Best email platform for a long-form newsletter
A long-form issue is a different job from a 200 word promo, and most email tools are quietly built for the promo.
Short answer: beehiiv is the pick for a long-form newsletter because the issue becomes a post with a web version and the free tier carries 2,500 subscribers. Kit carries 10,000 subscribers on its free tier and is the better home once the list sells something, while MailerLite stops free at 250 subscribers.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick beehiiv if you are the essay and the web version. Visit beehiiv
- Pick Kit (formerly ConvertKit) if you need the most generous free tier. Visit Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
- Pick MailerLite if this trade-off works for you: plainest editor, lowest first bill. Visit MailerLite
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Short answer, with every price read from the vendor on 2026-10-05.
A long-form issue is a different job from a 200 word promo, and most email tools are quietly built for the promo.
The picks
Best for the essay and the web version: beehiiv
beehiiv treats the issue as a post, so the email and the web version of a long newsletter come from the same draft, and the free tier holds up to 2,500 subscribers. The first paid tier is $59 monthly, or $49 on the yearly rate.
See beehiiv pricingMost generous free tier: Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit carries up to 10,000 subscribers on the free tier with unlimited broadcasts against the 2,500 subscriber cap on beehiiv before you pay. Creator is $39 monthly, or $32.5 on the yearly rate, when the list is also the business and wants tagging and sequences.
See Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pricingPlainest editor, lowest first bill: MailerLite
MailerLite's free tier carries 250 subscribers, and paid plans start at $12 monthly, which is $10.8 on the yearly rate. If you write, press send and nothing else, this is the least friction of the three.
See MailerLite pricingWhich one fits you
Kit is the most generous free tier by a factor of four, and beehiiv is the one that publishes the issue as well as sending it.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) pricing (read 2026-10-05)
Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers on the Newsletter plan. At 1,000 subscribers Creator is $39/mo billed monthly or $390/yr and Pro is $79/mo or $790/yr. Yearly billing also prints an extra 25% off Pro for the first year only: $50/mo, $593 billed, then it renews at the standard rate. Both plans scale with list size (Creator $169/mo at 15,000, Pro $249/mo).
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Newsletter) | Free | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, unlimited broadcasts, tagging and segmentation, sell digital products |
| Creator | $39/mo, or $32.5/mo billed annually | Everything in Free plus unlimited visual automations, unlimited sequences, A/B subject lines, SMS, remove Kit branding |
| Pro | $79/mo, or $65.83/mo billed annually | Everything in Creator plus Subscriber Signals, engagement analytics, unlimited users, deliverability reporting, newsletter referral system. Yearly billing at 1,000 subscribers prints an extra 25% off the first year ($50/mo, $593 billed). The page says that discount is the first year only and the plan then renews at the standard rate. |
beehiiv pricing (read 2026-10-10)
beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers. At 1,000 subscribers Lite is $59/mo ($49/mo billed yearly) and Pro is $109/mo ($95/mo billed yearly). At 10,000 subscribers Lite is $139/mo ($119/mo billed yearly) and Pro is $239/mo ($199/mo billed yearly). Lite is not sold above 100,000 subscribers. The pricing-page FAQ says Lite and Pro include a free trial, no credit card is needed to start, and the trial ends when you upgrade. That answer does not say how many days the trial lasts.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Up to 2,500 subscribers, 1 team seat, 1 publication, 30-day analytics lookback, unlimited email sends |
| Lite | $59/mo, or $49/mo billed annually | Up to 100,000 subscribers, 2 team seats, 3 publications, paid subscriptions with 0% take rate, ad network, 10 live custom automations, 3 webhooks, 12-month analytics lookback |
| Pro | $109/mo, or $95/mo billed annually | Everything in Lite plus remove beehiiv branding, webinars and coaching, unlimited analytics lookback, unlimited live custom automations, unlimited webhooks, dynamic content, up to 250,000 subscribers, 10 team seats, 10 publications, priority human support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom pricing and subscriber volume, SSO/SAML, dedicated IPs, concierge onboarding |
MailerLite pricing (read 2026-10-05)
MailerLite is free up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort starts at $12/mo and Power at $25/mo at 250 subscribers, and both rise with list size.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 user seats, 1 website, 1 landing page, 3 signup forms |
| Comfort | $12/mo, or $10.8/mo billed annually | Starts at 250 subscribers, 3 user seats, 50 automations, 10 websites and landing pages, 5 digital products |
| Power | $25/mo, or $22.5/mo billed annually | Starts at 250 subscribers, unlimited monthly emails, unlimited user seats, unlimited automations and landing pages |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom pricing above 200,000 subscribers |
Prices checked 2026-10-05.
