Every email marketing tool comparison article I’ve ever read was written by someone with affiliate links to every tool they’re comparing.

This one doesn’t have affiliate links.

Here’s the honest version.

The tools worth considering as a first-time list builder

There are four. Not twenty. Four. MailerLite. Kit. Beehiiv. Substack.

Everything else — Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Drip — is either overpriced for beginners, bloated with features you don’t need yet, or has made product decisions that hurt small publishers in recent years.

MailerLite

Free up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month.

What it does well: clean interface, easy automation setup, good form and landing page builder, reliable deliverability, genuinely beginner-friendly. The free tier includes automations, sequences, audience segments, forms.

What it doesn’t do well: design tools are limited; analytics are basic; email branding customization has a ceiling.

Best for: someone starting their first list who wants the simplest possible setup.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Free up to 10,000 subscribers on the current free tier.

What it does well: the best automation logic in the free tier. Sequences are easier to set up than anywhere else. Tagging and segmentation are powerful without being complicated. The interface is built for content creators specifically.

What it doesn’t do well: the email design tools are intentionally minimal. If you want beautiful HTML newsletters you’ll fight the interface.

Best for: someone serious about building a relationship with their list and eventually selling products through email.

My opinion: if you’re building toward a product business, Kit is the better long-term tool. MailerLite is easier out of the box.

Beehiiv

Free up to 2,500 subscribers.

What it does well: the cleanest newsletter publishing experience. Designed specifically for newsletter-first publishers. Has a referral system built in that helps it grow through network effects.

What it doesn’t do well: automation and sequencing are more limited than Kit. If you want the “four email welcome sequence” approach, Beehiiv makes you work for it.

Best for: someone who wants to build a subscriber list primarily through newsletters, with a publication-style experience.

Substack

Free forever. Substack takes 10% of any paid newsletter revenue.

What it does well: the easiest publishing experience. Write, send. No setup, no forms, no integration. Substack also has a built-in discovery network that can accelerate growth.

What it doesn’t do well: you don’t own the list in the same way. Automations and sequences essentially don’t exist. You can’t run a proper welcome sequence.

Best for: someone who wants to build an audience through Substack’s network specifically, or someone who wants the absolute simplest setup.

The honest recommendation

If you’re building toward selling products — digital guides, courses, coaching — use Kit. The free tier covers 10,000 subscribers. The automation is the best in the free-tool category.

If you find Kit confusing: use MailerLite. It’s simpler and good enough for the first 1,000 subscribers.

If you want audience growth through a newsletter discovery network: use Beehiiv or Substack, understanding that both limit your automation capability.

The one mistake to avoid

Switching platforms in year one. Every platform migration is a headache. Do it once when you outgrow the free tier. Not before.

The platform you’re on in year one matters less than whether you’re showing up consistently and building the relationship.

The feature nobody talks about: deliverability

The best email tool is the one whose emails actually land in the inbox. All four of the tools listed above have good deliverability records. Mailchimp, notably, does not — it’s been deprioritized by Gmail’s filters in ways that hurt open rates.

Check your open rates after the first 30 sends. Below 20%: something is wrong. Above 30%: you’re building something real. Above 50%: your audience genuinely looks forward to hearing from you.

The tool is just the container. The relationship is the thing.

Anyway.

Kit for automation-forward list building. MailerLite if Kit feels like too much. Pick one, stick with it for a year, and focus on the relationship instead of the platform.