plan lists a custom domain, whitelabel branding and unlimited sends
- Con: Ghost(Pro) lists no free plan; its Starter, Publisher and Business cards offer Try for free
- Con: Starter is capped at 1,000 members and has no paid subscriptions; Publisher adds them
Ghost's pricing is quite generous, especially with the robust free self-hosted option.
Listmonk
Free, open-source mailing list software you run yourself; the cost is your server and a sending service.
- Starting price
- Free, self-hosted; no vendor price
- Free plan
- Free to use
Best for: Technical writers who run their own server and only need to send email.
- Pro: Free and open source, with no price published by the project
- Pro: Its homepage says it can manage millions of subscribers and ships as a single binary
- Pro: Subscribers can be segmented with SQL expressions, with rate limiting controls for sending
- Con: No paid-subscription feature is described on its homepage, so charging readers needs another tool
- Con: You run the Postgres database yourself, and sending goes through SMTP servers you connect
Listmonk offers an incredibly generous pricing model, as it is entirely free and open-source.
Other Newsletter Tools worth considering
More published tools from our Newsletter Tools category, ordered by our category ranking. They are not part of the editorial picks above.
What a free newsletter platform is
A free newsletter platform is a service that stores your subscriber list and sends your issues at no monthly charge, within caps on subscribers, sends or features. The cap is the product: the vendor decides how big a list, how many emails and how much of its own branding a free account carries.
Four things differ most across the ten platforms here: the free subscriber cap (100 to 10,000 where printed), the monthly send cap (500 to 15,000, or unlimited), whether the vendor's logo stays on your emails, and what the platform keeps when readers pay. Ghost and Listmonk are open source, so the software is free and the bill is the server and sending service you add.
Why the paid step decides the choice
The free plan decides the first months, and the paid step decides every month after. Three models apply once a writer charges readers. Substack takes a 10% revenue share, with card fees on top. Kit charges a per-transaction fee, 3.5% plus 30 cents with card processing included, on every plan including Free. beehiiv, Ghost, Buttondown and MailerLite take no cut of revenue and charge a flat plan.
A percentage and a flat plan swap places at ten times the plan price. At 2,500 subscribers on monthly billing, Substack's 10% costs more than Buttondown Standard once revenue passes $290 a month, more than Ghost(Pro) Publisher past $550 and more than beehiiv Lite past $790. Below those points the revenue share costs less than the flat plan. For head-to-head detail, see beehiiv vs Substack and Ghost vs Substack.
Key Features to Look For
Free subscriber cap (Essential)
Kit allows up to 10,000 subscribers on Free; beehiiv, Sender and EmailOctopus up to 2,500; MailerLite and Mailchimp 250; Buttondown 100. Substack's public pages print no cap, Ghost has no free hosted plan and Listmonk is software you host.
Monthly send cap (Essential)
Sender caps free sending at 15,000 emails a month, EmailOctopus at 10,000, MailerLite at 2,500 and Mailchimp at 500, while Kit's broadcasts and beehiiv's sends are unlimited. A weekly issue to 2,500 subscribers averages 10,833 sends, so a 10,000 cap covers four issues, not five.
Paid subscriptions (Essential)
Kit's Free plan and Substack's free start both allow charging readers. beehiiv needs Lite, MailerLite needs Comfort, Ghost(Pro) needs Publisher, and Buttondown lists a +$9 a month add-on on its free tier. Sender, EmailOctopus, Mailchimp and Listmonk list no paid-subscription feature.
Cut on paid revenue (Essential)
Substack takes 10% with card fees on top, and Kit charges a per-transaction fee with card processing included. beehiiv and Ghost list 0% from Lite and Publisher, MailerLite lists a 0% sales fee, and Buttondown says it adds no fees on its paid tiers, though card processing still applies.
Forced branding (Important)
Kit, beehiiv, Sender, EmailOctopus, MailerLite and Mailchimp keep their logo or badge on free emails. beehiiv keeps it through Lite, Buttondown sells removal as an add-on, and Ghost(Pro) lists whitelabel branding on every plan.
Billing toggle (Important)
Yearly billing is cheaper on the same plan: Kit's yearly price is ten monthly payments, Buttondown says two months free, MailerLite and EmailOctopus list 10% off, and beehiiv says up to 20%. Read both toggles before comparing.
Self-hosting (Nice to have)
Ghost's hosting docs list 0% payment processing fees on Ghost(Pro) and self-hosting alike, with self-hosted base hosting from $10 a month and email newsletter delivery from $15 a month. Listmonk is free and open source, publishes no price and installs on Postgres.
