Should I use Substack or a traditional email provider?

This question has gotten more complicated — and more important — since 2024. Let me break down the market as it actually stands right now.

Substack has evolved into a social network for writers. It has built-in discovery features — recommendations from other writers, a "Notes" feed similar to Twitter, and algorithmic suggestions that help readers find new Substacks. If you are starting from zero with no audience, Substack gives you something that traditional email providers do not: the chance to be discovered by people who have never heard of you. That discovery feature is real and it works, especially for non-fiction writers with strong opinions.

But Substack has serious limitations as a business tool. You cannot build automated email sequences (welcome series, launch sequences, abandoned cart emails). You cannot segment your subscribers based on behavior (people who clicked vs. people who did not). You cannot run A/B tests on subject lines. You do not even own the subscriber data in a meaningful way — if Substack changes its terms or goes under, your list lives on their servers.

Traditional email providers — MailerLite, Kit (formerly ConvertKit), ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp — give you the automation and segmentation that actually powers a publishing business. MailerLite is my recommendation for authors who are just starting out. Their free plan supports up to 1,000 subscribers with automation, landing pages, and email sequences included. That is enough to build a real funnel before you ever spend a dollar. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) recently expanded their free plan to 10,000 subscribers, which is generous. The catch is that the free plan does not include automation sequences — you need the paid plan ($29/month) for that. If you are already on Kit from the ConvertKit days, it is a solid platform. If you are choosing fresh, MailerLite gives you more for free. My actual recommendation:

Use Substack as a discovery channel only. Post your best thinking there — essays, excerpts, industry commentary. Let the Substack algorithm introduce you to new readers. But treat every Substack subscriber as someone you need to migrate to your real email list.

Use MailerLite (or Kit, or ActiveCampaign if you are further along) as your home base. This is where your automated welcome sequence lives. This is where your launch emails go out. This is where you segment your audience into "interested in fiction" and "interested in non-fiction" and "bought my course." This is the business infrastructure.

The bridge between them: include a link in every Substack post to your lead magnet, which lives on a MailerLite landing page. Substack finds the reader. Your lead magnet converts them. MailerLite keeps them. That is the system.

One more thing: do not use Substack as your primary newsletter if you are building a book business. Substack is designed for writers who monetize through paid subscriptions (readers pay $5-10/month to read your posts). That model works for journalists and essayists. For book authors, your monetization is through book sales, courses, and backend offers — not paid newsletter subscriptions. The email provider model serves book authors better because it is built around selling products, not selling access to content.

The Mailchimp warning: Mailchimp is the most well-known email platform, but it is no longer the best choice for authors. Their free plan has become increasingly limited, their automation features are clunky compared to MailerLite and Kit, and their pricing has increased while competitors have improved. If you are already on Mailchimp and it works for you, fine — do not migrate mid-launch. But if you are choosing a platform fresh, go with MailerLite (best value) or Kit (best for creators with larger lists). Both are built with the kind of automation and simplicity that book authors actually need.

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