What is the best tool to create a newsletter?

Feeds and algorithms keep changing, so owned channels matter. Newsletters are no longer a nice-to-have — they're a serious revenue driver. According to GetResponse case studies, DAAG generated $139K from newsletters over 11 months, while Med&Beauty earned $43,000 from just 10 newsletters with an 873% ROI over five months.

This isn’t theoretical — email outperforms social media on reach and engagement. In one real-world test, email campaigns achieved a 50% open rate and 4% CTR, compared to only 3–5% reach on social platforms according to the LesFrenchies case. For small businesses relying on visibility, that gap isn’t just significant — it’s transformative.

What makes newsletters work isn’t just frequency — it’s relevance and consistency. Platforms that help segment audiences, automate follow-ups, and maintain list hygiene deliver better results, regardless of brand per Skrapp’s analysis. But most tools require you to learn, build, and manage the workflow yourself — a steep curve for owners already running their business.

That’s where AI Business Sites changes the game. The platform includes a built-in newsletter module — complete with a signup form, corkboard content planner, and a 4-agent AI workflow (curator, subject-line writer, composer, spam validator) — all managed for you within the $497/month plan. It handles A/B subject testing, open/click tracking, and best-time-to-send analysis, replacing tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit without adding to your workload.

Because when your inbox is full of job quotes, client messages, and invoices, you shouldn’t also be drafting email campaigns. The system writes, sends, and optimizes them — so you can focus on the work that only you can do.

Ask ten experts for the single best newsletter tool and you'll get ten different answers — because the honest truth is that "best" depends entirely on what you're trying to do. Every major independent comparison reaches the same conclusion, yet most stop short of pointing out the trade-off hiding underneath.

The research backs this up. Zapier evaluated 80 apps and hands-on tested nearly 30, recommending different tools for different needs — Kit for paid newsletters, Omnisend for eCommerce, beehiiv for growth-focused publishers. Skrapp's testing found Mailchimp best for small-to-mid businesses, Kit for content creators, and Brevo for all-in-one scalability. MarketerMilk ranked beehiiv #1 overall, with MailerLite and Kit close behind, while beehiiv's own buyers guide positions itself as "an all-in-one growth engine" for growth-stage newsletters and Substack as the simplicity-first choice for solo writers.

So the landscape looks roughly like this:

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — the go-to for creators and paid newsletters
• Mailchimp — the established pick for small-to-mid businesses
• beehiiv — built for growth-stage newsletters scaling into the hundreds of thousands of subscribers
• Brevo — an AI-powered all-in-one platform for businesses that want email plus CRM in one place

But here's what most comparisons skip: whichever tool you choose, it's still a DIY tool. You have to learn the interface, write every issue, manage segmentation, and hit send yourself. Zapier's own review notes that newsletter software "shouldn't come with a steep learning curve" — yet learning curve aside, the work of producing the newsletter never disappears. The platform sends it; you still build it.

That's worth weighing against the payoff, because newsletters earn their keep. GetResponse case studies show DAAG generated $139K from newsletters over 11 months, and Med&Beauty earned $43,000 from just 10 newsletters with an 873% ROI in five months. Email also outperforms social on reach — one campaign hit 50% open rates versus the 3–5% reach typical on social feeds.

The emerging category of AI-powered newsletter platforms — beehiiv's AI content optimization, Brevo's AI-driven features — points in the right direction, but they still hand you software to run. At AI Business Sites, we take a different approach: our managed platform includes a built-in newsletter module with a 4-agent AI workflow (curator, subject-line writer, composer, spam validator), A/B subject testing, and best-time-to-send analysis — set up and run for you, not handed to you.

Choose the tool that fits your use case. Just be honest with yourself about who's actually going to do the work.

You could spend weeks comparing newsletter platforms and still watch every campaign sink into the spam folder. According to Skrapp's testing of the leading platforms, there is one thing that matters more than features, pricing, or design — and it's the quality of your email list. Even the most advanced tool won't help if your emails are going to inactive, invalid, or uninterested subscribers.

This reframes the entire question. The real issue isn't "which tool?" — it's "who runs the list, and who handles the follow-up?" A clean, engaged list on a modest platform will outperform a neglected list on the most expensive software every time.

The warnings are consistent across sources. B2B email guidance is blunt: never purchase email lists, because doing so damages deliverability and violates regulations. And broad, untargeted blasts are just as dangerous. As one marketing chief put it in documented case studies, sending generic messages to large audiences will more likely land you in the junk folder than drive revenue.

