Your email list is the only audience you own. Social media algorithms change, platforms rise and fall, but an email list travels with you. For creators — newsletter writers, course sellers, digital product businesses, and content creators — the email platform you choose shapes how you grow, monetize, and communicate with your audience.
We've used all four major platforms and here's what actually matters for each one.
The 4 Best Platforms
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — Best for Digital Product Sellers
Kit was built specifically for creators who sell things — digital products, courses, memberships, coaching. Its strength is the automation engine: visual workflows that trigger based on purchases, form submissions, tags, and subscriber behavior. You can build sophisticated sequences like "if someone buys Product A, wait 7 days, then offer Product B, unless they already bought it" without touching code.
The landing page builder is solid for quick lead magnet pages. The commerce features let you sell digital products directly through Kit, though most serious sellers use Gumroad or Stripe alongside it. Tagging and segmentation are excellent — you can send targeted emails based on exactly what each subscriber has downloaded, purchased, or clicked.
The main downside is design flexibility. Kit's email templates are intentionally minimal (plain text performs better for conversions), which means your emails won't look like polished newsletters. If visual design matters to you, Kit isn't the platform.
Beehiiv — Best for Newsletter Publishers
Beehiiv is the platform to choose if your primary business model is the newsletter itself — ad revenue, paid subscriptions, or sponsored content. The built-in ad network (Beehiiv Ad Network) matches you with advertisers automatically once you hit subscriber thresholds. The Boost feature lets you get paid when other newsletter publishers recommend your newsletter.
The referral program is built in and customizable — readers earn rewards for sharing your newsletter, which drives organic growth. The analytics are newsletter-specific: open rates, click rates, subscriber growth charts, and revenue tracking all in one dashboard.
Beehiiv is weaker on automation and product selling. If you're primarily selling digital products or courses and the newsletter is a distribution channel rather than the product itself, Kit or Mailchimp are better fits.
Mailchimp — Best for Beginners
Mailchimp has the largest ecosystem and the most integrations. It connects to virtually every other tool — Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, Zapier, and hundreds more. The drag-and-drop email builder is the most intuitive of any platform, and the template library is extensive.
For creators just starting out, Mailchimp's free tier (up to 500 subscribers) is genuinely usable. The customer journey builder handles basic automations well. The main criticism from experienced creators is that Mailchimp tries to be everything for everyone, which means the creator-specific features (commerce, advanced tagging, visual automations) aren't as refined as Kit's or Beehiiv's dedicated tools.
Mailchimp's pricing also scales steeply — the jump from free to paid is significant, and costs climb quickly as your list grows.
MailerLite — Best Value
MailerLite is the underdog that consistently punches above its price point. The free tier supports up to 1,000 subscribers with most features included. The paid plan is roughly half the cost of Mailchimp or Kit at the same subscriber count. The automation builder, landing pages, and email designer are all competent.
The trade-off is polish and integrations. MailerLite has fewer native integrations than Mailchimp and a less refined automation builder than Kit. But for creators who need solid email marketing without paying $30-50/month while they're still growing, it's the strongest value proposition.
Comparison
| Feature | Kit | Beehiiv | Mailchimp | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | 10K subs | 2.5K subs | 500 subs | 1K subs |
| Paid From | $29/mo | $39/mo | $13/mo | $10/mo |
| Automations | Excellent | Basic | Good | Good |
| Commerce | Built-in | Paid subs only | Shopify integration | Basic |
| Newsletter Ads | No | Built-in | No | No |
| Design Flexibility | Minimal | Good | Excellent | Good |
| Best For | Product sellers | Newsletter-first | Beginners | Budget |
How to Choose
Selling digital products, courses, or memberships? Kit. The automation and tagging system is built for exactly this use case.
Running a newsletter as the business? Beehiiv. The ad network, boosts, and referral system are designed to monetize the newsletter itself.
Just getting started and want the easiest onramp? Mailchimp or MailerLite. Both have generous free tiers and intuitive interfaces.
A Note on Migration
Switching email platforms is annoying but not catastrophic. Every major platform can import subscribers from every other major platform. The real cost of migration is rebuilding your automations and sequences, which can take a full day for a complex setup. Choose carefully upfront, but don't let fear of switching lock you into the wrong platform.