Newsletter Ledger

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.

Open the cost calculator

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. * = includes a figure not yet confirmed on the official page. Try your own numbers in the calculator.

Platform1,000 subscribers, free newsletter5,000 subscribers, 5% paying $8/mo10,000 subscribers, 8% paying $10/mo
Substack$0.00$333.00$1,272.00
beehiiv$0.00$228.00 *$591.00 *
Kit$0.00$145.00$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

Substack break-even calculator

The paid revenue at which a flat-priced platform costs less than Substack's 10%.

Paid newsletter revenue calculator

Subscribers × conversion × price, minus every fee, on six platforms.

Pricing by list size

beehiiv pricing · Kit pricing · Substack fees

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

Non-paying platforms (no affiliate program) are covered in exactly the same way as paying ones. See the methodology and the price-change log.