MailerLite vs. Substack

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
MailerLite
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
MailerLite is an email marketing platform for small businesses, creators, and ecommerce brands, used to automate the customer journey and grow a customer list. Users can send unlimited emails with every plan. Pricing starts at $10/month. MailerLite enables users to: Grow and engage their audience - Build newsletters, forms, pop-ups, landing pages, and even full websites with a Drag and drop builder that offers total creative control over designs. 150 customizable…
$0
per month 1 user
Substack
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Substack is a subscription-based newsletter publishing platform.N/A
Pricing
MailerLiteSubstack
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
per month 1 user
Growing
$10
per month 3 users
Advanced
$20
per month Unlimited users
Enterprise
Custom pricing
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MailerLiteSubstack
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAdditional 30% discount available to Non-profit organizations. Up to a 10% for paying yearly.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MailerLiteSubstack
Features
MailerLiteSubstack
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
8.9
Ratings
11% above category average
Substack
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor9.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
List management9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
7.0
Ratings
9% below category average
Substack
-
Ratings
Dashboards6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
9.0
Ratings
12% above category average
Substack
-
Ratings
Email Previews9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MailerLiteSubstack
Small Businesses
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.4 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
MailerLiteSubstack
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MailerLiteSubstack
Likelihood to Recommend
I didn't have much luck when testing other similar tools and since we tested with free plan, we couldn't commit to something else if we couldn't get basic stuff fixed. That's when we switched to MailerLite, and their support was great and super helpful all the way (during our free plan, especially). Plus, they're super budget-friendly for startups, so I highly recommend.
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It's well-suited for a creative writer who is comfortable writing essays or short fiction. It's especially well-suited for writers who are focused on writing essays based on personal experiences. I'm not sure it has the tools at this point for someone who wants to serialize a novel or long-form non-fiction book. I'd like to see better multi-media tools for writers/content creators who are fluent in written and audio-visual methods of communicating.
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Pros
  • Offers a user-friendly interface, making it simple to create beautiful forms, group subscribers, and automate emails.
  • Includes email automation workflows in their free plan - the only provider I know of that doesn't charge you after one month or hit you with "transaction fees".
  • Excellent video tutorial library so you can learn email marketing as a beginner without feeling overwhelmed.
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  • Content organization/discovery - really easy to search.
  • Newsletter/email integration - by far better at previewing and delivering content than any other site.
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Cons
  • Setting up the automations is a bit confusing at first. But the customer support is patient and kind to walk you through the process.
  • The nuances between group and segment, automation and campaign are odd as most other ESPs don't do that. But they have great explainer materials.
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  • It's really difficult when multiple people are editing the blog at same time. Some things change or get overwritten due to which have to reload the page multiple times. Would like to see an experience just like in Google docs.
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Likelihood to Renew
Mailerlite is awesome and it does everything I need and then some. They're always innovating and adding new features, and their team is flippin' amazing. Can't see myself ever switching. They may not have everything, but looking at how well their team works, they'll get there for sure and I'm willing to wait.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
I can't express how happy and satisfied I've been with recent email exchange with Ivan from MailerLite support. He answered promptly, clearly and assisted me with urgent issue I needed to be taken care of asap. HUGE satisfaction! Excellent customer service! Thank you, Ivan!
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Timely responses, quality answers to my questions, showing that the support are knowledgeable and cares about my results. I've had other experiences with competitors, so I'm delighted that this team cares about my business. It's good to know there are real experts ready to jump in when you need help
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
MailerLite has similar features to the tools mentioned above. The main advantage is that it is very complete in its free version. This is ideal for those who are starting out and want to try a complete email marketing platform.
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Substack is the DTC version of traditional blogging sites - you own everything, both upside, and risk, which appeals to me more. Compared to Blogger, the ability to monetize and site interface is night and day better. Compared to Medium, which I think has a better interface and content curation abilities, Substack's advertising and promotion of your work are much better because they don't rely on premium members like Medium - it can get very click-baity there.
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Return on Investment
  • Having an email service such as MailerLite is essential to running our Taskforce. It is really the only effective way of communicating with such a large number of people.
  • MailerLite works well with non-profits and gives a good discount for those in this sector.
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  • Takes much much less time to produce content that you can charge for. This wasn't doable before, or you'd have to build it yourself
  • Substack has made it much easier for me to stay on top of ex-customer communications. I get repeat business more easily now.
  • Substack's speed & ease mean I can offload content writing & distribution to others
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ScreenShots

MailerLite Screenshots

Screenshot of reports, that can include unsubscribe count, spam complaints, bounces, link activity and other metrics that are critical to measuring success.Screenshot of automations for every subscriber journeyScreenshot of the MailerLite landing page builderScreenshot of an example newsletterScreenshot of some of the over 150 templates availableScreenshot of where to find MailerLite's integrations