Tirada vs the rest
Pricing as published on each platform's website on 20 October 2026What you pay on each platform for the same newsletter, how much it keeps of what your readers pay you, and what your AI can do in your account. With each platform's published prices, the date and the sources on every comparison.
The same newsletter, everywhere
A newsletter with 10,000 subscribers and one send a week, where 500 readers pay €5 a month. What you pay each month on each platform:
| Platform | How it charges | A month | Commission | Official MCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tirada | Plan + €2 per 10,000 emails | €13.66 – €33.66 | 0% | Yes, on every plan; a person confirms sends |
| Substack | Free; 10% of your subscriptions | €250 commission | 10% | Read-only, Bestseller only |
| beehiiv | By subscribers; free up to 2,500 | $139 (≈ €128) | 0% | Yes, writes but can't send |
| Kit | Free up to 10,000; then by subscribers | €15 commission | 0.6% own share; 3.5% + €0.25 with processing | Beta, paid plans only |
| Ghost | By members, unlimited sends | $105 (≈ €97) | 0% | No |
| MailerLite | By active subscribers | €79 | 0% | Yes, can schedule sends |
| WordPress.com | Flat plan, cut depends on plan | $70 (≈ €64) | 10% to 0% | Yes, can publish posts |
| Buttondown | By active subscribers | $79 (≈ €73) | 0% | No, on purpose |
| Patreon | Free; 10% of what you earn | €250 commission | 10% | No |
| Flodesk | By active subscribers, in tiers | $137 (≈ €126) | 0%, Everything plan only | Yes, can't send |
| MailCheap | By emails a month | $39 (≈ €36) | No paid subscriptions | Yes, read, write and send |
Monthly prices excluding VAT as published on each platform's website on 20 October 2026, dollars at €0.92. 10,000 subscribers with one send a week is 43,300 emails a month. Where the platform lets you charge, 500 readers pay €5 a month and what the platform keeps is added; where it doesn't, the cost of sending is shown. Stripe's fee isn't included anywhere. Every row links to its comparison, with the table by list size and the sources.
What your AI can do on each
Almost every email platform now has an MCP server or an API an assistant can work with. What changes is what they let it do and who presses send.
- Its official MCP can send to your whole list: MailCheap, and MailerLite with a confirmation inside the chat. WordPress.com's publishes posts after a confirmation in the chat, and if sending by default is on, publishing probably emails them too (its MCP docs don't say).
- Its MCP prepares and the send happens in the app: beehiiv (its MCP doesn't send), Kit (it asks for a confirm click in Kit; paid plans only) and Flodesk (its connector manages subscribers and doesn't send).
- Its MCP only reads: Substack, and only for Bestseller publications.
- No official MCP: Ghost, Buttondown and Patreon.
Over the API it's different: on almost all of them, a key with the right permissions is enough to send a campaign to the whole list. The exceptions are Substack and Patreon, which have no API for sending, and Flodesk, whose API doesn't send campaigns. On beehiiv, only on Pro. On Tirada neither the API nor the MCP can confirm a send. Your agent gets nine diagnostic tools and the API operations you approve, can leave a send ready, and a person confirms every send in the dashboard. Your readers' emails reach it masked, and the MCP comes with every plan, the €5 one included. How to connect it.
When Tirada isn't what you're after
If your newsletter is free and small, some options cost nothing: Kit up to 10,000 subscribers, beehiiv up to 2,500, and Substack, Patreon or WordPress.com at any size. If you want a network to bring you readers, Substack has one, and beehiiv (Boosts, recommendations), Ghost (Explore, ActivityPub) and Patreon (its app) have their own discovery; Tirada doesn't. If you need long automations or want to sell products, Kit and MailerLite do more. Every comparison has its "When X is the better choice" section with the numbers.
How we did the maths
These are the platforms where you can send your newsletter and charge your readers, plus MailCheap, which only sends but is one of the cheapest ways to do it. A newsletter that sends once a week sends about 4.33 emails a month per subscriber. For each platform we take the cheapest plan that allows that newsletter (and, if you charge, the cheapest one that lets you charge), paid month to month. Platforms that charge by tier are paid in full: with 10,001 subscribers you pay the next tier. Discounted yearly prices are on each platform's website. If you spot a price that has changed, write to support@tirada.app and we'll fix it.
Questions
What is the cheapest newsletter platform?
For a free newsletter, the ones with a free plan: Kit up to 10,000 subscribers, beehiiv up to 2,500, and Substack, Patreon or WordPress.com at any size. If you charge your readers, Tirada usually comes out cheaper than every platform that keeps a percentage: with 10,000 subscribers and a weekly send you pay €13.66 a month on Lite, whatever you earn.
Which newsletter platforms take no commission?
Tirada, beehiiv, Ghost, Buttondown and MailerLite take 0% of your paid subscriptions, and you only pay Stripe's fee; so does Flodesk on its Everything plan, and WordPress.com on Commerce. Substack and Patreon keep 10%, WordPress.com between 10% and 2% on its other plans, and Kit charges 3.5% plus €0.25 per payment with processing included.
Which newsletter platforms have an MCP server?
Tirada, beehiiv, Kit, MailerLite, MailCheap, WordPress.com, Flodesk and Substack (read-only and for Bestseller publications) have an official one. Ghost, Buttondown and Patreon don't. Tirada includes it on every plan from €5 a month, and neither its MCP nor its API can confirm a send: a person always does.
What is the best Substack alternative with no commission?
It depends on what you need. Tirada costs from €5 a month plus €2 per 10,000 emails, takes 0%, sends from your domain and has MCP on every plan. Ghost and beehiiv also take 0%, with fees that grow with your list.