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A newsletter is one of the cheapest projects to start. You need somewhere to write and send, a way for people to sign up, and a page that tells them why they should. All three can be done on free plans.
Start with the three essentials below. The rest (social promotion, paid subscriptions and automation) can wait until you're publishing regularly and people are reading. Each step links to listings picked for WebTools.directory, where you'll find current plan details.
Start with these
1. Newsletter platforms
Why: This is where you write, send and manage your list. It's the decision that matters most, because moving a list later is a chore.
- Kit: a newsletter platform built for creators, with landing pages, sign-up forms and digital product sales. Its free plan covers a large list.
- SendFox: a simple newsletter tool for creators, with scheduled campaigns, automations, sign-up forms and landing pages. It's available as a one-payment lifetime deal.
- Brevo: broader email marketing with a free plan. Sending is capped per day, which is fine while your list is small.
2. Sign-up forms
Why: Forms turn visitors into subscribers, and can do more besides: reader surveys, sponsor enquiries or a lead-magnet request.
- Tally: unlimited forms and submissions on the free plan, including payments, signatures and file uploads.
- Deftform: unlimited forms and responses on your own domain, with Stripe payments, as a one-payment deal.
Your newsletter platform will have basic sign-up forms built in. Use these when you want something more.
3. Landing page
Why: One page that explains what readers will get and asks for their email. Kit includes landing pages, so this step is optional at first.
- Carrd: simple one-page sites, free to start, with custom domains on the Pro plan.
- Framer: a no-code website builder if you want a more designed home for your newsletter. The free plan publishes on a Framer domain.
Add these later
4. Social promotion
Why: Sharing each issue on social media is one of the simplest ways to find new readers.
- AdaptlyPost: schedule posts across many social accounts with AI captions, as a one-payment deal.
- SocialBu: schedule and automate posts with an AI writer, also a one-payment deal.
If you only post to one or two accounts, you can skip this until you need it.
5. Paid subscriptions
Why: If you want to charge readers, you need a way to take recurring payments.
- Kit: its free plan lets you sell digital products and subscriptions alongside your newsletter.
- Gumroad: sell memberships and digital products with no monthly fee. It's the merchant of record and handles sales tax for you.
- Substack: start a newsletter free and turn on paid subscriptions when you're ready. There are no plan fees: Substack takes a share of paid subscription revenue instead, and you own your content and subscriber list.
6. Automation
Why: Connect your tools so jobs like adding form sign-ups to your list, or tagging readers by interest, happen on their own.
- Zapier: the free plan covers simple two-step automations between apps.
- Activepieces: an AI automation builder with flows, agents and tables, with a free plan.
Browse the categories
Compare more options in each category:
- Create Content, for newsletter platforms
- Run Marketing, for email marketing and social scheduling
- Generate Leads, for forms
- Build a Website, for landing pages
- Sell Online, for paid products and memberships
- Automate Work
