Published on September 10, 2026
Forty browser tabs open, ten review sites, three spreadsheets comparing pricing tiers, and still no answer to the one question that matters: which newsletter maker actually fits what you’re building?
Most “best newsletter makers” roundups compare inbox software against more inbox software and call it a finished job. They rank sending tools by subscriber caps and automation depth, then wonder why buyers still can’t decide. Nobody separates two very different questions: how do I reach an inbox, and how do I make something worth opening once I’m there?
We built this guide around both. Ten tools, honestly compared, including where each one falls short. By the end, you’ll know whether you need an email service provider, a design-first newsletter maker, or both.
A newsletter platform is software that helps individuals or teams design, publish, and distribute recurring content to a defined audience, whether by email, shareable link, or embedded page.
Some platforms specialize in sending, managing subscriber lists, automating delivery, and tracking opens and clicks. Others specialize in design, giving you visual layout control, interactivity, and page-level engagement data. Flipsnack falls into the second group.
A newsletter platform in the broad sense covers any tool used to create and share a newsletter. Email marketing software specifically handles list management, send automation, and deliverability. As a design-first newsletter maker, Flipsnack handles layout, branding, and interactivity instead, often publishing beyond the inbox entirely.
Confusing these two categories is the single biggest reason “best newsletter” searches feel unhelpful. Someone searching for a way to grow a paid subscriber base needs Substack or beehiiv. Someone searching for a way to make an internal report or client newsletter look intentional needs a different kind of tool altogether.
Still, neither category is objectively better. They solve different problems. A marketing manager producing a monthly client update rarely needs subscriber segmentation or send-time optimization. She needs something that looks like it took a designer’s time without actually requiring one.
Picture two people running the same search. One runs a weekly newsletter with 40,000 subscribers and needs to know exactly when to send, how to A/B test subject lines, and how to keep deliverability rates high as the list grows. The other manages internal communications for a 200-person company and needs March’s update to look as sharp as January’s, without waiting on a design request each time. Both typed “best newsletter platform” into Google. Only one of them needs what an ESP is built to provide.
A plain-text email informs. An interactive one builds a relationship.
Static newsletters get skimmed once and forgotten. Reader engagement ends at “opened” and “clicked,” two data points that tell you almost nothing about what someone actually read, watched, or cared about. Interactive formats keep readers on the page longer, let them click through embedded video or product links, and generate engagement data down to the section level.
Even so, this isn’t an argument against email. Most teams still need to land in an inbox. It’s an argument for treating the newsletter itself, the actual document someone opens, as a design problem worth solving, not just a send problem worth automating.
To see the difference, consider two versions of the same monthly update. One goes out as plain text through an ESP, gets a 22% open rate, and tells its sender nothing beyond that number. The other goes out as an interactive digital document embedded with a two-minute video and a clickable table of contents.
Its sender can see that 340 people watched past the thirty-second mark and that a specific section on new product features got clicked twice as often as anything else. Same audience, same effort to write, dramatically different visibility into what actually landed.
That gap compounds over twelve issues a year. Teams optimizing blind, guided by open rate alone, keep repeating whatever “worked” last time without ever confirming why. Teams with page-level data adjust content based on what people demonstrably paid attention to.
We tested and researched ten tools across both categories, design-first newsletter makers and email service providers, so you don’t have to guess which list you’re reading.
| Tool | Best for | Key strength | Limitations | Pricing (from) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flipsnack | Interactive, trackable, brand-controlled newsletters | Page-level analytics, video and forms embedded directly, publish as email, link, or webpage | Not built for list growth, subscriber segmentation, or send automation | $16/mo, free plan available |
| beehiiv | Creator monetization | Built-in referral and paid-subscription tools | Free plan caps at 2,500 subscribers; limited visual design control | $49/mo, free plan available |
| Mailchimp | All-in-one marketing | Broad integrations, built-in CRM | Interface complexity grows fast past the free tier | $13/mo, free plan available |
| Substack | Simplicity plus built-in audience | Zero setup, discovery network | Design options are minimal; Substack keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue | Free to use |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Creator-focused automation | Generous free tier, strong automation | Templates feel utilitarian rather than polished | $39/mo, free plan available |
| MailerLite | Affordable simplicity | Clean editor, budget-friendly scaling | Advanced segmentation lags more expensive tools | Around $19/mo, free plan available |
| Flodesk | Visual branding for email | Genuinely attractive templates | Email-only; no way to publish beyond the inbox | $25/mo, no free email plan |
| Ghost | Publishing and paid subscriptions | Strong for blog-plus-newsletter hybrids | Steeper technical setup; no permanent free tier | $18/mo (Ghost Pro) |
| Campaign Monitor | On-brand templates, deliverability | Strong template control for agencies | Fewer interactive elements than design-first tools | $11/mo, free plan available |
| GetResponse | Funnels plus newsletters | Bundles landing pages and webinars | More suite than a basic newsletter calls for | $15/mo, limited free plan |
Here’s why: we’re leading with Flipsnack because it solves a problem the other nine don’t attempt to, making the document itself worth someone’s attention, then showing you what they did with it. The remaining nine compete on a different axis entirely, getting a message into an inbox efficiently, and we’ve compared them just as honestly.
