Best Newsletter Platforms: Build and Monetize Audiences

Are you a business that sends newsletters OR are you in the business of sending newsletters? The answer to that question will decide which newsletter platform you use.

We've seen so many businesses switch to newsletter platforms as their main method of email marketing, when they're better off sticking with their CRM. This is because the most popular newsletter platforms have been making a lot of noise online for the past couple of years. And software choices are driven more by shiny object syndrome and what's “hot” than many of us would like to believe.

We've also seen a lot of experts and content creators join newsletter platforms to build a direct, owned relationship with their audience, so they're not 100% dependent on social media algorithms. And as these content creators' businesses grow, the majority end up migrating to full-featured marketing platforms to meet their needs.

The truth is, unless your business is selling writing or advertising, a newsletter platform is limiting. There are only 3 platforms with newsletter-business-specific features, and only one that is purpose-built for selling advertising.

But picking a platform is harder than it should be, because many email marketing platforms try to be everything to everyone. And they all want their slice of the “creator economy” pie.

So in this article we're going to help you pick the right newsletter platform. And we're also going to show you an advanced way to benefit from the hype around newsletter platforms, while maintaining full control over your audience and business.

TL;DR: Quick Picks by Creator Type

If you need to pick fast, here's what works for who:

Substack - Writers who want paid subscriptions without hassle. They handle payments and you keep 90% of revenue. Great discovery features help new readers find you.

Ghost - Tech-savvy creators who want total control. You own everything, keep 100% of revenue, but you need to handle hosting yourself (or pay $9-249/month).

ConvertKit (Kit) - Most popular among course creators and coaches. Now able to natively sell digital products and subscriptions. It also has strong discovery features via its Creator Network.

Mailchimp - The OG email marketing platform, now focused mainly on eCommerce businesses. Not a “newsletter platform.”

beehiiv - If your business model is selling advertising, beehiiv excels. Also has a discovery network like Substack, but gives you more tools for growth and doesn't take a percentage of revenue.

Bento - For publishers who care about inbox placement and want more than a glorified blog that sends emails. Built-in deliverability tools most platforms charge extra for. Sends newsletters in batches to avoid spam filters.

Medium - Before Substack, there was Medium. It's a publishing platform where you can build an audience. Whenever you publish a new article, you can email it to your followers. You can also get paid for your writing by joining the Medium Partner Program.

Need more details on newsletter platforms versus general email tools? Check our best email marketing services guide. Starting from zero? See free email marketing software.

What Are Newsletter Platforms?

Newsletter platforms are built for one thing: sending regular content to subscribers. Unlike general email marketing tools that focus on sales campaigns and automation, newsletter platforms optimize for writers and creators publishing on a schedule.

The big difference comes down to workflow. Email marketing platforms assume you're running campaigns, tracking conversions, and automating customer journeys. Newsletter platforms assume you're writing content, building an audience, and maybe charging for access. Both send emails, but they're designed for different jobs.

Most newsletter platforms now include some way to make money. You can charge for subscriptions like a digital magazine, offer free content with paid bonus material, or keep everything free and monetize through sponsorships or products. The monetization options vary wildly between platforms. Some handle everything including payment processing, others just give you the tools and leave payments to you.

Growth features have become standard too. Referral programs where readers earn rewards for sharing, embeddable signup forms for your website, landing pages for promoting your newsletter, and discovery features where new readers can find you. These matter more than you'd think - growing a newsletter without growth tools is like rowing upstream.

Here's the thing though: newsletter platforms work best when you're actually publishing newsletters. If you need complex automation, deep ecommerce integration, or sophisticated customer segmentation, you probably want a regular email marketing platform instead. Pick based on what you're actually doing, not what sounds impressive.

How to Choose a Newsletter Platform

Forget feature lists. Here's what actually matters when picking a platform:

Publishing and Content Features

Editor experience: The editor is where you'll spend most of your time. Can you write without fighting the interface? Test the actual editor before committing. Some platforms offer rich text editors that feel like Medium or WordPress. Others use Markdown for clean, distraction-free writing. A few still use clunky HTML builders from 2010. Pick one that matches how you like to write.

Content management: You need basics like scheduling posts and saving drafts. but also check: Can you duplicate old newsletters as templates? Search through past issues? Create content series? These small features add up when you're publishing weekly.

