Alternatives
Best Substack alternatives in 2026
Substack is newsletter publishing platform with free and paid subscriptions. These 10 alternatives come from the same rankings, ordered by editorial score. Connected products carry a small, disclosed lift.
Ranked alternatives
- 1
Mailchimp
A familiar platform with a basic free plan, customer journeys and SMS. The free plan has basic features only, and the price rises with contact count.
Best for Small businesses starting email marketing
WebiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades
- 2
Klaviyo
The strongest ecommerce option here, with behavior-triggered flows, customer profiles and WhatsApp channels. Its price grows quickly with profile count, and it is more complex than a newsletter tool.
Best for Online stores that send triggered email and SMS
WebFree plan, paid upgrades
- 3
Brevo
Email, SMS, WhatsApp and a contact CRM under one account, with a free forever plan aimed at individuals. Paid plans charge by email volume and add channels and seats.
Best for Small businesses that want several channels in one account
WebFree plan, paid upgrades
- 4
ActiveCampaign
Multi-step automation, contact scoring and a sales CRM in one platform. It is sold as paid plans after a free trial, and it is more than a newsletter writer usually needs.
Best for Teams that combine marketing automation with sales
WebSubscription
- 5
Omnisend
Email and SMS campaigns built for ecommerce stores, with automations, loyalty tools and a free starting plan. Pricing grows with store size, and it is narrower than suite marketing tools for non-store businesses.
Best for Ecommerce brands that run email and SMS together
WebFree plan, paid upgrades
- 6
Kit
Landing pages, forms, visual automations and newsletter sending for creators, with a free plan for those just starting out. It is less suited to ecommerce data than Klaviyo.
Best for Creators and writers who sell digital products
WebFree plan, paid upgrades
- 7
beehiiv
Newsletters, publication websites, podcasts and paid subscriptions in one account, with a free plan for creators. It is built for publishing rather than ecommerce or SMS.
Best for Newsletter writers who want subscription income
WebFree plan, paid upgrades
- 8
GetResponse
Email campaigns, automation, landing pages and webinars in one account, with unlimited sends on some paid tiers. A 14-day trial is offered, no free plan is stated, and plan limits vary by tier.
Best for Creators and small teams that run webinars with email
WebSubscription
- 9
Mautic
Is open source. Open-source marketing automation under GPL-3.0, with a visual campaign builder and lead scoring. Operators handle hosting and upgrades, and the learning curve is steeper than for newsletter tools.
Best for Self-hosted marketing automation
WebSelf-hostedFree and open sourceOpen source
- 10
listmonk
Is open source. A self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager under AGPL-3.0 that keeps subscriber data on your server. It has no visual automation builder, and you run the mail server yourself.
Best for Self-hosted newsletters and mailing lists
WebSelf-hostedFree and open sourceOpen source
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Open-source alternatives to Substack
About Substack alternatives
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