Flipsnack is a design-first newsletter maker built for teams publishing beyond the inbox, turning each issue into an interactive document. Readers can click through rather than just scroll past, sent as email, shared as a link, or embedded directly on a page.
Flipsnack is also a digital publishing platform used by teams at companies including HBO, Pfizer, and Pandora to build catalogs, brochures, and reports alongside their newsletters. The same editor and brand controls that power those other formats apply directly to newsletters, so marketing and communications teams already publishing other content in Flipsnack can build one without learning a second tool.
Notable features:
Who is it for? Marketing and communications teams who need every issue to look deliberate and want visibility into what readers actually engaged with, not just who opened it.
Best for: Interactive, trackable, brand-controlled newsletters.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $16/month billed annually.
Reviews:
G2: 4.7/5 (412 reviews)
Capterra: 4.6/5 (310 reviews)
beehiiv was built by former Morning Brew engineers specifically for creators turning a newsletter into a media business, not for general company marketing.
Notable features: A built-in referral network that grows your list through reader recommendations, a native ad marketplace for monetization, custom domains, and segment-level analytics.
Who is it for? Independent creators and small media teams building a subscriber or ad-supported publication.
Best for: Creator monetization.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start around $49/month.
Reviews:
G2: 4.5/5 (40 reviews)
Capterra: 4.4/5 (16 reviews)
Mailchimp is one of the longest-running email marketing platforms, now under Intuit, built as an all-in-one hub for campaigns, light CRM, and automation.
Notable features: Drag-and-drop campaign builder, built-in audience segmentation, prebuilt automation journeys, and one of the broadest third-party integration libraries in this comparison.
Who is it for? Small to midsize teams that want one platform covering email, light CRM, and automation, without stitching together separate tools.
Best for: All-in-one marketing.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free up to 500 contacts. Paid plans start around $13/month.
Reviews:
G2: 4.3/5 (12,988 reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (17,680 reviews)
Substack popularized the modern paid-newsletter model, pairing a simple writing tool with a built-in discovery network of other Substack readers.
Notable features: Integrated payments for paid subscriptions, a recommendation network that surfaces newsletters to new readers, and native podcast or video hosting alongside text.
Who is it for? Independent writers building a personal, subscription-supported publication rather than a company communication.
Best for: Simplicity plus built-in audience.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free to publish. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue instead of charging a flat monthly fee, so there’s no traditional monthly or annual plan to compare.
Reviews:
Listed on either site. Both G2 and Capterra review purchased business software, and Substack works more like a publishing network than a procured tool, so no comparable rating exists.
Kit, rebranded from ConvertKit in 2025, positions itself for creators running an email-first business rather than broader marketing teams.
Notable features: A visual automation builder, landing pages and forms included by default, and one of the more generous free tiers for creators just starting out.
Who is it for? Solo creators and small teams whose primary channel is email, especially those selling digital products or courses.
Best for: Creator-focused automation.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans start around $39/month for 1,000 subscribers.
Reviews:
G2: 4.4/5 (236 reviews)
Capterra: 4.6/5 (243 reviews)
MailerLite built its name on a clean, simple editor at a lower price point than most competitors, without stripping out core automation.
Notable features: Drag-and-drop editor, built-in landing pages, subscriber segmentation, and automation workflows available even on lower-cost plans.
Who is it for? Budget-conscious small businesses and solo marketers who want simplicity without paying for capability they won’t use.
Best for: Affordable simplicity.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. Paid plans start around $19/month for 1,000 subscribers.