Design and templates: Most readers don't care if your newsletter looks fancy. They care if it's readable. Pick templates optimized for reading on phones (where 70% of people read email). Avoid platforms pushing complex designs. Simple text with good typography beats fancy layouts every time.

Subscriber Management

Signup tools: You need ways for people to subscribe. Most platforms offer embeddable forms for your website, landing pages for social media links, and maybe popup forms. The fancy stuff rarely matters. What matters is whether the forms actually work on mobile and load fast.

Audience organization: Eventually you'll want to segment subscribers. Maybe paid versus free members, or readers interested in different topics. Basic tagging and segmentation keeps you from annoying people with irrelevant content. Don't overthink this starting out, but make sure the capability exists.

Growth features: Referral programs sound gimmicky but they work. Readers who share your newsletter with friends in exchange for rewards or recognition. Discovery features help new readers find you. Some platforms have built-in directories, others integrate with external discovery tools. Growth features separate platforms built for newsletters from general email tools.

Monetization Features

Paid subscriptions: If you plan to charge for access, understand exactly how it works. Some platforms handle everything including taxes and payment processing; others just give you paywall tools and leave payments to Stripe. Fees range from 0% (Ghost self-hosted) to 10% (Substack) plus payment processing. That difference matters at scale.

Free vs. paid flexibility: Can you mix free and paid content in one newsletter? Offer some posts free and others paid? Create free newsletters with paid bonus content? The more flexible the platform, the easier it is to experiment with what readers will pay for.

Community features: Paid subscribers often want more than just newsletters. Some platforms include community forums, commenting, or Discord-like features for paid members. These create stickiness and reduce churn. It is not essential to have them, but nice to have if you're building a paid community.

Analytics and Insights

Subscriber growth: You need to see if your audience is growing or shrinking, where new subscribers come from (social, referrals, search), which content drives signups. These basic growth tracking will help you do more of what works.

Engagement metrics: Open rates and click rates are table stakes. Better platforms show you which links get clicked, how far people scroll, and which subscribers are most engaged. You want enough data to improve without drowning in metrics.

Revenue tracking: If you're charging for subscriptions, you need clear revenue metrics. Monthly recurring revenue, churn rate, lifetime value. Some platforms make this crystal clear, others make you dig for basic numbers.

Technical Considerations

Hosting: You've got two choices. Hosted platforms (like Substack) handle everything for you, you just write and publish. Self-hosted platforms (like Ghost) give you total control but require managing servers, updates, and backups. Unless you enjoy server management, stick with hosted options.

Custom domain: Sending from your own domain (newsletter@yourdomain.com instead of newsletter@substack.com) looks more professional and helps deliverability. Most platforms support custom domains, but setup varies from simple to painful.

API access: Only matters if you're technical or hiring developers. APIs let you build custom integrations, automate workflows, or pull data into other tools. Nice to have but not essential for most creators.

The Reality Check

Most creators overthink platform choice. You don't need the fanciest features or the platform with the best marketing copy - you need something that makes it easy to write, publish, and (if relevant) get paid. Start simple. You can always migrate later if you outgrow your first choice.

Deep Dive: The Best Newsletter Platforms

Time for the details on each platform:

Substack: Paid Newsletters Made Simple

Who it's for: Writers who want to charge for newsletters without dealing with payment systems.

What makes it stand out: Substack owns the paid newsletter game. They made it stupid easy to charge for content. Set a price, flip a switch, start getting paid. No messing with Stripe setup, tax calculations, or payment failures. They handle all of it.

The writing experience is what you'd expect. Clean editor, one-click publishing, automatic email delivery. Nothing fancy but it works. The real advantage is Substack's network effect. Readers already on Substack can discover your newsletter through recommendations and the platform's discovery features. It's like having built-in marketing.

You get basic analytics showing subscriber growth, open rates, and revenue. Subscriber management is simple. You can see who's paid versus free, send updates to specific groups, and handle refunds easily. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

The downsides: That 10% fee hurts when you're successful. Making $10,000/month? Substack takes $1,000, plus Stripe fees on top. The platform is also limited if you want to do anything beyond newsletters. No automation, no complex sequences, no integration with other marketing tools.

Biggest issue: you're building on Substack's platform, not your own. Yes, you can export subscribers, but moving away means losing the discovery features and network effects that helped you grow. You're renting, not owning.

