Pluckly
Comparison

MailerLite vs Substack

Side-by-side comparison of MailerLite and Substack for content creators.

Tool
MailerLite

Affordable email marketing built for growing creators

Substack

Newsletter publishing and monetization in one place

Starting price
From $9/mo
Free
Founded
2010
Pricing model
freemium
freemium
Free option
Free tier
Free tier

What they are

MailerLite

MailerLite is an email marketing platform covering newsletters, automations, landing pages, and sign-up forms. It suits indie creators, small newsletters, and course sellers who want a clean interface without paying enterprise prices. The free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers, and paid plans start around $9 per month. Deliverability is solid, though the template editor can feel limiting compared to more design-focused competitors.

Substack

Substack is a publishing platform where writers host email newsletters and charge subscribers a recurring fee. Independent journalists, essayists, and niche experts use it to build direct audiences without relying on ad revenue. The platform handles payments, delivery, and a basic website automatically. Substack takes a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue on top of stripe fees, which becomes a real cost as an audience grows.

Which to choose

Full editorial comparison coming soon. For now, check the side-by-side data above and read the individual reviews for MailerLite and Substack.