See MailerLite pricingWhat changes the price
The platform decision for a long-form newsletter comes down to three things: what the free tier really carries, whether each issue gets a web version worth sharing, and how much editor sits between you and the words. beehiiv treats the issue as a post, so the email and the web version come out of one draft, and the free tier holds 2,500 subscribers. Kit is the most generous free tier at 10,000 subscribers, which matters once the list is the business and the newsletter has to sit next to something you sell. MailerLite's free tier stops at 250 subscribers, so it is the right answer for a small list where the writer wants the plainest possible editor.
Worked cost: Best email platform for a long-form newsletter
| Case | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| beehiiv free tier | Free | Up to 2,500 subscribers and unlimited sends |
| Kit free tier | Free | Up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcasts |
| MailerLite free tier | Free | 250 subscribers |
| Kit Creator, yearly rate | $32.5 | At 1,000 subscribers, or $39 monthly |
| beehiiv paid tier, yearly rate | $49 | The Lite tier, or $59 monthly |
| MailerLite Comfort, yearly rate | $10.8 | The Comfort tier, or $12 monthly |
Mailchimp, Brevo and Constant Contact: what they cost
Every email-marketing comparison starts with these three names, so here is what each one actually charges. Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page. The date on that pricing page is the last read. The link goes to the full plan tables and the fine print:
- Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts. The free-plan column prints a max of 500 emails a month or 250 a day. Paid plans start at $13/mo for Essentials, $20/mo for Standard and $350/mo for Premium at the 0-500 contacts tier, and every price climbs as the contact count grows.
- Brevo is free at 300 emails a day, then Starter is $9/mo, Standard $18/mo and Professional $499/mo billed monthly, with yearly billing taking 10% off. Brevo prices by monthly email volume, not by contact count.
- Constant Contact starts at $12/mo on Lite, $35/mo on Standard and $80/mo on Premium billed monthly, or $10.20 / $29.75 / $68 per month billed annually. There is no permanent free plan. Constant Contact's own landing page says the trial is 30 days and no credit card is required. A paid plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Cheaper first paid month: Brevo Starter at $9/mo is below the cheapest paid step among the picks above (MailerLite Comfort at $12/mo). Those entry prices are for the smallest list or send volume each vendor sells, so price them at your own size before you switch.
Compare these numbers against the picks above at your own list size: the cheapest tool for a 500-contact shop is rarely the cheapest at 10,000 subscribers, and the free tiers stop at very different places.
Questions
What is the cheapest option here?
Kit, in the sense that matters: its free tier carries up to 10,000 subscribers, against 2,500 on beehiiv and 250 on MailerLite. All three start free, so the cap is the whole comparison.
Does a long issue cost more to send?
No. beehiiv, Kit and MailerLite all price on subscriber count, not on how many words are in the issue, so a two thousand word essay costs the same as a three line promo. The decision is the editor and the free cap, not the length.
Which one gives me a web version of each issue?
beehiiv, because the issue is a post first and the email is a rendering of it. Kit and MailerLite send the same words, but you assemble the archive rather than getting it from the draft.
What happens when I pass the free subscriber cap?
You step onto a paid tier on the same platform, and the price climbs with subscriber count. Kit carrying 10,000 subscribers free gives the longest runway, which is why a list heading for a few thousand should start there.
Prices and plan details were read from each vendor on 2026-10-05. How we check prices.
About this page
Prices here were read from each vendor's own pricing page on the check date above. Subscriber counts move you between tiers, so re-check the tier that matches your list before you migrate anything.