Pricing reality: Free until you charge for subscriptions. Then it's 10% of revenue plus 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for Stripe. A $10/month subscription nets you about $8.67 per subscriber.

Bottom line: Use Substack if you want the easiest path to paid newsletters and don't mind the 10% tax on success. Skip it if you need marketing features or want to own your platform.

Ghost: Self-Hosted Newsletter Control

Who it's for: Tech-comfortable creators who want to own their platform and keep 100% of revenue.

What makes it stand out: Ghost is what happens when developers build a newsletter platform. It's open-source software you can host anywhere. You own everything: the code, the data, the subscriber list. No platform can change their terms or raise prices on you.

The monetization setup rivals Substack's simplicity. Connect Stripe, set prices, start charging. But unlike Substack, you keep everything except Stripe's processing fee. Making $10,000/month? You keep $9,700 instead of $8,700. That $1,000 difference pays for a lot of hosting.

The editor is gorgeous. Write in Markdown or rich text, embed anything you want, schedule posts months ahead. It feels more like a modern CMS than an email tool, because that's what it is. Ghost sends newsletters but also publishes to the web, creating an archive readers can browse.

The downsides: Self-hosting isn't for everyone. You need to manage servers, handle updates, deal with technical issues - or pay Ghost Pro $9-249/month for managed hosting, which defeats some of the "own everything" appeal.

Ghost also lacks the network effects of Substack. No built-in discovery, no reader ecosystem. You're on your own for growth. The platform focuses on publishing and payments, not marketing automation or fancy growth tools.

Bottom line: Choose Ghost if you're technical enough to self-host (or willing to pay for Ghost Pro) and want to keep 100% of revenue. Skip it if you want simplicity or need Substack's discovery features.

ConvertKit (Kit): Creator-Focused Email Marketing

Who it's for: Course creators, coaches, and anyone selling digital products alongside newsletters.

What makes it stand out: ConvertKit (recently rebranded as just "Kit") sits between newsletter platforms and full email marketing tools. You can send newsletters, but also build email courses, automation sequences, and sales funnels. It's for creators who see newsletters as part of a bigger business.

The platform gets how creators think. Instead of lists, you organize subscribers with tags. Someone downloads your PDF? Tag them "interested in X." They click a link about Y? Tag them for that too. Then send targeted content based on interests, not just blast everyone.

Automation is where ConvertKit shines. Build email courses that drip content over weeks. Create product launch sequences. Set up welcome series for new subscribers. The visual automation builder makes complex sequences simple to understand. You can see exactly what happens when someone subscribes, clicks, or buys.

The downsides: No built-in paid subscriptions. You'll need to jerry-rig something with Stripe and access tags if you want to charge for newsletters. It works but feels clunky compared to Substack or Ghost.

Pricing gets expensive as you grow. It is free up to 1,000 subscribers, then $25/month for 1,001-3,000, and up from there. If you're just sending newsletters without using automation or selling products, you're overpaying for features you don't need.

Bottom line: Perfect if newsletters are part of a bigger creator business with courses, coaching, or digital products. Overkill if you just want to send newsletters.

Mailchimp: Newsletter-Friendly Email Marketing

Who it's for: Small businesses that want to send newsletters plus marketing emails without learning two platforms.

What makes it stand out: Mailchimp is the Toyota Camry of email platforms - not exciting, not specialized, but reliable and gets the job done. They're not built for newsletters specifically, but millions of people use them for exactly that.

The interface hasn't changed much in years, which is both good and bad. Good because it's familiar and stable. Bad because it feels dated compared to newer platforms. But you know what? It works. Drag-and-drop editor, decent templates, scheduling, basic automation. Everything a small business needs.

The free plan is still one of the best deals around: it includes 500 contacts and 1,000 sends per month. Perfect for testing newsletters without commitment. Paid plans start at $13/month and scale based on contacts. Not the cheapest but not terrible.

The downsides: Mailchimp is a Swiss Army knife when you might just need a knife. Tons of features you'll never use cluttering the interface. No built-in monetization. No newsletter-specific growth tools. You're forcing a general tool to do a specific job.

They've also gotten aggressive with pricing lately. Features that used to be free now require paid plans. The platform that built its reputation on being beginner-friendly increasingly feels like it's squeezing small users.

Bottom line: Use Mailchimp if you already know it or need email marketing beyond just newsletters. Skip it if you want newsletter-specific features or monetization options.