Reviews:
G2: 4.6/5 (1,113 reviews)
Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,322 reviews)
A brief introduction: Flodesk built its name on visual design, offering some of the more polished email templates of any ESP, aimed at small businesses that care how their emails look.
Notable features: A template-driven visual editor built around design quality, built-in forms, and simple automated workflows.
Who is it for? Small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, especially in creative or hospitality industries, who want attractive emails without a steep design learning curve.
Best for: Visual branding for email.
Pricing, monthly/annual: No perpetual free email plan (the free tier covers forms and landing pages only). Paid plans start around $25/month.
Reviews:
G2: 4.8/5 (302 reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (167 reviews)
Ghost started as an open-source blogging platform and grew into a publishing tool for creators who want a website, blog, and paid-membership newsletter under one system.
Notable features: Native membership and paid-subscription tools, built-in SEO controls, and an open-source core alongside a managed hosting option, Ghost Pro.
Who is it for? Writers and small publications that want a combined website and newsletter, especially ones planning to charge for membership.
Best for: Publishing and paid subscriptions.
Pricing, monthly/annual: No perpetual free managed-hosting plan. Ghost Pro starts around $18/month, billed annually, capped at 1,000 members on the entry tier; the open-source software itself is free to self-host.
Reviews:
Capterra: 4.7/5 (53 reviews)
G2: Ghost doesn’t have a clearly consolidated G2 listing separate from its CMS-hosting category, so we’re not citing a G2 figure for it here.
Campaign Monitor, now part of Marigold, targets agencies and brand-conscious teams that want tighter template control than most general-purpose ESPs offer.
Notable features: Strong template customization for on-brand sends, solid deliverability tooling, and client-management features aimed at agencies running campaigns across multiple brands.
Who is it for? Agencies and marketing teams managing email for multiple brands or clients that need consistent, on-brand templates across every account.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Free plan available. Paid plans start around $11/month.
Reviews:
G2: 4.1/5 (731 reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (506 reviews)
GetResponse bundles email marketing with landing pages, webinar hosting, and sales funnels, positioning itself as a broader marketing suite rather than a newsletter-only tool.
Notable features: Built-in webinar hosting, a funnel and landing page builder, and marketing automation workflows alongside standard email campaigns.
Who is it for? Teams that want a newsletter tool bundled with webinar and funnel features, rather than a focused, single-purpose platform.
Best for: Best for: Funnels plus newsletters, deliverability.
Pricing, monthly/annual: Limited free plan for very small lists. Paid plans start around $15/month; GetResponse pricing has shifted before, so confirm current tiers.
Reviews:
G2: 4.3/5 (1,141 reviews)
Capterra: 4.2/5 (524 reviews)
Match the tool to the job, not the review site’s ranking. List growth and send automation call for an ESP. Design control, interactivity, and reader-level tracking call for a design-first newsletter maker.
Five questions narrow it down fast:
Most teams land in one category cleanly once they answer these. A few genuinely need both: an ESP for the send, a design tool for the document itself, and that’s a legitimate setup, not a compromise.
If the newsletter needs embedded video, clickable product tags, or a lead form, and you want to know which sections people actually engaged with rather than just whether the message got opened, Flipsnack is the one tool on this list built around that job specifically. It’s worth naming the trade-off honestly: getting comfortable with drag-and-drop layout and interactive elements takes a little longer than typing plain text into an ESP’s editor. That upfront time buys a document that behaves nothing like a static email once it’s published.
Comms and HR teams publishing employee updates rarely need audience segmentation or drip campaigns. What they need is something on brand, quick for a non-designer to update monthly, and readable on a phone during a commute. A locked brand kit means whoever’s on rotation for this month’s issue can’t accidentally ship an off-brand layout. Flipsnack’s template library for company newsletters is built around exactly this workflow.
Regulated or relationship-driven industries often need newsletters that double as compliance-conscious documents, not just marketing collateral. A property update might need to restrict access to a specific client list. A hospital’s internal report might need to meet accessibility requirements before legal signs off. Flipsnack’s WCAG 2.1 AA alignment and password-protected sharing cover ground none of the nine ESPs below address explicitly in their own marketing.
Beehiiv and Substack both build paid subscriptions into their core product, referral programs, gated content, and revenue dashboards included. If turning a newsletter into recurring income is the actual goal, either beats a design tool like Flipsnack, which has no built-in payment or subscription layer and isn’t trying to compete there.
