Creator Quick verdict
- Stay on (or start with) Substack if you want readers to find you inside a network, or you aren’t charging yet and its welcome emails and drip campaigns cover your automation needs. Publishing is free at any list size, and Substack’s app and recommendations are built to send readers between publications.
- Pick MailerLite if you charge readers (or soon will) and want more control. You pay a flat plan price instead of a revenue share: paid newsletters start on Comfort at $12/month for up to 500 subscribers, and MailerLite says it takes 0% commission on paid subscriptions. You also get a visual automation builder, landing pages, a website on your own domain, and your own branding.
- The money line: by our arithmetic, MailerLite costs less once your monthly paid revenue passes 10× the Comfort price for your list size. That’s $190 a month at up to 1,000 subscribers and $330 at up to 2,500 (worked examples below).
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MailerLite vs Substack side by side
| Dimension | MailerLite | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Email marketing tool with automations, forms, landing pages and a website builder | Publishing platform with a reader app, recommendations and paid subscriptions |
| Cost to publish free | Free plan: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month | Free at any list size |
| Paid newsletters | Comfort (from $12/month) or Power (from $25/month), through Stripe | Any publication, through Stripe |
| Platform cut of paid subscriptions | 0% commission, per MailerLite; you pay the plan price | 10% of each subscription payment |
| Card processing | Stripe’s fees apply | Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 per payment for US cards, plus a Billing fee on recurring payments (0.5% or 0.7%, depending on the Substack help article) |
| Built-in discovery | None; you bring your own traffic | Reader app, recommendations and the Substack Network |
| Custom domain | Comfort and Power, for websites and landing pages | One-time $50; must be a subdomain such as www |
| Sending address | Your own domain address, once you authenticate the domain | Emails still come from an @substack.com address |
| Automations | Visual automation builder: 3 on Free, 50 on Comfort, unlimited on Power | Welcome emails and drip campaigns triggered by subscriber events (new free or paid subscriber, upgrade, churn), per its features page |
| Export | Subscriber export; import guides from Substack and others | Zip of posts, subscribers and stats; subscriber CSV without names |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Sources: mailerlite.com/pricing, MailerLite’s Substack comparison page and help center; Substack’s cost, payments, custom domain and export help articles. All checked October 7, 2026.
Fees: a flat price vs a 10% cut
Substack is free to publish, “no matter how many subscribers you have.” Once you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of each subscription payment, and Stripe charges its own processing fees: 2.9% + $0.30 per payment on US cards, plus a Billing fee on recurring payments. One Substack help article gives that Billing fee as 0.7% (“as of July 2024”), another as 0.5%. Substack’s own summary: “Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees.” A custom domain is an optional one-time $50.
MailerLite charges by list size, not by revenue. Free covers up to 250 subscribers but doesn’t include paid newsletters. Paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions need Comfort or Power, and run through MailerLite’s Stripe integration. MailerLite’s Substack comparison page says it “charges a flat monthly fee and takes 0% commission on your paid subscriptions. Only Stripe fees apply.”
| Total subscribers (up to) | MailerLite Comfort, monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Monthly paid revenue where MailerLite gets cheaper* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $12 | $10.80 | Above $120 |
| 1,000 | $19 | $17.10 | Above $190 |
| 2,500 | $33 | $29.70 | Above $330 |
| 5,000 | $49 | $44.10 | Above $490 |
| 10,000 | $89 | $80.10 | Above $890 |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
*By our arithmetic: the point where Substack’s 10% equals Comfort’s monthly-billed price. MailerLite prices from mailerlite.com/pricing, checked October 7, 2026.
Break-even examples, by our arithmetic
Assumptions: MailerLite Comfort on monthly billing; your whole list, free readers included, sets the MailerLite tier; we leave out Stripe’s fees on both sides, because both platforms use Stripe and we couldn’t confirm from MailerLite’s pages whether the same Billing fee applies there. We also ignore Substack’s optional $50 domain fee and any tax.
- 500 subscribers, 20 paying $5/month: $100 a month in revenue. Substack’s 10% is $10; Comfort is $12. Substack is $2 a month cheaper.
- 1,000 subscribers, 50 paying $5/month: $250 a month. Substack takes $25; Comfort is $19. MailerLite saves $6 a month.
- 2,500 subscribers, 100 paying $8/month: $800 a month. Substack takes $80; Comfort is $33. MailerLite saves $47 a month, or $564 a year.
- 10,000 subscribers, 500 paying $8/month: $4,000 a month. Substack takes $400; Comfort is $89. MailerLite saves $311 a month, or $3,732 a year.
If you don’t charge readers at all, Substack costs $0 at any size, while MailerLite costs $0 only up to 250 subscribers. Fees aren’t the whole story, though: if Substack’s network brings you paying readers you wouldn’t otherwise find, its 10% may be worth it.
See MailerLite’s pricing Every MailerLite tier, by list size · What MailerLite Free includes
Discovery: Substack’s biggest advantage
Substack is built so readers move between publications. Its recommendations appear in the subscribe flow, on your homepage and in digest emails, and recommended writers are prompted to recommend you back. Substack’s growth features page says the Substack Network “drives 25% of paid subscriptions across the platform” and that “more than 25% of subscriptions originate from our apps” (checked October 7, 2026). Those are Substack’s own platform-wide figures, which we can’t check.
MailerLite has no reader network. It’s a tool for growing a list you drive yourself, through signup forms, pop-ups, landing pages and a website with SEO tools. If most of your readers would come from search, social or an existing audience, that’s fine. If you’re counting on a platform to send you readers, it isn’t.
