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How to choose a newsletter platform: a 7-point check of the published terms
Published: November 9, 2026 · Last updated: November 9, 2026 · Facts checked: November 9, 2026
Most "which newsletter tool" decisions are made on two numbers — the free ceiling and the monthly price — and both numbers are defined differently by every vendor. The procedure below is the one this site applies to its own comparisons. It takes about fifteen minutes per tool, uses only the vendor's pricing page, help center and FAQ, and is ordered so that the checks most likely to change the decision come first.
Check 1: Find the counting rule before any number
Every limit is a count of something. Find the sentence that defines the unit — usually in the pricing FAQ or the billing help pages — and write it down before looking at prices. Worked examples: Kit bills on confirmed subscribers ("your bill is based on your active subscribers"); beehiiv counts unique email addresses subscribed to a publication; Systeme.io counts contacts stored in the account. The same real-world list — say 3,000 addresses, of which 2,200 confirmed — is three different sizes under these three rules, and it prices differently on each platform.
Check 2: Read the free plan's exclusions, not just its ceiling
The free ceiling tells you when you must pay. The exclusions tell you whether you must pay immediately. Look for the one feature your newsletter cannot start without, and check which side of the free/paid line it sits on. Worked examples: on Kit, the visual automation builder sits on the paid plans in the official comparison table, so a welcome sequence is a paid feature even though the free plan holds 10,000 subscribers. On beehiiv, automations and paid subscriptions are listed as additions of the first paid tier. On Systeme.io, the free plan includes exactly 1 automation rule — enough for one welcome flow, not two.
Check 3: Get the sending limit in writing
"Unlimited sends" is a claim to verify in the vendor's own FAQ, not in a review. All three example platforms state it plainly — Kit: "There are no sending limits on any of our plans"; beehiiv: "Every plan includes unlimited email sends"; Systeme.io: unlimited emailing on all plans. If a vendor's pages do not state the sending rule, treat the limit as unknown and ask support before importing a list — a per-send cap changes the economics of a weekly newsletter more than any plan price does.
Check 4: Price the first paid step at your list size, in your billing period
Do not copy the headline price. Set the vendor's pricing slider (or tier table) to the list size you expect in twelve months, and note the price for the billing period you will actually choose — the difference is material: Kit's annual billing is priced as 2 months free; beehiiv states yearly billing saves up to 20% versus monthly; Systeme.io's yearly prices are ten monthly payments ($170 against $17 × 12 for Startup). Worked answers at 1,000 subscribers: Kit Creator from $39/month billed monthly; beehiiv Lite $49/month at 1,000 subscribers on yearly billing; Systeme.io Startup $17/month flat, covering up to 5,000 contacts. Note the structures differ — per-tier (Kit, beehiiv) versus flat-by-plan (Systeme.io) — so project the price at your future size, not your current one: Kit's own help example puts a 3,000-subscriber Creator account at $59/month.
Check 5: Add the selling fee to the plan price
If the newsletter will ever charge money, the plan price is only half the cost. Find the transaction fee on the pricing page and run it against a realistic payment. On a $10 monthly subscription: Kit takes 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction (stated to include card processing); beehiiv takes 0% as a platform fee, with Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 applying; Systeme.io takes 0% platform transaction fees on all plans, with payments through Stripe or PayPal. Multiply by your expected paying subscribers before deciding that two plans "cost the same."
Check 6: Read the over-limit clause while you are still under the limit
Search the pricing FAQ for what happens when you cross a tier or a cap. The answers differ in kind, not degree. Kit states it automatically upgrades you to the next subscriber tier — continuity, at a higher bill. Systeme.io documents a sequence: daily warning emails for 3 days, then, on the free plan, restrictions (forms and payments stop, sends pause) until you upgrade or shrink back — nothing deleted. beehiiv's pricing page publishes no automatic consequence; it says you can upgrade at any time. Decide in advance which behavior you can live with during a launch, because a launch is exactly when limits get crossed.
Check 7: Check the trial, refund and step-down terms
The exit terms decide how expensive a wrong choice is. Worked examples: Kit offers a 14-day free trial on paid plans with no card required, and its pricing FAQ promises a refund within the first 30 days of signup on monthly or annual plans. beehiiv's free plan requires no credit card, and its paid plans include a free trial. Systeme.io's free plan never expires, and its FAQ states that a cancelled paid account keeps the plan until the next billing date and then reverts to the free plan. A platform you can step down from is a cheaper experiment than one you can only leave.
The worksheet
| # | Check | Where it lives on the vendor's pages | Write down |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Counting rule | Pricing FAQ / billing help | The unit's definition, in the vendor's words |
| 2 | Free-plan exclusions | Plan comparison table | Which of your must-have features are paid |
| 3 | Sending limit | Pricing FAQ | "Unlimited" in writing, or the actual cap |
| 4 | First paid step | Pricing slider / tier table | Price at your 12-month list size, your billing period |
| 5 | Selling fee | Pricing page fee rows | Fee on one typical payment × expected payers |
| 6 | Over-limit behavior | Pricing FAQ | Auto-upgrade, restriction sequence, or unstated |
| 7 | Trial / refund / step-down | Pricing FAQ / terms | Trial length, refund window, what cancellation reverts to |
If two platforms are still tied after the worksheet, the tiebreaker is Check 1: choose the counting rule that matches how your list is actually built. A list grown by double opt-in is cheapest where confirmation is the unit; a list imported from a CRM is most predictable where the plan is flat. The full worked comparison behind these examples is in Kit vs beehiiv vs Systeme.io, and the deepest single-plan reading is the Systeme.io free plan check.
Sources (official pages, checked November 9, 2026)
- Kit pricing and pricing FAQ; Kit help center (Creator vs Pro; the free plan; billing): kit.com/pricing, help.kit.com — Creator vs Pro, help.kit.com — The Kit Free plan
- beehiiv pricing and FAQ: beehiiv.com/pricing
- Systeme.io pricing and pricing FAQ: systeme.io/pricing