Flipsnack’s free plan supports five newsletters at up to fifteen pages each, enough to test the interactive format before committing to a paid tier. Among the ESPs, Substack costs nothing upfront but keeps 10% of paid subscription revenue, and Mailchimp and MailerLite both offer usable free tiers under 1,000 contacts.
Upload an existing PDF newsletter, or start from a template in our newsletter template library. Templates are organized by industry, so a real estate update and an employee digest don’t share the same layout defaults.
Adjust layout, fonts, and colors directly in the editor. Lock your brand fonts and colors into a shared library so every team member’s newsletter stays consistent, no re-uploading assets each month.
Embed YouTube or Vimeo video directly in a page. Add clickable product tags, lead forms, or a quiz. Every interactive element becomes a tracked data point once published.
Publish publicly, restrict access by password, or set an expiration date on a private link. Enterprise plans add SSO and full white-label branding for teams publishing under multiple domains.
Open the analytics dashboard to see page-level time spent, click-throughs, and per-recipient engagement, not just an aggregate open rate.
Every tool in this comparison ships templates. What varies is how much redesign work they save you. Flipsnack’s newsletter template library covers company updates, real estate digests, retail promotions, and internal HR communications, each built around a specific reader, not a generic layout.
Best for: Teams publishing a recurring update without in-house design support.
Real-world application: Swap in your logo, brand colors, and this month’s content; publish without touching layout code.
Common mistake to avoid: Don’t cram every update into a single dense page. Five sections a reader finishes beat fifteen they abandon.
Choose Flipsnack if the real problem isn’t reaching an inbox. It’s what happens once someone opens what you sent. Interactive content, page-level tracking, and brand-locked design solve a different problem than list growth, and most “best newsletter” comparisons never mention that problem exists.
By contrast, the other nine tools on this list compete on a different axis: reach, automation, and list growth. If that’s your priority instead, beehiiv fits creators building paid audiences, Mailchimp fits teams that want one tool for everything, and MailerLite fits anyone watching cost per subscriber closely.
A newsletter that nobody remembers opening didn’t do its job, no matter how many inboxes it reached.
Yes. Inbox volume keeps rising, which makes a newsletter that’s actually worth opening more valuable, not less. The format isn’t the problem; forgettable execution is.
Five to seven focused sections beat fifteen scattered ones. A clear visual hierarchy, one primary message per section, and at least one interactive or visual element that isn’t just a stock photo tend to separate newsletters people finish from ones they close after the first scroll.
Start from a newsletter template built for your industry rather than a blank page. Then, lock brand colors and fonts once, at the account level, so every future issue inherits them automatically instead of being rebuilt from scratch each month. For the writing side of the job, Flipsnack’s guide on writing a good company newsletter covers structure and tone.
AI tools can draft copy, but design, brand consistency, and reader engagement still take human judgment. Flipsnack includes AI credits for content assistance, though the platform’s core value sits in layout and interactivity, not copywriting.
Most email service providers offer limited accessibility documentation. Flipsnack maintains WCAG 2.1 AA alignment with published VPAT documentation. It is worth checking directly against your compliance requirements if accessibility is a hard constraint.
Not with most ESPs, which are built around email delivery rather than access-controlled documents. Flipsnack supports password protection, private sharing, and link expiration for newsletters that need restricted access.
Mailchimp and Substack are the most widely recognized names by subscriber count and brand awareness. Popularity doesn’t equal best fit. Therefore, the right platform depends on whether the job is sending email or designing something worth reading. Flipsnack leads the second category, built for teams who need the newsletter itself, not just the send, to hold attention.
Pricing scales quickly past the free 250-contact limit, and the interface has grown more complex as features accumulated. It remains a capable all-in-one option for teams that need automation, CRM features, and sending under one roof.
It depends on what you need Mailchimp to do. For send automation and list management, MailerLite and Kit both offer simpler interfaces at a lower cost. For design and interactivity beyond the inbox, Flipsnack solves a problem Mailchimp doesn’t attempt to.
Substack costs nothing upfront (it takes 10% of paid subscription revenue). Mailchimp and MailerLite both offer workable free tiers under 1,000 contacts. Flipsnack’s free plan covers five newsletters at up to fifteen pages, no credit card required.
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