Can you take your subscriber list off a free newsletter plan?
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The Short Answer
- beehiiv — beehiiv's free Launch plan holds "Up to 2,500 subscribers" with "Unlimited Email Sends", and its export article never says which plans can use the CSV export it describes.
- Kit — Kit's free plan is "For 1,000 email subscribers", and its help centre lists every field the export contains without ever naming which plans may run it.
- Mailchimp — Mailchimp caps free at "Limit of 250 contacts" and "Max of 500/mo or 250/day", warning that "Sending will be paused if contact or email send limit is exceeded".
- Substack — Substack publishes no subscriber cap at all, and its help centre states that "Publishers have the ability to export these reader/subscription lists at any time".
| Product | Best for | From | Free plan | Free-plan list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beehiiv | 2,500 free subscribers, unlimited sends | $43/mo | Yes | Capped list |
| Kit | 1,000 subscribers, the most detailed export docs | $32.50/mo (annual) | Yes | Capped list |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts, and it tells you when it stops | $13/mo | Yes | Capped list |
| Substack | No cap, and an export with no plan attached | — | Yes | No cap, exportable |
What we checked, and what we did not test
A newsletter platform holds something the other categories on this site do not: a list of people who agreed to hear from you. That list is the asset, and the question that decides whether you own it is not how many subscribers the free plan allows. It is whether you can leave with them.
So we read two things per vendor on 6 August 2026 — the subscriber cap on the pricing page, and whatever the help centre says about exporting. Each verdict quotes both. We did not create accounts or run an export.
What every export page says, and what none of them says
This is the finding, and it is unusually consistent:
- Mailchimp documents a full “Export audience” action, restricted to owners and admins. It does not say whether free accounts may use it.
- beehiiv says subscriber data “can easily be exported as a .csv file from your beehiiv account” in “Quick or Full” formats. It does not say whether Launch accounts may use it.
- Kit goes furthest, listing exactly what comes out — first name, email, created date, status, tags, location, attribution data, custom fields — and adds that “Export links expire after five days”. It does not say whether free accounts may use it.
- Substack is the exception, and it took a full browser to read: its help centre refuses plain HTTP requests. Behind that, the answer is unambiguous — “To export your email list on Substack, head to your Subscribers page and scroll down to ‘All subscribers’”, and its data-privacy article states that “Publishers have the ability to export these reader/subscription lists at any time”. No plan is named because Substack has no plans.
Three vendors, three export features documented in detail, zero statements about which plans they belong to. The fourth answers plainly, and the reason it answers is structural: a platform with no tiers cannot gate a feature by tier. The three that could, do not say whether they do.
2,500 free subscribers, unlimited sends
1. beehiiv — 2,500 free subscribers, unlimited sends
beehiiv gives the most room to grow before paying and the same silence as everyone else about leaving.
Best for The largest free subscriber cap of the four
From $43/mo. Free plan: Launch — "Up to 2,500 subscribers" with "Unlimited Email Sends" and one team seat; "Remove beehiiv Branding" is listed only against the Max plan.
- Scale — $43/mo · 3 seats (A flat $43 a month up to 100,000 subscribers rather than a list-size ladder. The page also shows "$517 billed annually" with "Save $71/year", which does not reconcile against the monthly rate, so no annual equivalent is recorded)
- Max — $96/mo (Flat $96 a month up to 100,000 subscribers, unlimited seats; the page's "$1,151 billed annually" figure likewise does not reconcile)
The pricing page gives the free Launch plan "Up to 2,500 subscribers" with "Unlimited Email Sends" — the most generous free cap here. A beehiiv support article says subscriber data "can easily be exported as a .csv file from your beehiiv account" in "Quick or Full" formats, but neither that article nor the pricing page says whether export works on Launch.
Pros
- 2,500 free subscribers with unlimited sends is the largest free allowance on this page.
- beehiiv states it takes "0% of your paid subscription revenue", including on paid plans.
- Paid tiers are flat up to 100,000 subscribers instead of climbing with list size.
Skip it if
- The feature table never says whether subscriber export is available on the free Launch plan.
- Branding removal appears only against the top Max tier.
- The annual figures shown do not reconcile with the monthly rates, so the real yearly price is unclear.
1,000 subscribers, the most detailed export docs
2. Kit — 1,000 subscribers, the most detailed export docs
Kit documents its export more precisely than anyone here, right up to the point where it would have to name a plan.
Best for The most specific export documentation, scoped to no plan
From $32.50/mo (annual). Free plan: Newsletter — "For 1,000 email subscribers", one user, and "1 basic Visual Automation"; Kit branding stays until you upgrade.
- Creator — $33/mo, or $32.50/mo billed annually · 2 seats (Priced for 1,000 subscribers and rises with list size; "$390 billed yearly" is the annual figure)
- Pro — $66/mo, or $65.83/mo billed annually (Priced for 1,000 subscribers, unlimited users; "$790 billed yearly")
The pricing page scopes the free plan as "For 1,000 email subscribers". Kit's help centre documents the export in unusual detail — you can "Easily export your email list from Kit with a bulk action", carrying first name, email, created date, status, tags, location, attribution data and custom fields, with "Export links expire after five days" — and never says which plans that applies to.
Pros
- The export article lists the exact fields that come out, which none of the others do.
- Monthly and annual prices are both published with a consistent 17% annual saving.
Skip it if
- The free plan allows just one basic visual automation.
- Export links expire after five days.
