Kit vs. Substack: Which Is Better for Your Newsletter and Business?

Should you start your newsletter on Substack—or use an email marketing tool like Kit?

I get why this feels confusing. Both let you send emails, build an audience and get paid. And if you’re trying to simplify your tech (and keep your monthly expenses down), Substack can look pretty appealing. But before you move your entire email list, think about what you actually need it to do.

Do you want to publish your writing and charge readers for a subscription? Or do you want to deliver freebies, build interest in your services and sell your courses and products? Those are different needs. And the platform that makes publishing easy may not be the platform that makes running your business easier.

I’ve used Kit*—formerly ConvertKit—in my own business since 2016. I also work behind the scenes with entrepreneurs who need their websites, email lists and products to work together.

Here’s how I’d approach this decision.

Heads up: I’m a long-time user and affiliate for Kit. If you purchase through my links, I may earn a referral fee at no extra cost to you. I only recommend services I actually use in my own business.

Kit vs. Substack: my quick recommendation

If your main product is your writing, Substack is worth considering. Especially if you want to publish essays, offer a paid newsletter and connect with readers in one place. If your newsletter supports a business with services, courses or digital products, I’d start with Kit. That’s where things like signup forms, tagging and automated follow-ups become useful. And yes, you can use both (and I have several clients that use both to support very different parts of their businesse. But I’d give each one a clear job before signing up for another tool you have to maintain.

What’s the difference between Kit and Substack?

Substack is built around publishing and subscriptions. Kit is built around email marketing for creators. That distinction becomes clearer when you think about what happens after someone signs up. Maybe you want everyone to receive the same weekly essay. Great—your needs are pretty straightforward. But say someone downloads your website checklist. You want to send them the checklist, follow up with a few useful tips and invite them to book a website review. Someone else joins the waitlist for your next course, so they need different emails. That’s the kind of situation where I find Kit useful. You can build different paths for people based on what they’re interested in. Here’s how I’d think about the choice:

What you want to do	Where I’d start
Publish essays and build a reader community	Substack
Make a paid newsletter your main offering	Consider both
Offer several freebies with different follow-ups	Kit
Build a waitlist for a course or service	Kit
Sell a simple digital download	Kit
Publish on Substack while developing other business offers	Possibly both

When Substack makes sense

There’s a lot to like about a tool that helps you get your work out into the world without a huge setup project. If you’ve been putting off starting a newsletter because you’re overwhelmed by websites, forms and email software, simplicity matters. The tool you’ll actually use is worth a lot. I’d consider Substack if:

• You enjoy writing regularly.
• Your newsletter is the main thing you want to create.
• You want conversations and community around your work.
• You’re interested in earning money through paid subscriptions.
• You don’t need a bunch of different signup and sales workflows.

Think of a writer publishing weekly essays or a recipe creator offering additional content to paid readers. In those cases, the publication itself is the offering. Substack also has its own discovery environment. That’s appealing—but I wouldn’t build a revenue plan around the assumption that a platform will automatically bring you readers. You still need to give people a reason to subscribe and stick around.

When I’d choose Kit

In my business, an email list needs to do more than send out my latest blog post. Some people want website advice. Others are interested in digital products, email marketing or training. And someone who has already purchased something shouldn’t necessarily receive the same promotion as someone who’s just getting to know me. That’s why I like being able to organize subscribers and send relevant emails. Here are a few situations where I’d choose Kit.

You have more than one freebie

Maybe you have a checklist, a sample chapter and a mini training. Each one tells you something about what that subscriber wants help with. I’d rather use that information to send a useful follow-up than drop everyone into the same generic stream of emails.

You sell courses, products or services

Your newsletter might be one part of a bigger business. You may need to build interest before a launch, answer common questions or follow up after someone purchases. Planning those steps ahead of time can save you from manually sending the same information over and over.

