Newsletter platform reviews, tested first-hand

Kit

8.1 / 10

The highest score our engine has produced, from a platform that pays us nothing: panel-leading automation and free-plan commerce. The catch: an AUP that bans affiliate-type sites and billing that never downgrades itself.

beehiiv

7.4 / 10

The most complete monetization toolkit for creators, with a free plan that caps at 2,500 subscribers and a real account-suspension pattern to know about.

MailerLite

7.3 / 10

The easiest and best-supported tool we tested, with a 0%-commission stack and EU data residency. The catch: an algorithm that can suspend an account with no human appeal.

Buttondown

6.7 / 10

The developer-grade minimalist: the best founder-direct support in our panel, a 0% fee on every revenue stream and a real CLI. The catch: deliberately thin analytics and a single-founder product.

AWeber

6.3 / 10

The only ESP in our panel where a human answers the phone, plus a free tier its own pricing page never mentions. But the plan counts your unsubscribes and the terms allow no-notice suspension.

Substack

5.4 / 10

Free to start and genuinely strong at discovery, but it takes 10% of your paid revenue, support is a chatbot, and the trust record is the hardest in our panel.