- Nothing states whether the export is available to free accounts.
250 contacts, and it tells you when it stops
3. Mailchimp — 250 contacts, and it tells you when it stops
Mailchimp has the smallest free list and the only published account of what happens when you reach the end of it.
Best for Knowing exactly when sending stops
From $13/mo. Free plan: Free — "Limit of 250 contacts" and a "Max of 500/mo or 250/day" send allowance on one seat, with Mailchimp branding retained and the warning that "Sending will be paused if contact or email send limit is exceeded".
- Essentials — $13/mo · 3 seats (The $13 rate is for 0–500 contacts; Mailchimp's pricing climbs with list size, and a 15% prepay discount applies only above 10,000 contacts)
- Standard — $20/mo · 5 seats (The $20 rate is for 0–500 contacts, rising with list size)
- Premium — $350/mo (The $350 rate is for 0–500 contacts, with unlimited seats)
Mailchimp is the only platform here that states what happens when you hit the wall: "Limit of 250 contacts", "Max of 500/mo or 250/day", and "Sending will be paused if contact or email send limit is exceeded." Its help centre documents a full "Export audience" action restricted to owners and admins, and does not say whether the free plan can use it.
Pros
- The failure mode is published: sending pauses rather than silently dropping mail.
- A full audience export is documented as a normal in-app action.
Skip it if
- 250 contacts is the smallest free list on this page, with 500 sends a month.
- Mailchimp branding cannot be removed on free.
- Neither the pricing page nor the export articles say whether free accounts can export.
No cap, and an export with no plan attached
4. Substack — No cap, and an export with no plan attached
Substack is the only platform here that answers both halves of the question, and it charges a share of your revenue instead of a fee.
Best for No subscriber cap, and an export the help centre documents
From —. Free plan: No tiered free plan and no stated subscriber cap — "No platform fees, no tiers, no contracts—Substack is free to start and free to leave".
- Paid subscriptions — price not shown on the page we opened (There is no subscription fee. Substack takes a share of what you earn instead: "Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees")
Substack's help centre answers both halves. On the list: "To export your email list on Substack, head to your Subscribers page and scroll down to 'All subscribers'", and its data-privacy article states that "Publishers have the ability to export these reader/subscription lists at any time". On the cap: there is none published anywhere — "No platform fees, no tiers, no contracts—Substack is free to start and free to leave." We read these on the help centre's own search results, which a plain HTTP request is refused.
Pros
- No platform fee and no stated subscriber cap — "free to start and free to leave".
- The help centre documents exporting posts, the subscriber list and related statistics from one Exports page.
- Its data-privacy article states publishers can export those lists "at any time", with no plan attached.
Skip it if
- The 10% revenue share is the real price, and it scales with your success rather than your list size.
- There is no pricing page at all — substack.com/pricing 404s to the Discover feed.
- The help centre refuses plain HTTP requests, so none of this is readable without a full browser.
What this means if you are choosing today
If you are starting from zero and want the longest runway before paying, beehiiv’s 2,500 free subscribers with unlimited sends is the largest published allowance here, and its flat pricing above that avoids the list-size ladder Mailchimp and Kit both use.
But treat the export question as unresolved on all four, and resolve it yourself on day one rather than on the day you want to leave. Export your list the week you start, while it is twelve people and the answer costs you nothing to find out. A platform that will not let you export at 12 subscribers will not let you at 12,000 either, and by then the answer matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which free newsletter plan holds the most subscribers?
Substack states no cap at all, and among the platforms with published tiers, beehiiv's free Launch plan is largest at "Up to 2,500 subscribers" with unlimited sends. Kit's free plan is "For 1,000 email subscribers". Mailchimp's is the smallest at 250 contacts with 500 sends a month.
Can you export your subscriber list on a free plan?
Substack says yes without qualification: "Publishers have the ability to export these reader/subscription lists at any time." The other three do not say. Mailchimp documents an "Export audience" action, beehiiv a CSV in "Quick or Full" formats, and Kit a bulk export with a named field list — and none of those pages scopes the feature to a plan, so a free user cannot tell from them whether it applies.
What actually happens when you exceed Mailchimp's free limit?
Sending stops. Mailchimp is the only platform here that publishes the failure mode: "Sending will be paused if contact or email send limit is exceeded." The other three publish caps without saying what crossing them does, which is the difference between a limit you can plan around and one you discover on send day.
What does Substack cost?
No subscription fee, and 10% of what you earn: "Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees." That is a fundamentally different bargain from the flat monthly fees here — it costs nothing until you succeed, and then it scales with your success rather than with your list size.
Did you sign up and try exporting?
No. These verdicts were read on each vendor's pricing page and export documentation on 6 August 2026 and are labelled as read, not run. This is the category on the site where a hands-on test would settle the most: creating a free account on each and clicking export takes minutes and would answer the question all four pages leave open.
How We Keep This Updated
Prices move and vendors rewrite their plan tables, so every value on this page carries the date we read it. When a page changes, the change lands here rather than being edited away quietly. The procedure is on the methodology page. tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-06 — Corrected. Substack was first published as unconfirmed because its help centre returns 403 to plain HTTP requests. Read in a full browser, it states both halves — no subscriber cap, and lists exportable "at any time" — so its verdict is now recorded and this page's headline finding narrowed from four vendors to three.
- 2026-08-06 — First published. Subscriber caps read on each vendor's own pricing page, export mechanics from their help centres.