Best Newsletter Platforms for Small Business

Website: https://mailchimp.com

Best for: Templates and automation

Starting price: $13 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Widest template and automation library; Free plan covers 250 contacts

Cons: Price rises steeply as contacts grow; Free plan caps sends at 500 per month

Mailchimp is the best-known name in email, and its template and automation library is still the widest on this list. Essentials starts at $13 per month for 500 contacts, with Standard at $20 and Premium at $350 per month. The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, which is enough to test the editor and send a first campaign. Automations, landing pages and audience tools are all built in, so a small business can run the whole email program from one account.

The cost curve is the drawback. Mailchimp charges by contact count, so the bill climbs with every new subscriber, and the free plan is small: 250 contacts and 500 sends per month will not last long for a growing list. A business that expects to pass 2,500 contacts soon should compare the next tier price before committing, because the jump from Essentials to Standard is only the start.

Website: https://kit.com

Best for: Creators who sell content

Starting price: $39 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Creator-focused automations and landing pages; Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers

Cons: Entry price is high for a small list; Design options are more basic than Mailchimp

Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for creators who sell courses, books and subscriptions. The Creator plan costs $39 per month, or $33 per month when billed annually at $390 per year, at 1,000 subscribers, with Pro at $79 per month. The free plan is the most generous here, covering up to 10,000 subscribers with landing pages and forms, which lets a creator build a list for months before spending anything. Automations are built around tags and sequences, which suit a content business better than a retail calendar.

The entry price is the main drawback. At $39 per month, Kit costs three times what Mailchimp Essentials costs at 500 contacts, and the design tools are more basic than Mailchimp templates. A small business that sends a simple monthly update will find Kit expensive for what it uses, while a creator who sells through email will find the automations worth the price.

Website: https://brevo.com

Best for: Low cost and unlimited contacts

Starting price: $9 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Cheapest entry here at $9 per month; Free plan allows unlimited contacts

Cons: Daily send cap of 300 emails on the free plan; Automation features need higher tiers

Brevo is the cheapest entry on this list, and its pricing model is the friendliest for a growing list. Starter starts at $9 per month for 5,000 emails, with Standard at $18 per month. The free plan allows unlimited contacts and 300 emails per day, which means the list can grow without the bill growing, as long as the daily send volume stays low. That model suits a small business that sends one or two campaigns a week to a list that is still building.

The limits are the trade-off. The free plan caps sends at 300 emails per day, so a list of 5,000 contacts needs a subscription plan to reach everyone in one send. Automation features sit on higher tiers, so a business that wants welcome sequences and abandoned-cart emails will pay more than the $9 headline. Even so, Brevo is the cheapest way to send regularly to a growing list.

Website: https://constantcontact.com

Best for: Beginners and events

Starting price: $12 per month

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Strong event and survey tools; Simple editor for beginners

Cons: No free plan, only a 30-day trial; Price climbs fast past 500 contacts

Constant Contact is the simplest tool here for a business that wants to send a clean email without learning a new system. Lite costs $12 per month for up to 500 contacts, with Standard at $35 and Premium at $80 per month, and a 12-month prepay saves up to 15%. Event management, surveys and social posting sit alongside email, which suits a business that runs workshops, classes or local events. The editor is straightforward, and the support team is known for helping beginners.

There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial with a 100-send cap, so every account becomes a subscription. The price also climbs fast past 500 contacts: Standard at $35 per month is nearly three times the Lite price. A business with a small, stable list will be happy, but a business whose list grows quickly should check the next tier price before signing up.

Website: https://substack.com

Best for: Writers who charge readers

Starting price: Free to publish; 10% of subscription revenue

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free to publish at any list size; No monthly fee, costs only rise with revenue

Cons: The 10% cut grows expensive at scale; Limited design and automation compared with Mailchimp

Substack is the only platform here with no monthly fee at all. Publishing is free no matter how many subscribers you have, and if you turn on subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment, while Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment for US cards and a 0.7% recurring billing fee. A custom domain is an optional one-time $50. That model means a writer with 100 readers at $5 per month pays about $99 per month in fees and keeps about $401, with no fixed bill to cover in a slow month.

The 10% cut is also the drawback. Once subscription revenue passes roughly $430 per month, a flat-fee platform such as Beehiiv Lite at $49 per month becomes cheaper, and at $10,000 per month in subscriptions the Substack cut is $1,000 per month. Design and automation are also more limited than Mailchimp or Kit. Substack suits a writer building an audience; it is a poor fit for a business that needs branded templates and automated campaigns.

Website: https://www.beehiiv.com

Best for: Growth and monetization

Starting price: $49 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers; Built-in monetization with a 0% take rate on subscription revenue

Cons: Price rises with subscriber tier; Subscription revenue features need the Lite plan or higher

Beehiiv changed its pricing in October 2026, replacing Launch, Scale and Max with Free, Lite, Pro and Enterprise. Lite now starts at $49 per month billed annually, or $59 per month billed monthly, at 1,000 subscribers, and Pro starts at $95 per month billed annually, or $109 monthly. The free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, which is generous, and every plan includes unlimited email sends. Beehiiv takes a 0% cut of subscription revenue, so the money from readers goes to the writer minus Stripe processing of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

The price rises with the subscriber tier, so the $49 figure only holds at 1,000 subscribers, and the cost climbs as the list grows toward the 100,000-subscriber cap on Lite. Features that turn the newsletter into income, such as subscriptions and ads, need the Lite plan or higher, so the free plan is for building an audience, not for earning from it. For a writer who plans to monetize, the 0% take rate makes Beehiiv cheaper than Substack once revenue grows.

Website: https://mailerlite.com

Best for: Simple sending at low cost

Starting price: $10 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clean editor and landing pages; Growing Business at $10 is cheap for unlimited sends

Cons: Free plan limits are small; Approval review can delay the first send

MailerLite is the simplest low-cost sender here. Growing Business starts at $10 per month for 500 subscribers with unlimited sends, and Advanced costs $20 per month. The editor is clean, landing pages and forms are built in, and the free plan covers a small list with a monthly send cap. For a small business that sends a regular newsletter and wants nothing more, MailerLite does the job at a lower price than Mailchimp or Constant Contact.

The free plan is small, and the exact cap has changed over time, so check the current limit on the pricing page before relying on it. New accounts also go through an approval review, which can delay the first send by a day or more. Neither limit matters much for a business that plans to use the $10 tier, which is cheap for unlimited sends at 500 subscribers.

• Confirm your list size against the free cap: Mailchimp covers 250 contacts, Beehiiv covers 2,500 subscribers, and Kit covers up to 10,000 subscribers.
• Budget the entry tier: Brevo Starter is $9 per month, MailerLite Growing Business is $10, Constant Contact Lite is $12, Mailchimp Essentials is $13, Kit Creator is $39, and Beehiiv Lite is $49 per month billed annually.
• Check the send cap: Brevo free allows 300 emails per day, and Mailchimp free allows 500 sends per month.
• Count what Substack takes: 10% of subscription revenue, plus Stripe at 2.9% plus $0.30 per payment and a 0.7% recurring billing fee.
• Confirm the price at your next list size, because Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Beehiiv all charge more as contacts grow.