Buttondown vs Kit
Pricing
Buttondown: Free up to 100 subs, from $9/mo
Kit: Free up to 10,000 subscribers, Creator from $39/mo ($33/mo billed yearly)
Description
Buttondown: Minimal newsletter tool for people who just want to write in markdown and hit send
Kit: Email marketing (formerly ConvertKit) built for creators who want to grow an audience, not manage a CRM
Pros
- Markdown-based editor, no dragging boxes around
- $9/month for up to 1,000 subscribers is the cheapest paid newsletter tool
- No bloated features: it does newsletters and that is it
- Visual automation builder that is actually understandable
- Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts
- Tagging system makes subscriber management simple and flexible
Cons
- Very basic automation: no complex email sequences
- Only 100 subscribers on free tier; Substack and Beehiiv offer more
- Minimal templates: your emails look plain (which some people prefer)
- Visual automations and email sequences need a paid plan
- Pricing climbs quickly as your list grows: Creator costs $89/mo at 5,000 subscribers
- Landing page builder is basic compared to dedicated tools
Details
Buttondown is the newsletter tool for people who think Kit (formerly ConvertKit) has too many features. Write in markdown, send to your list, done. No drag-and-drop editors, no complex automation flows, no features you will never use.
Built and run solo by Justin Duke. The $9/month starting price is the cheapest in the newsletter space. The tradeoff is obvious: if you want referral programs, A/B testing, or complex automation, you need a different tool. If you just want to write and send a newsletter without the tooling getting in the way, Buttondown is refreshingly simple.
Kit, known as ConvertKit until its rebrand, was built by Nathan Barry specifically for creators: bloggers, podcasters, course creators, and indie founders who need to grow an email list. It strips away the complexity of tools like Mailchimp and focuses on what actually matters: collecting subscribers, tagging them based on behavior, and sending the right emails at the right time.
The free plan goes a long way, with tagging, segmentation and unlimited broadcasts for up to 10,000 subscribers. The real value is in the visual automations and email sequences, which only come with paid plans. Emails are built in a template-based designer with 40+ templates. If you need pixel-perfect HTML emails, look at MailerLite or Beehiiv instead.
Verified
