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Run a solo newsletter business: cheapest tool stack

Write and send a newsletter on your own: platform, writing help, header images and social promotion.

Prices are official, dated and quoted (latest check 2026-10-18). Change any number and the stacks update. Ranking never depends on affiliate status.

Cheapest$0.13/mo0.2 h/week by handLowest monthly price that covers every category.

Balanced$0.42/mo0.1 h/week by handLowest price + your time (hours × your hourly value).

Most automated$0.42/mo0.1 h/week by handFewest manual hours; price breaks ties.

Issues per month: 4.3
Issues per week: 1.0

The three stacks

Cheapest stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Newsletter platform	beehiiv affiliate Free	Unlimited sends, up to 2,500 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
Writing help	Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier	Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline.	$0.13	0.0 h
Header images	Canva Free	Design headers by hand.	$0.00	0.2 h
Social promotion	Buffer Free	Schedules posts; up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel.	$0.00	0.1 h
Total			$0.13/mo	0.2 h/week

Balanced stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Newsletter platform	beehiiv affiliate Free	Unlimited sends, up to 2,500 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
Writing help	Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier	Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline.	$0.13	0.0 h
Header images	Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image API	Generates a header image per issue.	$0.29	0.0 h
Social promotion	Buffer Free	Schedules posts; up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel.	$0.00	0.1 h
Total			$0.42/mo	0.1 h/week

Most automated stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Newsletter platform	beehiiv affiliate Free	Unlimited sends, up to 2,500 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
Writing help	Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier	Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline.	$0.13	0.0 h
Header images	Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image API	Generates a header image per issue.	$0.29	0.0 h
Social promotion	Buffer Free	Schedules posts; up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel.	$0.00	0.1 h
Total			$0.42/mo	0.1 h/week

Every option, per category

Sorted by price at your numbers. “Doesn’t fit” means a plan limit (users, minutes, subscribers…) is exceeded.

Newsletter platform

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
beehiiv affiliate Free Paid subscriptions start on Lite.	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source beehiiv: Free $0 (up to 2,500 subscribers); Lite from $49/mo and Pro from $95/mo on yearly billing; 0% take rate on paid subscriptions (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot beehiiv)); Free: up to 2,500 subscribers (checked 2026-10-17, ListCost: beehiiv fact 0) Free The basics for creators just getting started. $0 Free forever Lite For those ready to grow faster and start monetizing. $49 /mo Yearly billing $95 /mo Yearly billing Subscribers, Free, Up to 2,500 Formula: `0`
Kit Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Kit: Free $0 up to 10,000 subscribers (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot kit)) Free For creators just starting out $0 /mo Free—up to 10,000 subscribers Formula: `0`
Substack Free + 10% of paid revenue Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ per payment and 0.7% Billing also apply; only the 10% and 2.9% are counted here.	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Substack: free to publish; 10% of paid-subscription revenue plus Stripe fees (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot substack)) Publishing on Substack is free, no matter how many subscribers you have. Substack fee 10% of each subscription payment Formula: `paid_rev0.10+paid_rev0.029`
beehiiv affiliate Lite (from, billed yearly) $49 is the lowest tier; above 1,000 subscribers see ListCost for the exact tier.	doesn’t fit		Price source beehiiv: Free $0 (up to 2,500 subscribers); Lite from $49/mo and Pro from $95/mo on yearly billing; 0% take rate on paid subscriptions (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot beehiiv)) Free The basics for creators just getting started. $0 Free forever Lite For those ready to grow faster and start monetizing. $49 /mo Yearly billing $95 /mo Yearly billing Formula: `49`
MailerLite Free	doesn’t fit		Price source Free: 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails (checked 2026-10-17, ListCost: mailerlite fact 0) 250 subscribers 2,500 monthly emails Formula: `0`