Beehiiv: Built by Newsletter Operators

Who it's for: Publishers who want Substack's simplicity with actual growth tools.

What makes it stand out: Beehiiv was built by the Morning Brew team after they grew to millions of subscribers. They took everything they learned and built the platform they wished existed. The result? A newsletter platform that actually understands how newsletters grow.

The growth tools are the star here. Built-in referral program where readers earn rewards for sharing. A recommendation network where newsletters recommend each other. An ad network for monetization beyond subscriptions. Even a website builder so you're not sending people to a generic landing page.

Monetization is flexible. Charge for subscriptions, run ads, or both. The platform takes 0% of subscription revenue on paid plans (compared to Substack's 10%). You only pay the monthly platform fee plus Stripe processing.

The downsides: Beehiiv is newer and still finding its footing. Some features feel half-baked. The interface can be overwhelming with all the growth tools and options. Support is hit or miss.

Pricing starts free for up to 2,500 subscribers but you need the $39/month plan for custom domains and most growth features. The good stuff requires the $99/month plan. Gets expensive if you're not using all the features.

Bottom line: Choose Beehiiv if you're serious about growth and want tools Morning Brew used to build their empire. Skip it if you just want simple newsletter publishing.

Medium: Built-In Audience, Shared Revenue

Who it's for: Writers who want readers without building an audience from scratch.

What makes it stand out: Medium flips the newsletter model. Instead of you finding readers, readers find you. The platform has millions of monthly visitors actively looking for stuff to read. Write something good, and Medium's algorithm can push it to thousands of people who've never heard of you. That's the pitch, anyway.

The writing experience is genuinely excellent. Medium's editor is clean, distraction-free, and makes your posts look professional without any design skills. Embedding images, videos, and code blocks just works. Publishing takes seconds. And every article can automatically go out as an email to your followers, so it doubles as a newsletter without extra effort.

The Partner Program is how you get paid. Medium pools money from member subscriptions and distributes it based on reading time from paying members. Some writers make serious money—$5,000+ months aren't unheard of. You can also lock articles behind the paywall or leave them free for maximum reach. Mix and match however you want.

The downsides: You don't control distribution. Medium's algorithm decides who sees your work. Write something that doesn't perform? It disappears into the void. The platform can also change the rules anytime—and they have, repeatedly. Writers who built followings have watched their income crater overnight when Medium tweaked how they calculate earnings.

You also can't charge your own subscription price. There's no "pay me $10/month for premium content" option. You get whatever Medium's revenue share formula spits out. And forget about owning your audience — you can't even export a list of your followers' email addresses.

Pricing reality: Free to publish. Partner Program payouts vary wildly based on engagement from paying Medium members. Some posts earn $3, others earn $3,000. There's no predictable revenue per subscriber like with direct-pay platforms.

Bottom line: Use Medium if you want discoverability and don't mind trading control for reach. Skip it if you want predictable income or to actually own your subscriber list.

What Makes Newsletters Effective (Beyond Platforms)

Picking the right platform is maybe 20% of newsletter success. Here's what actually matters:

Consistent publishing: The biggest newsletter killer is inconsistency. Pick a schedule you can maintain forever, not what sounds impressive. Better to send monthly newsletters consistently than weekly newsletters that peter out after a month. Your platform won't save you from burnout.

Valuable content: People subscribe for value. Entertainment, insights, exclusive information, community access, whatever. The format doesn't matter if the content sucks. I've seen plain text newsletters with 90% open rates and beautiful designed newsletters everyone ignores.

Clear value proposition: Tell people exactly what they're signing up for. "Weekly insights on X" beats "Subscribe to my newsletter!" every time. Then deliver on that promise. No platform feature replaces a clear value prop.

Growth strategies: Growth tools help, but they don't work alone. The best referral program won't help if your content isn't worth sharing. Focus on making your newsletter so good people can't help but forward it to friends.

Deliverability matters: Here's what nobody talks about: the best content means nothing in spam folders. Some platforms handle deliverability well. Others treat it like your problem. For content newsletters, bad deliverability kills growth faster than any other factor.

Where Bento Fits: Newsletters with Deliverability Built-In

Full disclosure: Bento is our platform. Here's where we fit in the newsletter landscape.

We built newsletters differently. Most platforms focus on publishing features and treat email delivery as someone else's problem. We flipped that. Bento starts with deliverability infrastructure, then adds newsletter features on top.

