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Email marketing software · Alternatives
Substack is an email marketing software product from Substack, San Francisco, priced at Free with a free plan. We compared 20 alternatives on published price, free plan, platforms and made-in-India support: 18 have a free plan, 3 are built in India.
Quick answer
The closest alternatives to Substack are listmonk (Free), Pepipost by Netcore (Free plan), SendGrid (Free plan), Mailgun (Free plan) and Elastic Email (Free plan). listmonk is the top-ranked option with a free plan. Published prices in this list start at ₹1,200/month.
Indian support and GST
Substack is built in United States. 3 alternatives are made in India, where GST, TDS and UPI are usually handled natively and support runs on IST.
Ranked by how closely each product matches Substack's category, pricing model, platforms and business size, then by rating. Prices exclude GST.
| # | Software | Starting price | Free plan | Platforms | Made in India | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Substack (current) | Free | Yes | Web | No | 4.5/5 | — |
| 1 |  listmonk | Free | Yes | Web | Yes | 4.7/5 | |
| 2 |  Pepipost by Netcore | Free plan | Yes | Web | Yes | 4.8/5 | |
| 3 |  SendGrid | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.6/5 | |
| 4 |  Mailgun | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.6/5 | |
| 5 |  Elastic Email | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.6/5 | |
| 6 |  SparkPost | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.5/5 | |
| 7 |  SMTP2GO | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.6/5 | |
| 8 |  Postal | Free | Yes | Web | No | 4.3/5 | |
| 9 |  Mailjet | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.5/5 | |
| 10 |  Mailtrap | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.5/5 | |
| 11 |  Beehiiv | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.4/5 | |
| 12 |  EmailOctopus | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.4/5 | |
| 13 |  BEE Pro | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.4/5 | |
| 14 |  Stripo | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.4/5 | |
| 15 |  Mailmodo AMP | Free plan | Yes | Web | Yes | 4.4/5 | |
| 16 |  Amazon SES | Pay as you go | No | Web | No | 4.5/5 | |
| 17 |  ZeroBounce | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.3/5 | |
| 18 |  Postmark | ₹1,200/mo | No | Web | No | 4.5/5 | |
| 19 |  Buttondown | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.3/5 | |
| 20 |  Hunter | Free plan | Yes | Web | No | 4.3/5 |
Zerodha · Bengaluru · Email marketing software · 4.7/5
Open-source newsletter and mailing list manager from Zerodha.
Free
Free plan available
Compared with Substack
Key features
Netcore Cloud · Mumbai · Email marketing software · 4.8/5
Email API and delivery from Netcore, built in Mumbai.
Free plan
Free plan available
Compared with Substack
Free plan
Free plan available
Free plan
Free plan available
Elastic Email · Vancouver · Email marketing software · 4.6/5
Affordable email marketing and API.
Free plan
Free plan available
Free plan
Free plan available
Free plan
Free plan available
Free
Free plan available
Compared with Substack
Free plan
Free plan available
Railsware · Kraków · Email marketing software · 4.5/5
Email testing and sending platform.
Free plan
Free plan available
The closest matches to Substack on App Advisor are listmonk (Free), Pepipost by Netcore (Free plan), SendGrid (Free plan). They are ranked by how closely their category, pricing model, platforms and target business size match Substack, then by rating. The best choice depends on your team size and budget.
Yes. 18 of the 20 alternatives listed have a free plan or are free: listmonk (Free), Pepipost by Netcore (Free plan), SendGrid (Free plan). Free plans usually cap users, records or transactions, so check the limits against your monthly volume.
Among alternatives that publish a price, Postmark starts lowest at ₹1,200/mo. listmonk also has a free plan. Prices are read from each vendor's website and exclude GST.
Yes. 3 alternatives are built in India, including listmonk (Free), Pepipost by Netcore (Free plan), Mailmodo AMP (Free plan). Indian products usually handle GST, TDS and UPI natively and bill in rupees.
listmonk is the closest match to Substack in our catalogue. Key differences: Built in India (Bengaluru); Open source. Compare them side by side before you book a demo.
Every product listed sits in email marketing software or a category Substack also covers, and Substack's own products are excluded. Prices, free plans and platforms come from each vendor's official website. App Advisor does not sell any of this software.
Free shortlist
Tell us your team size and budget and we'll send a shortlist of three.