What to check before you pick a free newsletter plan
-
List size first. Count the subscribers you will have in twelve months: a free cap of exactly 2,500 leaves no margin on a 2,500-subscriber list.
-
Send cadence second. Multiply subscribers by issues a month, since a weekly issue to 2,500 subscribers exceeds EmailOctopus's free allowance.
-
Whether you will charge. Kit's fee and Substack's share apply from the first charge, while beehiiv, Ghost, Buttondown and MailerLite start with a flat plan.
-
Branding. Six platforms keep their logo or badge on free emails, and removal needs a paid plan.
-
Hosting appetite. Ghost and Listmonk are free software you run, so add a server and a sending service before you call them free.
Evaluation Checklist
Write down your list size today and in twelve months, then compare both with each free subscriber cap.
Multiply subscribers by issues a month and compare the result with the monthly send cap.
Check whether the vendor's logo stays on emails and signup forms, and which plan removes it.
Find the lowest plan that allows paid subscriptions and price it at your list size on both billing toggles.
Price your expected paying subscribers against each cut, then add card processing once.
Pricing Overview
Kit Free
Lists up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, paid newsletters allowed and Kit branding kept.
$0 plan fee; 3.5% + $0.30 per charge
Buttondown Standard
Lists of 1,001 to 5,000 subscribers, with paid subscriptions included and no fees from Buttondown.
$29 a month billed monthly, $290 a year billed yearly
MailerLite Comfort
A 2,500-subscriber list with paid newsletters, a custom domain and 25,000 emails a month.
$33 a month billed monthly, $356.40 a year billed yearly
Ghost(Pro) Publisher
Up to 2,500 members, free and paid combined, with paid subscriptions and 0% transaction fees.
$55 a month billed monthly, $552 a year billed yearly
beehiiv Lite
A 2,500-subscriber list that wants paid subscriptions at a 0% take rate, with unlimited sends.
$79 a month billed monthly, $69 a month billed yearly
Substack
Writers who want no upfront cost and pay only when readers pay, with no tiers.
$0 plan fee; 10% revenue share, card fees on top
Ghost self-hosted
Technical publishers who run a server and want 0% payment processing fees from Ghost.
Software $0; hosting from $10 a month, delivery from $15 a month
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Free plan limits | Branding on free | Paid subscriptions | Platform cut on paid subscribers | Plan at 2,500 subscribers | Billing basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kit | 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts | Kit branding stays | On Free | 3.5% + $0.30 per charge, processing included | Creator, $59 a month (up to 3,000) | Billed monthly; $590 a year billed yearly |
Substack | No subscriber or send cap printed | Not stated | Free to start | 10% share; card fees on top | No paid plan | Revenue share only |
2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends | Stays until Pro | From Lite | 0% take rate; Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 | Lite, $79 a month | Billed monthly; $69 a month billed yearly | |
Sender | 2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month | Sender branding stays | Not listed | Not applicable | Standard, $108 a year at 500 subscribers | Billed yearly; 30% off the first year for new customers |
2,500 subscribers, 10,000 emails a month | Branding stays | Not listed | Not applicable | Pro, $20 a month (up to 2,500) | Billed monthly; $216 a year billed yearly | |
250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month | Logo stays | From Comfort | 0% platform cut (Stripe fees apply) | Comfort, $33 a month | Billed monthly; $29.70 a month billed yearly | |
Mailchimp | 250 contacts, 500 sends a month | Badge stays | Not listed | Not applicable | Essentials from $13 a month at 500 contacts | Monthly plan; 14-day trial |
Buttondown | 100 subscribers; paid subscriptions +$9 a month | Removal is an add-on | Paid tiers | 0%; no fees from Buttondown | Standard, $29 a month (up to 5,000) | Billed monthly; $290 a year billed yearly |
Ghost | No free hosted plan; self-hosting is free | None on Ghost(Pro) | From Publisher | 0% from Ghost; processing applies | Publisher, $55 a month (2,500 members) | Billed monthly; $552 a year billed yearly |
Listmonk | Free, open source, self-hosted | Not applicable | Not listed | Not applicable | No hosted plan | No vendor price published |
Prices read on vendor pages on 19 Oct 2026: Kit pricing, Substack going paid and Substack about, beehiiv pricing, Sender pricing, EmailOctopus pricing, MailerLite pricing and MailerLite paid newsletters, Mailchimp pricing, Buttondown pricing and Buttondown paid subscriptions, Ghost pricing and Ghost hosting docs, Listmonk and Stripe pricing. Plans are priced for 2,500 subscribers except Sender and Mailchimp, which show starting prices at 500.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Comparing the entry price instead of the price at your list size. Kit Creator is $39 a month billed monthly at 1,000 subscribers and $169 once the list passes 10,000.