Why deliverability matters more than you think. Gmail and Yahoo changed their rules in 2024 and they now require proper authentication, low spam rates, and good sender reputation. Mess up any of these and your newsletter lands in spam, regardless of content quality. Most newsletter platforms make you figure this out yourself. We handle it automatically.

Here's what that means: When you send a newsletter through Bento, we automatically set up authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). We monitor your domain reputation and alert you before problems happen. We even batch your sends over time instead of blasting everyone at once, because ISPs prefer gradual delivery over sudden spikes.

The batching thing is huge. Say you have 10,000 subscribers. Most platforms dump all 10,000 emails into mail servers instantly. ISPs see that spike and think "spam." Bento spreads delivery over time, sending in smaller batches. Your emails arrive naturally, improving inbox placement.

What we don't do. We don't have built-in paid subscriptions like Substack or Ghost. No discovery network. No community features. If you want to charge for newsletters directly, other platforms do that better.

What we do well. Newsletter publishing with marketing automation. You can send regular newsletters, build email courses, create automation sequences, segment audiences. All with deliverability infrastructure that usually costs extra elsewhere.

When to choose Bento: You care about inbox placement. You're monetizing through products or courses, not subscriptions. You want newsletter features plus marketing automation. You're tired of emails landing in spam.

When to choose others: You want paid subscriptions handled for you (Substack, Ghost). You need discovery features (Substack). You prefer self-hosting everything (Ghost). You just want dead-simple newsletters (TinyLetter).

The honest take: We're not the flashiest newsletter platform. We're the one built by people obsessed with email actually reaching inboxes. If that matters to you, we should talk.

Bonus if You Made it to the End

I need you to memorise one word: syndication. That's the true benefit of these newsletter platforms. As they race to capture market share and their users via platform lock-in, they will continue to improve their native discoverability features.

Medium has some of the best SEO in the world. Post the same newsletter on your website and on Medium. Guess which one gets more traffic.

Substack turned into a Twitter (X) clone. It's got its own social feed, tweets, group chats, etc., in addition to its already-excellent discoverability.

Beehiiv and Kit have their own recommendation engines. beehiiv in particular has a ton of free and paid tools to grow your newsletter.

How does this help you? Simple, don't let them lock you in to their platform. Use their discovery networks to grow your list for free.

• Keep your main newsletter on Bento
• Have Medium, Substack, beehiiv, and Kit accounts. Medium and Substack are free to publish on. beehiiv and Kit are free for the first 2,500 and 10,000 subsribers respectively. You'll need to upgrade to paid accounts for API access
• Republish your newsletters on these platforms with a time delay of 4-8 weeks or so
• Import any subscribers you get into Bento (automated or manual)
• Enjoy a steady stream of new subscribers who've been pre-qualified as newsletter readers

Ready to Build a Newsletter That Grows?

Here's how to actually get started:

Match platform to business model. Charging for subscriptions? Pick Substack or Ghost. Selling courses? ConvertKit makes sense. Just writing for fun? TinyLetter works fine. Don't pick based on what you might do someday. Pick based on what you're doing now.

Start ugly. The perfect newsletter that never ships is worse than the mediocre newsletter that goes out weekly. Pick a platform, any platform, and start publishing. You can always migrate later. Most successful newsletters started on different platforms than where they are now.

Focus on one thing people want. Not five things. Not "various topics." One clear thing. Morning Brew does business news. Not Tech does tech news. The Hustle does startup news. Pick your thing and own it.

Test your growth strategy early. Don't wait until you have 1,000 subscribers to test referral programs or paid ads. Test with your first 100. See what actually drives signups. Most newsletters grow through word of mouth, not growth hacks.

Watch your deliverability. Check if emails are reaching inboxes. Ask subscribers if they're getting your newsletters. If open rates suddenly drop, you might have deliverability issues. Fix them fast or watch your growth stall. For more on this, see our email deliverability tools guide.

More resources: See how newsletter platforms compare to general tools in best email marketing services. Starting with zero budget? Check free email marketing software. Need automation? See email automation software.

Every platform we covered works for someone. Substack for writers wanting easy monetization. Ghost for technical creators wanting control. ConvertKit for course creators. Mailchimp for small businesses. Bento for publishers who prioritize deliverability.

Pick one. Start writing. See what happens. If you're considering Bento for newsletters that actually reach inboxes, we're here to help.