The payoff for getting this right is measurable. In one case study, email campaigns achieved 50% open rates and a 4% click-through rate, compared with just 3–5% reach on social media. Another business generated $43,000 from only 10 newsletters — an 873% ROI over five months.

What list quality actually looks like in practice:

• Segmentation — sending different content to different groups instead of one blast to everyone
• Regular hygiene — removing inactive and invalid addresses before they hurt sender reputation
• Organic growth — building the list from real signups, never purchased contacts
• Consistent follow-up — welcome flows and targeted sequences, not one-off sends

This is why the tool comparison matters less than most guides suggest. Segmentation, A/B testing, and drip campaigns are now standard expectations across modern platforms — the differentiator is whether someone actually runs them. That's the logic behind AI Business Sites including a managed newsletter module rather than handing over another subscription: a signup form, AI-drafted content, A/B subject testing, and a spam validator are handled as part of the system, so list quality gets ongoing attention instead of good intentions.

A great tool with a bad list still fails. Before you compare pricing tables, ask who is maintaining your list, segmenting it, and following up — because that answer predicts your results far better than any feature checklist.

The most interesting shift in newsletter software isn't another template library or pricing tier — it's AI moving from a gimmick to the engine of the platform itself. The platforms winning comparisons in 2025 aren't just sending emails; they're deciding what to send, to whom, and when.

This is a genuinely new category. According to hands-on platform testing, beehiiv stands out for AI-driven content optimization, while Brevo is described as a full AI-powered customer platform. Industry buyers guides note that Sailthru uses AI to track customer behavior and improve segmentation — a direct answer to the finding that broad, untargeted blasts land you in the junk folder rather than driving revenue.

The economics explain why. Newsletters remain one of the highest-return channels available to a small business: one documented case generated $139K over 11 months, and another earned $43,000 from just 10 sends at an 873% ROI, per published case studies. Email also outperforms social on reach — 50% open rates versus 3–5% organic social reach in one measured comparison. AI that improves targeting and subject lines compounds those returns.

Still, every AI feature in a DIY tool still requires you to operate the tool. Zapier's testing team puts it plainly: your newsletter software shouldn't come with a steep learning curve — yet most owners never get past the setup phase.

That's the gap a managed approach fills. AI Business Sites includes a built-in newsletter module as part of its managed platform, designed to replace a Mailchimp or ConvertKit subscription entirely. Instead of software to learn, the workflow runs itself through four specialized AI agents:

• A curator that gathers and organizes content ideas on a visual corkboard
• A subject-line writer that drafts and A/B tests your headlines
• A composer that assembles the newsletter from your business's services and knowledge base
• A spam validator that checks deliverability before anything sends

A signup form lives on your site, open and click tracking measures what works, and best-time-to-send analysis handles timing — all managed for you rather than added to your to-do list. For owners who know email matters but will never sit down to build campaigns, that's the difference between owning a tool and having the work done.

So which path should you take? The honest answer comes down to a question most comparison guides skip: who is actually going to do the work?

Pick a DIY tool if you enjoy it. Zapier's hands-on testing of nearly 30 newsletter apps found different tools fit different use cases, and their reviewer concluded that "your newsletter software shouldn't come with a steep learning curve" — but even a gentle one still demands your evenings. If you have the time and the interest, learning a platform like Kit or MailerLite can work well.

Choose a managed system if the newsletter keeps slipping. That's the tell. The numbers show what's at stake when you stay consistent: one business generated $139K from newsletters over 11 months, and another earned $43,000 from just 10 newsletters with an 873% ROI over five months. Email also dramatically outperforms social — one case study saw 50% open rates versus 3–5% social media reach. But none of that happens with a tool sitting unused in a browser tab.

Ask yourself a few honest questions:

• Did you start, then abandon, a newsletter in the last year?
• Do you know what you'd write about this week — or is that the blocker?
• Would you rather spend a Tuesday evening on your actual trade than on subject-line testing?
• Is your list growing, or is signup happening only when you remember to mention it?

If most answers point toward "I'm running the business," that's your answer. The AI trend in newsletter platforms — beehiiv's AI-driven optimization, Brevo's AI-powered platform — shows where tools are heading, but every DIY option still puts the writing, planning, and sending on you. AI Business Sites takes a different approach: its built-in Newsletter module runs a 4-agent AI workflow (curator, subject-line writer, composer, spam validator) with A/B subject testing, open/click tracking, and best-time-to-send analysis — all managed for you, so consistency stops depending on your spare hours.

Not sure which side of the line you're on? Book a free strategy call — 30 minutes, no obligation, no sales pitch. Just a real conversation about whether a done-for-you newsletter fits your business.