Control, branding and automation
- Your domain. On MailerLite Comfort and Power you can put your website and landing pages on your own domain, and on any plan you can send from your own domain address once you authenticate it. On Substack, a custom domain is a one-time $50, must be a subdomain such as www, and Substack’s help center says emails are still sent from an @substack.com address.
- Branding. MailerLite’s logo stays on Free and can be removed on Comfort and Power.
- Automations. MailerLite’s visual automation builder is on every plan: 3 automations on Free, 50 on Comfort and unlimited on Power. That covers welcome sequences, onboarding and follow-ups for buyers, with triggers such as form signups, group joins and e-commerce events. Substack’s features page lists welcome emails and drip campaigns triggered by subscriber lifecycle events (new free or paid subscriber, founding-member upgrade, churn), so basic sequences work there too.
- More than subscriptions. MailerLite can also sell digital products and bookings (1 on Free, 5 on Comfort, unlimited on Power), and its Comfort plan adds RSS campaigns if you blog elsewhere.
Moving from Substack to MailerLite
Substack says “Anything you publish on Substack is yours to own.” Settings → Exports creates a zip of your posts, subscriber list and stats, and the Subscribers page exports a CSV, though Substack says it can’t include subscriber names. MailerLite’s Substack migration guide covers four steps: import your CSV (opted-in subscribers only), recreate forms and landing pages, recreate email templates and rebuild automations. It also says to authenticate your domain and test everything first.
Paid subscribers are the hard part. MailerLite’s Substack page says payment data is complex to transfer from Substack and suggests a re-subscription campaign for paying readers. Be careful on the Substack side: its “Disconnect Stripe” button refunds and cancels all paid subscriptions. Substack’s help center says that if you’re moving platforms and need help disconnecting Stripe, you can ask its support for a human specialist.
Which should you choose?
Choose MailerLite if…
- You charge readers, or plan to, and your paid revenue is above the break-even for your list size.
- You want a visual automation builder with more triggers than subscriber lifecycle events, such as form signups, group joins and purchases.
- You want your newsletter, landing pages and website on your own domain, with your branding.
- You sell more than subscriptions, such as digital products or bookings.
Start on MailerLite Free Read our MailerLite guide
Stay on Substack if…
- You rely on Substack’s network, app and recommendations to grow.
- You aren’t monetizing yet, have more than 250 readers, and Substack’s welcome emails and drip campaigns are enough. Substack stays $0.
- Your paid revenue is still small: below the break-even, the 10% costs less than a Comfort plan.
- You want to write and publish without setting up forms, pages or a domain.
A third option: Beehiiv sits between the two. Its Free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, and its paid Lite plan ($49/month billed yearly, or $59 monthly, at up to 1,000 subscribers) takes 0% of paid subscriptions (Beehiiv pricing, checked October 7, 2026). See Beehiiv vs Substack and our Substack alternatives roundup.
FAQ
Is MailerLite a good Substack alternative?
Yes, if you want lower costs once you’re earning, plus a visual automation builder, landing pages and your own domain. It isn’t if you depend on Substack’s network for growth, because MailerLite has no reader network.
Does MailerLite take a cut of paid newsletters?
MailerLite says it takes 0% commission on paid subscriptions and that only Stripe fees apply. You do need Comfort (from $12/month) or Power (from $25/month) to sell them.
How much does Substack take?
10% of each subscription payment, plus Stripe’s fees: 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment and a Billing fee on recurring payments (0.5% or 0.7%, depending on the help article). Publishing free newsletters costs nothing.
When is MailerLite cheaper than Substack?
By our arithmetic, once your monthly paid revenue is more than 10× MailerLite Comfort’s price for your list size: above $190 a month at up to 1,000 subscribers, or above $330 at up to 2,500, before Stripe fees.
Can you move your Substack list to MailerLite?
Yes. Export a CSV from Substack and import it into MailerLite, following MailerLite’s Substack migration guide. Paid subscribers need a re-subscription plan, and don’t use Substack’s “Disconnect Stripe” button without reading what it does.
Can you use your own domain?
On MailerLite, custom domains for sites and landing pages are on Comfort and Power. On Substack, a custom domain is a one-time $50 (subdomain only), and emails still come from @substack.com.
Related
- MailerLite for newsletter creators: our guide and verdict
- MailerLite free plan explained
- MailerLite pricing: every plan and tier compared
- Beehiiv vs Substack
- Substack alternatives for creators
- Kit vs MailerLite
- Best free newsletter platforms
Sources (checked October 7, 2026)
- MailerLite: Pricing: plans, prices by subscriber tier, comparison table (checked October 7, 2026)
- MailerLite: Substack alternative page: 0% commission statement, paid-subscriber migration advice (checked October 7, 2026)
- MailerLite help: Migrate from Substack: Substack migration steps (checked October 7, 2026)
- MailerLite help: Selling digital products with Stripe: paid newsletters through Stripe on Comfort and Power (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: How much does Substack cost?: 10% fee, Stripe fees, 0.7% Billing fee, $50 custom domain (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: How readers pay for a subscription: 10% fee, Stripe fees, 0.5% Billing fee (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: Setting up a custom domain: custom domain rules and sending address (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: Exporting your posts and Substack help: Exporting your email list: exports (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: Recommending other publications: recommendations (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack help: Turning off paid subscriptions: Disconnect Stripe (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack: Going paid and Substack: Growth features: Substack’s own revenue-share and network claims (checked October 7, 2026)
- Substack: Features: welcome emails and drip campaigns (checked October 7, 2026)
- Beehiiv: Pricing: Beehiiv Free and Lite (checked October 7, 2026)
MailerLite and Substack are trademarks of their owners. We run Creator Mail Stack independently, and it is not endorsed by either company. We’re in MailerLite’s affiliate program, as described in the disclosure. Found something out of date? Tell us.