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6 tools that solve a similar problem. Compare what each costs and what it covers.
Newsletters with paid subscriptions and referrals
beehiiv runs paid subscriptions and referral growth from $49 a month, the flat-subscription alternative to Substack's percentage-of-revenue model.
Works with Substack
A link newsletter that stays free to 1,500 readers
Curated is built specifically for a link-and-recommendations newsletter, not general writing, and stays free until the list passes 1,500 readers.
Publishing and paid subscriptions, open source
Ghost is self-hosted, open source publishing bought for $15 a month rather than rented from a platform, for a writer who wants to own the software instead of owing Substack a percentage.
Works with Substack
Membership tiers and posts for paying supporters
Patreon runs membership tiers and posts for paying supporters, free to start, memberships rather than a paid newsletter.
Works with YouTube, Podcast, Discord
Email marketing built around automation
Kit from $29 with a free tier is built around automation and takes no cut of subscriptions, where Substack charges a percentage.
Get paid for recommending other newsletters
SparkLoop turns newsletter recommendations into paid referrals, a layer worth adding on top of Substack rather than a reason to leave it.
Works with Substack
