Free tiers, API access, MCP servers & paid pricing for digital product creators
| Platform | Free Subs | Free Sends/mo | API on Free? | Add via API? | Opt-in Control | Deliverability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit Creator-focused |
1,000 | Unlimited broadcasts | ✅ | ✅ Full CRUD | ✅ Single & double per form | 🟢 Excellent |
| Brevo Priced by sends |
Unlimited | ~9,000 (300/day) | ✅ | ✅ Full CRUD + consent groups | ✅ Single & double via consent | 🟢 Very good |
| MailerLite API = paid only |
250 | 2,500 | ❌ Paid only | ✅ On paid plans | ✅ Single & double | 🟢 Strong |
| Mailchimp Tiny free tier |
250 | 500 (250/day) | ✅ | ✅ Marketing API | ✅ Single & double per audience | 🟢 Industry-leading |
| Loops API-first |
1,000 | 4,000 | ✅ | ✅ Clean REST API | ⚠️ Single only (no built-in double) | 🟡 Good (newer) |
| Resend Dev infra |
1,000 contacts | ~3,000 (100/day) | ✅ | ✅ Audiences API | ❌ DIY via API | 🟢 Good (newer) |
| Beehiiv Newsletter-first |
2,500 | Unlimited | ✅ Subs CRUD (no Send API) | ✅ Full CRUD + double_opt_override | ✅ Single & double (per sub) | 🟢 Very good |
| Substack Walled garden |
Unlimited | Unlimited | ❌ No official API | ❌ Internal endpoints only (fragile) | ⚠️ Double opt-in setting exists | 🟡 Spam issues reported |
| Subscribers | Kit | Brevo | MailerLite | Loops | Mailchimp | Beehiiv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | Free | Free | Free* | Free | Free | Free |
| 1,000 | Free | Free | $10 | Free | $13 | Free |
| 2,500 | $41 | Free† | $25 | $49 | $45 | Free |
| 5,000 | $66 | $9‡ | $39 | $79 | $75 | $43 |
| 10,000 | $100 | $18 | $73 | $149 | $110 | $43 |
| 25,000 | $166 | $18 | $159 | $249 | $270 | $43 |
* MailerLite: no API on free tier † Brevo free: unlimited subs, 300 emails/day cap ‡ Brevo Starter: $9/mo for 5K emails
| Platform | REST API | Official SDKs | MCP Server | API Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | ✅ V4 (all plans) | Ruby, Node (community) | Official Docs MCP + Kit MCP (Creator+) | Subscribers, broadcasts, sequences, tags, forms, webhooks. Upsert contacts. 140 custom fields. |
| Brevo | ✅ V3 (all plans) | Node, Python, PHP, Go | Community 4 MCP repos (low stars) | Contacts, campaigns, transactional, SMS, WhatsApp. Batch 1K emails/request. Consent groups. Sandbox mode. |
| MailerLite | ✅ V2 (paid only) | Node, Python | None | Subscribers, campaigns, automations, segments, webhooks. Clean docs. |
| Mailchimp | ✅ Marketing API (all plans) | Node, Python, PHP | Community LokiMCPUniverse | Most mature email API. Contacts, campaigns, automations, segments, reports. Mandrill for transactional. |
| Loops | ✅ REST (all plans) | Node, Python + CLI tool | None | Contacts, events, transactional email, webhooks. Best DX. CLI for management. |
| Resend | ✅ REST (all plans) | Node, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP | None | API-first. Emails, audiences, contacts, webhooks. React Email. SMTP relay. Batch send. |
| Beehiiv | ⚠️ Subs API free, Send API Enterprise | None official | Official Read on free, Write on Scale ($43/mo) | Subscriptions CRUD, custom fields, tags, segments, double_opt_override. Webhooks on Scale+. |
| Substack | ❌ No official API | None | Community 4+ repos (fragile, internal API) | Undocumented /api/v1/ with session cookie auth. Draft/publish via community MCPs. No subscriber mgmt API. Anti-spam blocks server signups. |
Recommended Has Official MCP
Built from the ground up for creators selling courses, ebooks, and digital products. Sequences, automations, purchase tracking, and a built-in commerce engine (3.5% + 30¢ on free).
V4 REST API at api.kit.com. Auth via API key or OAuth2. Full CRUD for subscribers (upsert), broadcasts, sequences, tags, forms, custom fields (140/request), webhooks. Single opt-in: POST /v4/subscribers with state:"active". Double opt-in: POST /v4/forms/{id}/subscribers.
Free: 1K subs, unlimited broadcasts, 1 basic automation, sell digital products. Creator: $33/mo (unlimited automations, sequences, Kit MCP, A/B testing, remove branding). Pro: $66/mo (subscriber signals, engagement scoring, deliverability reporting). Prices scale with subscriber count.
