Newsletter platforms compared
SendHQ vs Substack for newsletters
Substack is free to publish and takes 10% of paid-subscription revenue, plus card fees. SendHQ charges a flat monthly price by emails sent and takes nothing from your revenue, but it has no paid subscriptions, reader app or discovery network of its own.
Price at every list size
| Subscribers | Emails a month | Substack | SendHQ | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 4,334 | $0 Free publishing | $19 Starter | $19 more |
| 2,500 | 10,834 | $0 Free publishing | $19 Starter | $19 more |
| 5,000 | 21,667 | $0 Free publishing | $19 Starter | $19 more |
| 10,000 | 43,334 | $0 Free publishing | $19 Starter | $19 more |
| 25,000 | 108,334 | $0 Free publishing | $39 Scale | $39 more |
Substack fees: 10% of paid-subscription revenue, plus card processing fees (Stripe lists 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment, plus 0.7% for recurring billing).
Substack free plan: Publishing free; no subscriber or send limits stated. SendHQ has no free plan.
Where Substack does more
- Hosted publication website with visual theme editor
- Reader apps for iOS and Android
- Substack Network recommendations, leaderboards, explore and search discovery
- Notes (built-in social feed) and subscriber chat
- Free podcast hosting with RSS distribution, native video, live streaming
- Paid subscriptions with founding tiers, trials and gift subs
- Reader referral program with milestone rewards
If any of these is central to how you grow, Substack is likely the better fit, and that is fine.
Where SendHQ fits better
- You pay for what you send. 50,000 emails for $19 a month, however many subscribers you keep between issues.
- Your own domain and inbox. Issues go out from your verified domain, and replies can land in a SendHQ inbox on that domain.
- Built for developers and agents. The same lists and broadcasts work from the REST API, the CLI and an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
- Consent and guardrails built in. Double opt-in forms, a consent basis on every import, automatic suppression and published pause rules.
Moving from Substack
- Subscribers page > All subscribers > three-dot menu > Export (all columns or visible columns; filtered or full list) > Download last export. Settings > Exports also creates a ZIP of posts, subscriber lists and stats.
- In SendHQ, add and verify your sending domain.
- Create a list, then import the CSV with a consent basis such as "Subscribed to our newsletter on Substack".
- Write your issue with merge tags such as
{{first_name | there}}and send it.
New workspaces start at 100 emails a day and ramp up with healthy sending, so a large list's first issues go out over a few days.
Questions
Is SendHQ cheaper than Substack for a newsletter?
For a weekly newsletter to 10,000 subscribers, Substack lists $0 a month (Free publishing) and SendHQ Starter Marketing is $19 a month for 50,000 emails, checked October 2026. SendHQ charges by emails sent, so the gap is largest for big lists sent weekly or less.
How do I move my subscribers from Substack to SendHQ?
Subscribers page > All subscribers > three-dot menu > Export (all columns or visible columns; filtered or full list) > Download last export. Settings > Exports also creates a ZIP of posts, subscriber lists and stats. Then import the CSV into a SendHQ list with a consent basis such as 'Subscribed on our Substack newsletter', verify your sending domain, and send.
What does Substack do that SendHQ does not?
Hosted publication website with visual theme editor; Reader apps for iOS and Android; Substack Network recommendations, leaderboards, explore and search discovery; Notes (built-in social feed) and subscriber chat; Free podcast hosting with RSS distribution, native video, live streaming; Paid subscriptions with founding tiers, trials and gift subs; Reader referral program with milestone rewards.
Will my first issue go out to the whole list at once?
New SendHQ workspaces start at 100 emails a day and climb as healthy sending builds trust, up to 50,000 a day. A larger broadcast keeps sending as the limit allows, so plan the first issues of a large list over a few days.
Sources
- https://substack.com/going-paid
- https://substack.com/features
- https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037607131-How-much-does-Substack-cost
- https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/6314498343700-How-do-I-export-my-email-list-on-Substack
- SendHQ pricing
Checked 2026-10-29. Prices change; tell us at /contact if one is out of date and we will correct it.