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Kit vs Substack

Updated

Kit or Substack: which should you pick?

Creator funnel vs hosted publication. Free plans, pricing basis, automation and transactional email from each vendor's pricing page, plus who should pick which.

Kit free emails
Unlimited
Kit free emails
Substack free subscribers
Unlimited
Substack free subscribers
Lumail free emails
3,000/mo
Lumail free emails

TL;DR

Substack is free for any list size and takes 10% when you charge readers. Kit is free to 10,000 subscribers, then a subscription, and adds visual automations, landing pages and digital products. Pick Substack for the fastest path to a paid publication with reader discovery; pick Kit when you want to own a funnel with automations and products.

Kit vs Substack side by side

Every Kit and Substack cell comes from the vendor's public pricing page, verified on August 17, 2026. Lumail is the third column, as the alternative.

Kit vs Substack comparison with Lumail
KitSubstackLumail (alternative)
Free planUp to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited broadcastsFree publishing for any subscriber count$0, 3,000 emails/month
Paid from$33/month billed annually for 1,000 subscribers10% of paid-subscription revenue, plus Stripe fees$20/month, 40,000 included, then $0.60/1,000
Pricing basisSubscriber-tier pricingRevenue share when paid subscriptions are enabledUnlimited subscribers; pricing follows email volume
AutomationVisual Automations and sequences start on Creator; none on FreePublication and subscriber features rather than graph workflowsGraph workflows with triggers, branches, goals, exits, and A/B paths
AI and developer access65+ tool Kit MCP on paid plans for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other compatible clientsNo equivalent organization-wide MCP, CLI, SDK, and REST surfaceChatGPT OAuth, MCP, skills, CLI, SDK, REST API, and visual editor
Transactional emailNot positioned as a transactional email APINot a transactional email APIIncluded through API, SMTP, SDK, CLI, and agent tools
PublishingCreator profile, landing pages, forms, and paid productsHosted publication, app, community, and paid subscriptionsCapture pages and custom web domains; not a general website builder
Best forCreators monetizing newsletters, recommendations, and digital productsWriters who want the shortest path to a hosted paid publicationTeams that want campaigns, workflows and transactional email priced by volume

Choose Kit if

  • You want visual automations, unlimited on Creator
  • You sell digital products beyond a paid newsletter
  • You prefer a subscription over a revenue share

Choose Substack if

  • You want free hosted publishing at any subscriber count
  • Substack's reader network is part of how you grow
  • You want paid subscriptions with almost no setup

Where Lumail fits

Neither is a transactional email service. If you also run a product that sends receipts or onboarding email, Lumail keeps that next to your newsletter.

Lumail prices by emails sent, with unlimited subscribers on every plan: $0 for 3,000 emails a month, Premium at $20 a month for 40,000 emails then $0.60 per 1,000, and Business at $200 a month for 400,000 emails then $0.40 per 1,000. Campaigns, graph workflows and transactional email (API and SMTP) live in one account, and agents can run it through MCP, the CLI or the SDK.

Read the full Lumail vs Kit and Lumail vs Substack breakdowns, or the long-form Kit and Substack articles.

Start for freeSee Lumail pricing

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Kit or Substack for a paid newsletter?

Substack is simplest: free to publish, 10% of paid-subscription revenue plus Stripe fees. Kit is a subscription from $33 a month billed annually for 1,000 subscribers, with paid products and automations.

Is Kit free like Substack?

Kit has a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts but no automations. Substack is free for any subscriber count.

Do Kit and Substack include transactional email?

Kit: Not positioned as a transactional email API. Substack: Not a transactional email API.

Is there an alternative to Kit and Substack that prices by emails sent?

Lumail. It is $0 for 3,000 emails a month, then $20 a month for 40,000 emails and $0.60 per extra 1,000, with unlimited subscribers on every plan. Campaigns, workflows and transactional email share one account.

Where do these numbers come from?

From each vendor's public pricing page (Kit pricing and Substack fees), last verified on August 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.

Keep comparing

Not sold on Kit or Substack?

3,000 emails a month free. Unlimited subscribers on every plan. Campaigns, automations and transactional email on one domain.

Start for freeMore comparisons