Writing help

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier Price doubles on 1 Jan 2027 ($1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens).	$0.13	0.0 h	Price source Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier: $0.75 per 1M input tokens, $3.75 per 1M output tokens through 31 Dec 2026 (doubles from 1 Jan 2027). Free tier: free of charge. (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing)) $0.75 through December 31, 2026. $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. $3.75 through December 31, 2026. $7.50 starting January 1, 2027. Formula: `units_month(llm_in0.75+llm_out*3.75)/1e6`
Claude Pro Usage limits apply.	$20.00	0.3 h	Price source Claude Pro: $20 billed monthly, $17/month with annual billing (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot claude)) $17 Per month with annual subscription discount ( $200 billed up front). $20 if billed monthly. Formula: `iff(annual,17,20)`
Jasper Pro (1 seat)	$69.00	0.3 h	Price source Pro: $59/month billed yearly or $69/month billed monthly (checked 2026-10-18, AI writing calculator (aiwritercost): jasper fact jasper/1) Pro: $59/month billed yearly or $69/month billed monthly (cancel anytime) Formula: `iff(annual,59,69)`
Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, free tier Rate limits apply; content may be used to improve Google's products. Off unless you allow free tiers.	doesn’t fit		Price source Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier: $0.75 per 1M input tokens, $3.75 per 1M output tokens through 31 Dec 2026 (doubles from 1 Jan 2027). Free tier: free of charge. (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing)) $0.75 through December 31, 2026. $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. $3.75 through December 31, 2026. $7.50 starting January 1, 2027. Formula: `0`

Header images

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Canva Free	$0.00	0.2 h	Price source Canva Free: available to anyone at $0 (Pro price not readable from our location, so not used) (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot canva)) Free is available to anyone. Formula: `0`
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image API	$0.29	0.0 h	Price source Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image: $0.0336 per 1K image ($0.0168 in Batch) (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing)) Equivalent to $0.0336 per 1K resolution image Equivalent to $0.0168 per 1K resolution image Formula: `units_month20.0336`

Social promotion

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Buffer Free	$0.00	0.1 h	Price source Free: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/free) Free Free forever Connect up to 3 channels 10 scheduled posts per channel - refill anytime Formula: `0`
Publer Free	$0.00	0.1 h	Price source Free: 1 user, 3 social accounts (except X), 10 scheduled posts per account (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): publer fact publer/free) 3 social accounts (except 𝕏) 10 scheduled posts per account Formula: `0`
Post by hand Native apps	$0.00	0.4 h	No tool to buy.
Publer Professional	$10.00	0.1 h	Price source Per social account: Professional $5/mo ($4 billed yearly), Business $10/mo ($8 billed yearly), in US dollars (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): publer fact publer/prices) Price in US Dollars: $5.00 / month Price in US Dollars: $10.00 / month Price in US Dollars: $4.00 / month billed yearly Price in US Dollars: $8.00 / month billed yearly Formula: `(channels-floor(channels/10))*iff(annual,4,5)`
Buffer Essentials	$12.00	0.1 h	Price source Monthly billing: Essentials $6, Team $12 per channel a month (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/monthly); Yearly billing: Essentials $5, Team $10 per channel a month ($60 / $120 a year) (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/yearly) Essentials Recommended $6 /month 1 channel · Billed monthly Team $12 /month 1 channel · Billed monthly Essentials Recommended $5 /month 1 channel · $60 billed yearly (save 2 months) Team $10 /month 1 channel · $120 billed yearly (save 2 months) Formula: `channels*iff(annual,5,6)`
SocialPilot Essentials	$30.00	0.1 h	Price source Billed monthly: $30, $50, $100, $200 (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): socialpilot fact socialpilot/monthly); Accounts 7 / 15 / 25 / 50; users 1 / 3 / 6 / unlimited; extra account $4/mo, extra user $5/mo (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): socialpilot fact socialpilot/limits) Essentials Built for professionals who work independently. $30 /mo Billed monthly 7 Social Media Accounts 1 User 15 Social Media Accounts 3 Users 25 Social Media Accounts 6 Users 50 Social Media Accounts Unlimited Users Extra Accounts – $4 per month Additional User – $5 per month Formula: `30`

Not covered (yet)

Growth tools (referral programmes, paid boosts): not priced.
Paid tiers above 1,000 subscribers: see ListCost for every tier.

Affiliate disclosure: links marked “affiliate” may earn Built & Stuck a commission at no extra cost to you. They are chosen after the ranking is computed and never affect it. Manual-hours figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not measurements.

Questions

Which newsletter platform is free for 2,000 subscribers?

beehiiv Free (up to 2,500) and Kit Free (up to 10,000) both cost $0; Substack is free too but takes 10% once you charge readers.

When does Substack get more expensive than beehiiv?

When 10% of your paid revenue is more than a beehiiv Lite plan with 0% take rate. Enter your paid revenue to see the switch point.

Do affiliate links change the ranking?

No. The ranking only uses price, manual hours and your hourly value. Some tools have a marked affiliate link; the calculation never reads it.