Mailchimp Keeps Getting Worse. Here Are 7 Tools That Actually Respect Your Budget
I used Mailchimp for almost two years. It was fine. Not great, not terrible, just the default thing everyone recommended when you typed "how to start a newsletter" into Google.
Then they cut the free plan. Again. First it went from 2,000 subscribers down to 500. Then to 250. And 500 sends per month. At that point I started looking around and realized the newsletter tool landscape had completely changed while I wasn't paying attention.
So I spent three weeks testing every major platform. Not just reading comparison articles (most of which are written by people who clearly haven't used the tools), but actually signing up, importing contacts, building emails, and checking what happens when you hit the limits of each free plan.
Here's what I found.
The Quick Version
If you want the short answer: Beehiiv for growth-focused creators, Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for complex automations, MailerLite for best bang for your buck. The rest have specific use cases that might fit you perfectly or not at all.
Now for the long version.
Beehiiv: The Growth Machine
Beehiiv has positioned itself as the newsletter platform for people who actually want to grow. Their free plan supports 2,500 subscribers, which is 10x what Mailchimp offers.
What stands out is the growth toolkit. Built-in referral programs, recommendation networks, A/B testing on subject lines, and analytics that actually tell you something useful. Their November 2025 "Winter Release" added AI website building and podcast hosting, which felt a bit kitchen-sink to me, but the core newsletter product is solid.
The downside is integrations. Most connections require Zapier, which adds cost and complexity. If you need your newsletter tool to talk to 15 other tools natively, Beehiiv will frustrate you.
Best for: Creators who treat their newsletter as a product and want to grow it aggressively.
Pricing: Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $34/month.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): The Automation Workhorse
Kit rebranded from ConvertKit in late 2024, positioning itself as an "email-first operating system for creators." The rebrand is still confusing (people keep calling it ConvertKit), but the product underneath is genuinely powerful.
Where Kit wins is tagging and segmentation. You can build complex multi-step automations, tag subscribers based on behavior, and create sequences that would take hours to set up in most other tools. If you sell digital products or courses alongside your newsletter, Kit handles that natively.
Their free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers, which sounds incredible until you realize the free tier doesn't include automation or sequences. So you get a big list but limited tools to actually work with it.
Best for: Creators who sell products and need serious automation behind their emails.
Pricing: Free up to 10,000 subscribers (limited features). Creator plan starts at $25/month.
Substack: The Path of Least Resistance
Substack is the easiest way to start a newsletter. You can go from zero to published in about 15 minutes. No design decisions, no template picking, no configuration. You write, you hit publish.
The magic of Substack is its built-in discovery network. In a recent three-month period, 32 million new subscribers came from within the Substack app itself. That's distribution you simply don't get on any other platform.
The catch is the 10% cut on paid subscriptions. If you monetize your newsletter and make $5,000 per month, Substack takes $500 (on top of Stripe fees). That adds up fast. You also don't get much customization, and you're building on someone else's platform, not your own domain.
Best for: Writers who want zero setup friction and benefit from built-in audience discovery.
Pricing: Free for free newsletters. 10% of paid subscription revenue.
Ghost: Full Control, Full Responsibility
Ghost is the tool for people who want to own everything. Self-hosted or managed, fully customizable, content lives on your own domain with full SEO benefits.
The writing experience is excellent. The editor is clean and fast. Built-in membership and subscription management works well. And because content lives on your domain, you build actual SEO authority over time instead of feeding someone else's platform.
But Ghost requires technical comfort. Setting up a self-hosted instance means dealing with servers. Even the managed version ($9/month starting) requires more configuration than Substack or Beehiiv. There's a learning curve, and not everyone wants to climb it.
Best for: Technical creators who want complete ownership and strong SEO from day one.
Pricing: Self-hosted is free. Managed hosting starts at $9/month.
MailerLite: The Quiet Overachiever
MailerLite doesn't get the hype that Beehiiv or Substack do, and that's a shame because it's probably the best value email marketing tool available right now.
The interface is clean and intuitive. The email builder works well. You get automation, landing pages, and even digital product sales built in. Everything just works without much fuss.
They did reduce their free plan from 1,000 to 500 subscribers in September 2025, which stung. But even the paid plans are reasonable. $10/month gets you 500 subscribers with full features, and it scales well from there.
Best for: Small businesses and creators who want a reliable, affordable all-in-one tool without the hype.
Pricing: Free up to 500 subscribers. Growing Business plan starts at $10/month.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Pay for Sends, Not Subscribers
Brevo does something different with pricing: you pay based on emails sent, not subscriber count. Unlimited contacts on every plan. If you have a big list but send infrequently, this can save you serious money.
They also bundle SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat alongside email, which makes Brevo feel more like a customer communication platform than a pure newsletter tool. The free plan gives you 300 emails per day with unlimited contacts.
The email editor feels a bit dated compared to newer tools like Beehiiv or MailerLite. It works, but you can tell the product has been around for a while and carries some legacy weight.
Best for: Businesses with large contact lists and low sending frequency, or those who need multi-channel communication (email + SMS + chat).
Pricing: Free (300 emails/day, unlimited contacts). Starter plan at $9/month for 5,000 emails/month.
Buttondown: The Minimalist's Choice
Buttondown is for writers who think most newsletter tools have too many features. The interface is stripped down to the essentials: write, send, track. No drag-and-drop builder. No fancy templates. Just text.
If that sounds appealing, you'll love it. If it sounds limiting, it's not for you. Buttondown also offers a 50% nonprofit discount, which is the best in the industry.
The free plan only supports 100 subscribers, which is tight. But the paid plans are affordable and the product is laser-focused on doing one thing well.
Best for: Writers who want a clean, distraction-free tool and don't care about visual design.
Pricing: Free up to 100 subscribers. Basic plan at $9/month.
How I Think About Newsletter Tools
After testing all of these, I've realized the tool matters less than people think. What actually matters is:
- Consistency. Sending regularly matters more than which platform you send from.
- Content quality. A great newsletter on any platform will outperform a mediocre one on the "best" platform.
- Growth strategy. No tool grows your list for you (except maybe Substack's network, to a degree). You need a plan for getting subscribers.
On that last point, this is where having a content curation workflow helps. The hardest part of running a newsletter isn't choosing a tool. It's filling each issue with valuable content week after week without burning out. That's the problem we're solving with twixb. You set up your sources and keywords once, and relevant content surfaces automatically so you can focus on writing and editing instead of searching.
Pick the tool that fits your budget and workflow. Then focus on the hard part: making something people actually want to read.