Side by side
| Substack | MailerLite | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes. It is free to start. Charges apply only when a writer takes payments. | Yes. Free for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with 2 seats. If active subscribers go over 250, sending is locked until you upgrade or remove subscribers. |
| Starting price | Not published. | Comfort starts at $12 a month. It can be billed yearly, which saves 10%, or monthly. |
| How it charges | A share of revenue. Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees, so Substack's share is 10%. | By subscriber count and sending volume. You pay for the number of subscribers you have and the volume you send. |
| Works with | Podcasts can be published to Substack, Apple, Spotify and YouTube. | ChatGPT and Claude through MailerLite MCP, Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, Mailchimp, Zapier, WordPress and Canva. There are 150+ integrations. |
| AI features | Not published. | An AI email generator, plus an AI writing assistant and subject line generator on Comfort. The free plan has MCP access for tools like Claude and ChatGPT, limited and excluding sending. |
Prices and plans change. We checked these figures on October 10, 2026, so confirm them before you buy.
What Substack is
Substack puts writers, creators and subscribers in charge of a new media model. It is free to start and free to leave.
A newsletter operator can publish posts, mark each post free or paid-only, host podcasts, and grow through recommendations, Notes and the Substack app.
Creators own their content and subscriber list.
What MailerLite is
MailerLite is an email marketing platform for email marketers and businesses that want advanced email tools without complicated software. More than 1 million businesses use it.
A newsletter operator can use it to send campaigns, build forms and pop-ups, run automations, make landing pages and websites, and take paid newsletter subscriptions.
A/B testing is on all plans, including the free plan.
Which one fits
Substack charges nothing until a writer takes payments, then keeps 10% of revenue. MailerLite charges by subscribers and sending volume, with a free plan for up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and 2 seats.
If you go past 250 active subscribers on the free plan, sending is locked until you upgrade or remove subscribers. Its Comfort plan starts at $12 a month. If your plan is paid posts, Substack covers that. If you want an editor with 70+ content blocks, landing pages and websites, MailerLite offers those.
How much does Substack take?
Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees. That makes Substack's share 10%, with card fees taken on top.
Do I own my subscriber list?
Yes. Writers own their content and their subscriber list, and Substack is free to leave.
Is MailerLite free?
Yes, up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with 2 seats, 3 automations and 1 website. Sending locks if active subscribers go above 250.
How does MailerLite count subscribers for billing?
Active subscribers are counted cumulatively within each billing cycle, and the count resets monthly on your billing anniversary. On paid accounts, going over a limit moves you to the next tier and your card is charged.