You want to build a waitlist

I love a simple waitlist. It gives people a way to tell you, “Yes, I want to hear about this,” without requiring you to promote every offer to your entire audience. It’s also helpful when you’re still developing something. You can find out what interested people need before spending weeks creating it.

You need your tools to work together

Before choosing an email platform, look at the tools you already use. Where do people buy? Where do they access their course? What happens when they fill out a form? Check the actual connection you need—not just whether a platform lists an integration. Being able to connect two tools doesn’t always mean they’ll do the exact thing you have in mind.

Does Substack have segmentation?

Yes—and this is worth updating if you’ve read older comparisons. Substack now supports saved subscriber segments using criteria such as tags, activity and subscription status. You can use those segments to target email delivery. Here’s Substack’s explanation of how segments work. So the question isn’t simply, “Can I segment my list?” It’s, “Can I create the subscriber experience I need?” If your goal is to send a post to a particular group, that’s one requirement. If your goal is to automatically deliver a freebie and send a series of follow-ups based on someone’s actions, that’s another. Write down your ideal signup process before comparing features. It makes the decision much easier.

Kit vs. Substack pricing: what are you actually paying for?

Both offer a free starting point, but the costs depend on how you use them. Substack is free to publish on. For paid subscriptions, it lists a 10% platform fee plus Stripe fees. Its current documentation also includes a recurring billing fee; payment method, location and in-app purchases can affect the total. Check Substack’s current fee breakdown. Kit’s free plan currently supports up to 10,000 subscribers, forms, landing pages, broadcasts and product sales. Sequences and visual automations require a paid plan. Check what’s included in Kit’s free plan. For sales in USD, Kit lists Commerce fees of 3.5% plus $0.30 per transaction. Any paid email plan is a separate cost. See Kit’s Commerce details. My advice? Compare costs using your business model. A free newsletter with no products has different expenses than a paid publication or a business using automated sales sequences. And if you’re comparing paid newsletters, include the monthly email plan and payment fees—not just one platform’s headline percentage.

Can you use affiliate links on Substack?

I wouldn’t treat affiliate links as a blanket reason to rule out Substack. Its guidelines focus on publications whose primary purpose is advertising, promotions or driving traffic elsewhere. That’s different from occasionally recommending a useful resource within an editorial publication. Read Substack’s guidelines and its affiliate links help page. If recommendations are part of your writing, review those rules. If your main goal is running promotional campaigns for products and services, I’d choose a tool designed for that work.

Can you use Substack and Kit together?

Yes—but give people a clear reason to join each list. You might publish essays and conversations on Substack while using Kit for a free resource, course waitlist or product-related emails. I wouldn’t automatically add every reader to two newsletters and start sending duplicate messages. Explain what they’ll receive and let them choose. Also think about your time. Two platforms mean two places to manage content, subscriber expectations and settings. If maintaining one newsletter already feels like a lot, start there.

What if you want to move from Substack to Kit?

You can export your Substack subscribers, but I wouldn’t assume moving a list also moves your entire publication. Your published posts, signup links, welcome emails and paid subscription setup need separate attention. Before switching:

• Save a backup of your subscribers and content.
• Identify the forms and links you’ll need to update.
• Plan what your welcome and follow-up emails should do.
• Check how any existing paid subscriptions will be handled.
• Test the new signup experience before directing readers to it.

And tell your readers what’s happening. A quick explanation can prevent confusion when your emails suddenly look different.

So, should you choose Kit or Substack?

If you want a straightforward place to publish and build a community around your writing, Substack may be a great fit. If you want your email list to support different offers, organize subscriber interests and automate follow-ups, Kit is my preferred choice. My recommendation is to think about what you’ll need six months from now—not just what gets your first email out today. Will you want to offer a free download? Launch a workshop? Sell a template? Build interest in a new service? You don’t have to set up everything at once. But it helps to choose a tool that supports the business you’re building. Explore Kit through my affiliate link. If you’re still comparing platforms, you can also read my Substack pros and cons and why I switched from Mailchimp to Kit.