Best Newsletter Platforms: 7 Compared, Who Keeps Your $8?

Best Newsletter Platforms: 7 Compared, Who Keeps Your $8?

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beehiiv Scale is $43/mo on annual billing, pulled from beehiiv.com/pricing on 17 August 2026.

Launch is still free to 2,500 subscribers the same day.

The best newsletter platforms split on take rate: on 400 paid readers at $8, Substack's 10% is $3,324 a year you can keep.

Which newsletter platform should you pick in 2026?

Buy beehiiv Scale for a paid list; keep Substack only if the rec graph is still feeding you.

Scale is $43/mo annual ($517/yr) on the 17 August 2026 card, and the same page states 0% take on paid subscriptions (Stripe 2.9% + $0.30). Ghost Publisher is $14/mo cheaper on the fee math below. It is a CMS that also sends mail, not a newsletter product with recs and an ad network.

A demo-to-calendar walkthrough writes the blurb. This table picks the send tool.

Loops stays in the table so the category miss is visible. A SaaS launch stack can use it. A writer list should not.

I ranked beehiiv above Ghost on purpose. The $14/mo Ghost saving is real. Recs, the ad network, and a $0 cap at 2,500 subscribers are why Scale is still the default send tool.

What does Substack's 10% cost on 400 paid subscribers?

Substack's 10% is $320 a month on 400 readers at $8, before Stripe.

Substack's going-paid page says writers keep 90% of revenue minus credit card fees. I used Stripe's public 2.9% + $0.30 per monthly charge, the same add-on beehiiv names next to its 0% claim.

No table. The arithmetic is the section.

1. Gross: 400 × $8 = $3,200 per month.
2. Stripe: 400 × (0.029 × 8 + 0.30) = 400 × 0.532 = $212.80.
3. Substack adds 10% of gross ($320). Total cost $532.80. You keep $2,667.20.
4. beehiiv Scale adds $43, not 10%. Total cost $255.80. You keep $2,944.20.
5. Gap versus Substack: $277.00/mo, $3,324/yr.
6. Ghost Publisher at $29 yearly billing: $241.80 total, $14 cheaper than Scale on this one scenario.

$3,324 is only the 10% plus the shared Stripe line. iOS in-app purchase can add Apple's cut on top. I am not inventing that percentage here.

Annual billing changes the $0.30 term. Four hundred yearly charges are 400 × (0.029 × 96 + 0.30) = $1,233.60 in Stripe on $38,400 gross, plus $3,840 to Substack. Monthly is the conservative case I published because that is how most $8 plans actually bill.

Four hundred paid readers is a working publication, not a hobby list. The 10% is a rent check.

Does beehiiv actually take 0% on paid subscriptions?

Use Scale or Max for 0% take; Launch still blocks paid subscriptions entirely.

The 17 August 2026 FAQ on beehiiv.com/pricing answers "Does beehiiv take a cut of paid newsletter revenue?" with no, then names Stripe 2.9% + $0.30. That matches the same-day card I logged: Launch $0 to 2,500, Scale $43/mo annual ($517/yr), Max $96/mo annual ($1,151/yr). The same FAQ still says paid plans start at $49/mo. That is the monthly card. Annual Scale is $43.

Launch also has no automations and no ad network. AI credits sit at 10/day on Launch, 25 on Scale, 50 on Max. Custom domains are on Launch. Monetization is not.

Scale caps teams at 3 seats and leaves beehiiv branding on. Max lifts seats, publications (10 vs 3), Send API, and branding. I would not pay Max to chase the 0% take. Scale already has it.

gross = 400 * 8
stripe = 400 * (0.029 * 8 + 0.30)
substack = 0.10 * gross + stripe
beehiiv_scale = 43 + stripe
print(substack, beehiiv_scale, substack - beehiiv_scale)
# 532.8 255.8 277.0

beehiiv's site builder is a landing page, not the job in best AI website builders. Do not buy Scale to win a canvas bake-off.

Where do Kit, Ghost, and MailerLite win instead?

Kit for sequences and commerce, Ghost for a site you own, MailerLite for cheap broadcasts.

Kit (the product formerly sold as ConvertKit) prices the 1,000-subscriber card at $0 on Newsletter, $33/mo yearly on Creator ($390), and $66/mo yearly on Pro ($790). Commerce is 3.5% + 30c inclusive of card fees. Paid Recommendations take 23.5%. Creator is the sequences plan: Newsletter still limits you to one basic visual automation. Kit also sells a 14-day trial and free migrations. The $0 plan is real. The automation ceiling is the tax.

