Newsletter LedgerFree · no sign-up · every price sourced
What does your newsletter platform really cost?
A plan's sticker price is only part of the bill. Add the platform's cut of your paid revenue and the card fees on every payment, and the cheapest option can change. This free calculator adds it all up for six platforms at your list size.
Plan + platform fee + Stripe, platform billed yearly, US cards. Checked 2026-10-19.
Three costs, one honest number
1. Plan price at your size
The cheapest self-serve plan that fits your list and supports paid subscriptions when you need them.
2. Revenue share
Substack keeps 10% of paid revenue. Kit takes 0.6% on top of card processing. The others take 0%.
3. Payment fees
Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 on every paid charge, applied the same way on every platform.
Three example scenarios
Total monthly cost (plan + platform fee + Stripe), platform billed yearly, US cards. Prices checked 2026-10-19. The lowest cost in each column is highlighted. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the official page. Try your own numbers in the calculator.
| Platform | 1,000 subscribers, free newsletter | 5,000 subscribers, 5% paying $8/mo | 10,000 subscribers, 8% paying $10/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substack | Lowest: $0.00 | $333.00 | $1,272.00 |
| beehiiv | Lowest: $0.00 | $228.00 | $591.00 |
| Kit | Lowest: $0.00 | Lowest: $145.00 | Lowest: $520.00 |
| Ghost (Pro) | $18.00 | $196.00 * | $560.00 * |
| Buttondown | $9.00 | $171.00 | $560.00 |
| MailerLite | $17.10 | $177.10 | $552.10 |
More tools and pricing data
Pricing by list size
Who this is for
English-speaking newsletter writers choosing a first platform or wondering whether to switch, especially from Substack's 10% fee to a flat-priced tool. It is not a review site. We show arithmetic and sources; you decide what features matter.
The platforms
Disclosure: links to platforms go through /go/ redirects. Some are affiliate links (currently beehiiv, Systeme.io and Buttondown): if you sign up and pay, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. That never changes the numbers or the order of results. Full disclosure.
- SubstackChecked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit Substack (opens in a new tab)
- beehiivChecked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit beehiiv (opens in a new tab)
- KitChecked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit Kit (opens in a new tab)
- Ghost (Pro)Checked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit Ghost (Pro) (opens in a new tab)
- ButtondownChecked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit Buttondown (opens in a new tab)
- MailerLiteChecked 2026-10-19Official pricing (opens in a new tab) · Visit MailerLite (opens in a new tab)
Non-paying platforms (no affiliate program) are covered in exactly the same way as paying ones. See the methodology and the price-change log.