- ×
Treating a 0% take rate as no cost. beehiiv, Ghost, Buttondown and MailerLite take nothing from revenue, yet card processing still costs $53.20 a month on the scenario.
- ×
Picking by subscriber cap alone. EmailOctopus holds 2,500 subscribers free, but its 10,000 email cap covers four weekly issues to a full list, not five.
- ×
Reading a starting price as your price. Sender and Mailchimp show prices for 500 subscribers or contacts, so a list five times larger costs more.
- ×
Mixing billing periods. The same beehiiv Lite plan costs less billed yearly than billed monthly, so compare every platform on the same toggle.
Expert Tips
- →
Multiply any flat plan price by ten to find the monthly revenue where Substack's share starts to cost more than that plan.
- →
Start on the platform whose paid step you could afford at your target list size. Buttondown says paid subscribers on Stripe-based platforms can move across without re-entering card details when the same Stripe account is connected.
- →
Count sends before subscribers: four weekly issues to 2,500 subscribers use 10,000 sends, the whole EmailOctopus free allowance.
- →
If branding matters, price its removal as well as the plan: beehiiv Pro at $129 a month billed yearly, Buttondown's +$50 a month add-on at Standard, or Kit Creator.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A free subscriber cap equal to your list size leaves no room: beehiiv, Sender and EmailOctopus all stop at exactly 2,500.
-
A send cap below your cadence: Mailchimp pauses sending past 500 sends a month, and MailerLite locks campaigns past 250 active subscribers.
-
A no-platform-fees headline beside a revenue share: Substack's about page says both, and the 90% line sets the cost.
-
A paid-subscription feature missing from the pricing page: Sender, EmailOctopus, Mailchimp and Listmonk list none.
The Bottom Line
Start on Kit if you want the largest printed free list and expect to charge readers: it holds 10,000 subscribers free and has the lowest total fees on the scenario among the platforms that list paid subscriptions. Choose beehiiv for a 0% take rate once Lite pays for itself, Buttondown or Ghost for a flat plan with no revenue share, and Substack when you would rather pay only after readers do. Re-read the caps each quarter, because free limits move.
Cite this: Toolradar, "Best Free Newsletter Platforms in 2026", Oct 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free newsletter platform in 2026?
Kit ranks first in this guide: its free plan holds up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts and takes paid subscriptions at 3.5% plus 30 cents per charge, card processing included. beehiiv suits a list up to 2,500 that will move to a 0% take rate on Lite, and Buttondown or Ghost suit writers who prefer a flat plan. Prices checked 19 Oct 2026.
How many subscribers can I have on a free newsletter plan?
Kit allows up to 10,000. beehiiv, Sender and EmailOctopus allow up to 2,500, MailerLite and Mailchimp stop at 250, and Buttondown at 100. Substack's public pages print no cap, Ghost has no free hosted plan, and Listmonk is free software you host yourself. Checked 19 Oct 2026.
Is Kit free?
Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers on the Free plan, with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms, one user and Kit branding kept on emails. Creator removes the branding and costs $59 a month billed monthly at 2,500 subscribers, or $590 billed yearly.
How much does Substack take from paid subscriptions?
Substack's pages say writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees, so Substack keeps the other 10%. On 100 paying subscribers that is $80 a month before card fees, with no plan fee and no tiers.
Does beehiiv charge a fee on paid subscriptions?
No platform fee: beehiiv's pricing page lists a 0% take rate and says only Stripe's standard processing fee applies. Paid subscriptions need Lite, at $69 a month billed yearly for 2,500 subscribers, while the free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends.
Which free newsletter platform costs least once I charge readers?
Among the hosted platforms here that list paid subscriptions, Kit is lowest on the scenario of 100 paying readers, at $58.00 in total fees on monthly billing, then Buttondown at $82.20 and MailerLite at $86.20. Self-hosting Ghost comes to about $78.20 ($10 hosting, $15 delivery and $53.20 card fees), under Buttondown and MailerLite but above Kit, before your own time. Card fees at Stripe's standard rate are assumed where they are separate.
Can I run a free newsletter on my own server?
Yes. Ghost and Listmonk are open source. Ghost's hosting docs list 0% payment processing fees when self-hosted, with base hosting from $10 a month and newsletter delivery from $15 a month, and Listmonk's homepage calls it free and open source. The software is free; the server and sending service are not.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Best Free Newsletter Platforms in 2026: Caps, Branding and the Cut on Paid Readers", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-free-newsletter-platforms
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