AWeber vs Curated Comparison 2026
AWeber is a general email tool built for any kind of newsletter, with automations, landing pages and forms free to 500 subscribers. Curated is built around one format only, the weekly link roundup, where items collected through the week assemble into an issue automatically, free to 1,500 subscribers with every feature included. The choice turns on format, not on price: a general newsletter needs AWeber's breadth, and a links-and-commentary digest needs the workflow Curated is built around.
Email marketing with a free plan that lasts
A link newsletter that stays free to 1,500 readers
At a glance
- AWeber starts cheaper, at $12.50.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
- Curated takes no share of what you earn. AWeber takes 0.6%.
Side by side
AWeber | Curated | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $12.50 | From $39 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
AWeber
Email marketing with a free plan that lasts
AWeber has been sending newsletters since before most of its competitors existed, and it shows in both directions: the deliverability is dependable and the interface is dated. The free plan runs to 500 subscribers with automations included, which is more than most rivals give away. Its ecommerce feature charges a small percentage of each sale on the cheaper plans.
Our note
AWeber's free plan holds 500 subscribers with the automations switched on, twice what MailerLite gives away, so it suits a list that needs sequences before it needs size. The editor is the part that shows its age.
Curated
A link newsletter that stays free to 1,500 readers
Curated is built for the link-roundup newsletter specifically, so collecting items through the week, writing a line under each and having the issue assemble itself is the main path rather than a workaround. Every feature including sending is on the free tier, which runs to 1,500 subscribers. Pricing then moves in published subscriber bands rather than on a quote. Anybody writing long-form essays rather than curating links will find the whole editor shaped around a job they are not doing.
Why people weigh these two
- Curated instead of AWeber
- Curated is built specifically for a links-roundup newsletter and stays free to 1,500 readers, well past AWeber's 500-subscriber free cap, before $39.
- AWeber instead of Curated
- AWeber offers a free plan that lasts and paid from $12.50, plain newsletter sending; the roundup-shaped editor is what you would be leaving behind.
Which one should you pick
Pick AWeber if you are writing anything other than a link roundup: essays, updates, a sales sequence. Automations, landing pages and forms are included free to 500 subscribers, and the ecommerce fee is 0.6 percent once you are on a paid plan.
Pick Curated if the newsletter really is a weekly set of links with a line of commentary under each, since the whole editor assumes that shape. Free runs to 1,500 subscribers with sending included, bigger than AWeber's 500, but the price jumps to $39 a month the moment the list passes that mark. An essayist fighting that workflow to publish long-form writing is using the wrong tool.
Common questions
- Is Curated a general newsletter tool like AWeber?
- No. Curated is built specifically for the link-roundup format, collecting items through the week into an issue. AWeber is general purpose, with automations, landing pages and forms for any kind of list.
- Which free plan is bigger?
- Curated's, at 1,500 subscribers against AWeber's 500. Curated's free plan also includes sending and every feature, while AWeber's free plan is generous mainly because it includes automations most competitors charge for.
- What happens after Curated's free plan ends?
- The price jumps to $39 a month as soon as the list passes 1,500 subscribers, then rises in published bands: $69 to 5,000, $129 to 10,000, and further steps up to $399 at 50,000. AWeber's paid tiers start lower, at $12.50 a month for Lite.
- Does AWeber suit a link-roundup newsletter?
- It can send one, but the editor is not built around that workflow the way Curated's is. Curated's whole product assembles collected links into an issue automatically, something AWeber has no equivalent for.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.