Ghost(Pro) showed Starter $18/mo yearly, Publisher $29, Business $199 on 17 August 2026. Paid subscriptions start on Publisher. Starter is one staff user and 1,000 members. Publisher is three staff and custom themes. Ghost vs Substack still quotes 0% fees and a $348/year hosting line on a 1,000-member × $5 example. The cards, not the marketing $15, are what I used. Self-host is TryGhost/Ghost. If the thing you want is a content API, that is the headless CMS post.

MailerLite renamed Growing Business to Comfort and Advanced to Power in 2026. Free is 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails. Comfort starts at $12/mo ($10.80 on the yearly display). Power starts at $25/mo ($22.50 yearly). Comfort sending is 10× the top of your subscriber tier (10,000 emails on the 1,000-sub band). Cross 250 on Free and sends lock.

Is Loops a creator newsletter platform?

Skip Loops for a writer list; free is 1,000 contacts and 4,000 sends a month.

That card is on loops.so/pricing as of 17 August 2026, with a "Powered by Loops" footer and a 10 emails/sec cap. Paid teams jump to 1,000 emails/sec and drop the footer. Loops does not charge per seat. The slider did not print paid dollars in the HTML I fetched. Loops' 10 December 2024 update still says paid plans start at $49/mo with unlimited transactional sending. I am not inventing a 2,500-contact SKU.

Buttondown is the indie writer tool people keep confusing with Loops. buttondown.com/pricing is free for the first 100 active subscribers. Their beehiiv comparison lists $9 at 1,000. Paid subscriptions are a +$9/mo add-on. Segmentation, comments, analytics, and RSS are each another $9. List prices assume at most one email a day to the whole list.

1. Use Loops when Clerk or Linear-style product email is the job, including transactional.
2. Use Buttondown when you want markdown, archives, and a $9 base at 1,000.
3. Skip both when you need beehiiv-style recs or Ghost-style memberships.
4. Do not treat a UGC recorder or a social scheduler as a substitute send stack.

When should you stay on Substack anyway?

Stay if the recommendation graph still sends paid readers you cannot buy elsewhere.

Substack is free until the 10% starts, and going-paid is explicit: keep 90%, then card fees. That is a good trade while you have no list. It is a bad trade at $3,200/mo gross.

I would still open a Substack to borrow the graph for the first 200 free readers, then export. Waiting until $10k/mo to notice the 10% is how the rent check becomes a second salary.

Export before you feel locked. Queue the teaser on a scheduler. Send the letter on the tool that keeps the $8.

email,name,status,plan,created_at,stripe_customer_id
[email protected],Ada,paid,8_monthly,2026-03-12,cus_xxx

Default tomorrow: beehiiv Scale at $43/mo annual.

Flip to Ghost Publisher at $29/mo yearly when the site and the member tiers are the product. Flip to Kit Creator at $33/mo yearly when the money is a course checkout, not a paywalled issue. Stay on Substack while the graph is the only acquisition channel that works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is beehiiv free enough to charge paid subscribers?

No. Launch is $0 to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends, a site, and a custom domain. Paid subscriptions, automations, and the ad network start on Scale at $43/mo annual ($49/mo on the monthly FAQ line). Max is $96/mo annual if you need branding removed and 10 publications.

Does Kit still take a cut of digital products?

Yes. Kit.com/pricing lists commerce at 3.5% + 30c, inclusive of card processing, on Newsletter, Creator, and Pro. Paid Recommendations are a separate 23.5% fee. That still beats Substack's 10% of every paid sub. It loses to beehiiv Scale and Ghost Publisher, which take 0% of subscription revenue.

Is Ghost cheaper than Substack at 400 paid readers?

Yes on fees. Publisher is $29/mo yearly plus Stripe $212.80 on the 400 × $8 model, or $241.80 versus Substack's $532.80. Starter at $18/mo yearly cannot charge. Self-hosting Ghost removes the $29 and adds ops. The rec network is what you give up.

Is MailerLite one of the best newsletter platforms for paid subs?

Only if "paid" means an ESP invoice, not reader revenue. Comfort starts at $12/mo ($10.80 yearly) after the 2026 rename. Free dies at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails. Use it to send. Use beehiiv, Ghost, or Kit when readers pay you.

Should I pick Loops for a writer newsletter?

No. Loops is product email for SaaS teams: 1,000 contacts and 4,000 free sends, transactional included on paid plans. The 17 August 2026 pricing HTML did not expose the paid slider. Writers who want cheap markdown should open Buttondown, not Loops.