My Medium friends can read this story over there as well.
If you’re launching your own newsletter in 2025 (and let’s be honest, better sooner than later), you’ll want the best platform for you, not just the most popular.
I spent way too much time digging and testing many, many platforms with different feature-sets, price points, and popularity.
And here’s my ranking for 2025.
We’ll start with the unexpected, count down, and finish at the top.
7. Gumroad
Yeah, Gumroad is a bit of a wildcard. You probably didn’t expect it to be here.
Gumroad was never meant to be a newsletter tool.
It’s a digital shop, my home base for selling templates, guides, designs, app icons, or whatever else I cook up.
But Gumroad’s email function is quietly powerful.
You can send emails to all customers (or a segment and filter by subscribers, customers of certain products, people who haven’t bought certain products, and more).
You can push new product launches and close sales. It’s not as polished as a dedicated newsletter service, but you’ll get reach and conversion baked in, without switching between platforms. And you get a lot of features that are usually reserved for higher price tiers on true email m arketing platforms, like email automation/workflows.
If your newsletter is tied to paid products or services, Gumroad is worth a look. I’ve been using it for years for products and newsletters.
Best for:
Creators who sell digital products, freelancers, or anyone with a shop-first audience.
Weakness:
No “classic” newsletter feel, somewhat limited automation options. Segmenting isn’t always ideal for pure writing. No customization options.
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