Substack alternatives
Substack takes a cut of your revenue instead of charging a flat price. Here's what the 10 other newsletter platforms we track cost. Ranked by price at the size you pick, with free plans, price hikes and how to switch.
Alternatives to Substack at 10k subs, cheapest first
- Sendy + SES: $4.30/mo +$69 license, own server (Self-hosted, SES à la carte at $0.10 per 1k). Free plan: none.
- MailCheap: $39/mo (Plan for one issue a week (~4.3 emails per subscriber)). Free plan: none.
- Flodesk: $72/mo (Lite plan (Pro above 25k)). Free plan: none. Last price hike: Dec 2025.
- Bento: $79/mo (Marketing Platform). Free plan: none.
- Buttondown: $79/mo (Base plan, no add-ons). Free plan: up to 100 subscribers. Last price hike: Mar 2023.
- MailerLite: $89/mo (Comfort plan). Free plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo. Last price hike: Jun 2026.
- Ghost(Pro): $105/mo (Starter (Publisher above 1k)). Free plan: none. Last price hike: Jul 2025.
- Mailchimp: $110/mo (Essentials (Standard above 50k)). Free plan: 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo. Last price hike: Apr 2026.
- beehiiv: $139/mo (Lite plan). Free plan: up to 2,500 subscribers, 1 publication. Last price hike: Oct 2026.
- Kit: $139/mo (Creator plan). Free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers, no automations. Last price hike: Sep 2025.
Prices at every size
- Substack: 1k subs free, 5k subs free, 10k subs free, 25k subs free, 50k subs free, 100k subs free (+10% of paid subs)
- Sendy + SES: 1k subs $0.43/mo, 5k subs $2.15/mo, 10k subs $4.30/mo, 25k subs $10.75/mo, 50k subs $21.50/mo, 100k subs $43/mo (+$69 license, own server)
- MailCheap: 1k subs $19/mo, 5k subs $39/mo, 10k subs $39/mo, 25k subs $79/mo, 50k subs $149/mo, 100k subs $149/mo
- Flodesk: 1k subs $25/mo, 5k subs $52/mo, 10k subs $72/mo, 25k subs $162/mo, 50k subs $389/mo, 100k subs $689/mo
- Bento: 1k subs $29/mo, 5k subs $29/mo, 10k subs $79/mo, 25k subs $229/mo, 50k subs $479/mo, 100k subs $929/mo
- Buttondown: 1k subs $9/mo, 5k subs $29/mo, 10k subs $79/mo, 25k subs $239/mo, 50k subs $319/mo, 100k subs custom pricing
- MailerLite: 1k subs $19/mo, 5k subs $49/mo, 10k subs $89/mo, 25k subs $179/mo, 50k subs $319/mo, 100k subs $439/mo
- Ghost(Pro): 1k subs $18/mo, 5k subs $75/mo, 10k subs $105/mo, 25k subs $169/mo, 50k subs $249/mo, 100k subs $329/mo
- Mailchimp: 1k subs $26.50/mo, 5k subs $75/mo, 10k subs $110/mo, 25k subs $270/mo, 50k subs $385/mo, 100k subs $800/mo
- beehiiv: 1k subs $59/mo, 5k subs $109/mo, 10k subs $139/mo, 25k subs $199/mo, 50k subs $299/mo, 100k subs $469/mo
- Kit: 1k subs $39/mo, 5k subs $89/mo, 10k subs $139/mo, 25k subs $199/mo, 50k subs $379/mo, 100k subs $679/mo
Cheapest paid plan that can send a weekly newsletter to the whole list, billed monthly. Plans priced by emails sent assume one issue a week, about 4.3 emails per subscriber a month.
How to move from Substack to Sendy + SES
- 1. Export your subscribers from Substack. Look for Export in Substack's settings.
- 2. Import them into Sendy + SES. Use Sendy + SES's import tool, or ask their support to run it for you.
- 3. Move paid subscriptions. Check how Sendy + SES handles existing paid subscribers before you cancel anything.
- 4. Point your domain and authenticate sending. Move your custom domain to Sendy + SES and add its SPF, DKIM and DMARC records so the first issue lands in inboxes. Delete Substack's old DNS records at your DNS host.
- 5. Keep old links working. Add redirects from your old post URLs to the new ones so links and search rankings survive the move.
- 6. Send a test, then a short 'we moved' issue. Send to yourself first. A few unsubscribes after the first send from a new platform is normal.
- 7. Cancel Substack after one clean send. Keep Substack until the first issue from Sendy + SES has landed, download any invoices you need, then downgrade or cancel.
Built a cheaper newsletter platform?
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Everything about Substack's own prices and price hikes: Substack.