✅ Purpose-built for selling digital products. ✅ API on all plans. ✅ Official MCP. ✅ Single/double opt-in per form. ✅ Built-in commerce. ❌ Charges per subscriber (expensive at scale). ❌ No transactional email (need separate service for SaaS). ❌ Creator plan ($33/mo) needed for full automation.
Recommended Unlimited contacts on free
The only platform that charges by emails sent, not subscribers. Includes transactional email, SMS, and WhatsApp in one platform. Great for SaaS + marketing combo.
V3 REST API at api.brevo.com. Official SDKs: Node, Python, PHP, Go. Auth via API key or OAuth2. Batch up to 1K emails/request. Sandbox mode for testing. Consent groups for GDPR. Full CRUD for contacts, campaigns, transactional. MCP server available (community, 4 repos).
Free: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day (~9K/mo). Starter: $9/mo (5K emails). Standard: $18/mo (automation, A/B testing, event tracking). Professional: $499/mo (150K+ emails, teams, multi-channel). Massive jump from Standard to Professional.
✅ Unlimited contacts on free. ✅ Cheapest at scale ($18/mo for 25K subs). ✅ Transactional + marketing in one. ✅ SMS/WhatsApp included. ✅ Full API on all plans. ❌ Professional tier ($499/mo) is a huge jump. ❌ Free tier: 300/day limit means careful batching. ❌ Automation only on Standard+ ($18/mo).
API-first Modern DX
Built for SaaS/product companies. Cleanest API in the space. Event-triggered workflows. CLI tool for management. All features on free plan.
REST API at app.loops.so/api. Node & Python SDKs + CLI tool. Contacts, events, transactional email, webhooks, contact properties, mailing lists. Event-triggered workflows.
Free: 1K subs, 4K sends/mo, all features, "Powered by Loops" footer. Paid starts ~$49/mo (2K subs). Scales to ~$249/mo at 25K subs.
✅ Best API/CLI DX. ✅ All features on free. ✅ Event-triggered workflows. ❌ No double opt-in toggle. ❌ No landing pages/forms (build your own). ❌ Newer platform, less deliverability history. ❌ Expensive at scale.
2,500 free subs API on all plans Has MCP
Built for newsletter growth with referral programs, ad network, and boost marketplace. Generous free tier (2,500 subs, unlimited sends, subscription API). Send API is Enterprise-only.
REST API on ALL plans (including free). Create/update subscriptions, custom fields, tags, segments. double_opt_override field: "on", "off", or "not_set" per subscription. Send API (programmatic email sending) is Enterprise-only. Official MCP server at developers.beehiiv.com/_mcp/server — read access on free, write access on Scale. Webhooks on Scale+.
Free: 2,500 subs, unlimited sends, web builder, email editor, API (subscription CRUD), read MCP. Scale: $43/mo (100K subs, ad network, boosts, automations, surveys, webhooks, MCP write access, 3 team seats). Max: $96/mo (remove branding, 10 publications, unlimited seats, Getty credits). Enterprise: custom (dedicated IP, send API, SSO).
✅ 2,500 free subs + unlimited sends. ✅ API on all plans (subscription CRUD). ✅ Official MCP server. ✅ double_opt_override field for per-subscriber opt-in control. ✅ Built-in growth tools (referrals, boosts, ads). ❌ Send API = Enterprise only. ❌ No transactional email. ❌ More newsletter-focused than SaaS/digital product focused.
No API No automation
Zero-friction newsletter platform. Free to use, Substack takes 10% of paid subscriptions. But zero API, zero automation, zero programmatic control. You're locked into their ecosystem.
❌ No official public API. Undocumented internal API at /api/v1/ (session cookie auth, fragile, could break anytime). 4+ community MCP servers exist for draft/publish management. No official subscriber management API. Anti-spam heuristics block server-to-server signups.
Free: unlimited subs, unlimited sends. If you go paid: Substack takes 10% + Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% recurring). Effective total: 13-16% of revenue. At $5/mo subs, ~20% lost to fees. Break-even vs flat-rate platforms: below ~$330-490/mo in subscription revenue Substack is cheaper.
✅ Truly free (no limits on subs or sends). ✅ Built-in paid subscription system. ✅ Built-in network/discovery. ✅ Zero setup. ✅ Optional double opt-in setting. ❌ No official API (internal endpoints fragile). ❌ No automation/sequences. ❌ 13-16% effective revenue cut on paid subs. ❌ Deliverability complaints (Gmail spam issues). ❌ Zero control over sending infrastructure.
Developer infra Build everything yourself
Email sending infrastructure for developers. Excellent API, React Email integration, SMTP relay. But no sequences, no automation builder, no forms. You build everything in code.
✅ Best developer SDKs (Node, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP). ✅ React Email for templates. ✅ Transactional + marketing. ❌ No automation builder. ❌ No forms or landing pages. ❌ 100/day on free. ❌ You build sequences yourself in code.