Sender vs Substack
Sender
sender.net
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | Sender | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $6.30/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 4 |
| Spec score · Email marketing tools | 8.7 (#26) | 9.2 (#8) |
| Spec score · Email Marketing Software | 8.1 (#90) | 8.6 (#41) |
| Email automation | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Official integrations include Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, PrestaShop, Magento, Zapier, and other ecommerce and CMS tools. | Official integrations include RSS, podcast distribution to Apple and Spotify, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, X and Facebook pixels, Google site verification, YouTube and LinkedIn account connections. |
| Audience segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The pricing comparison lists 24/7 email and live chat support on Free and Standard, priority 24/7 support on Professional, and phone support on Enterprise. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
| What it does | Sender is an email marketing platform with built-in SMS for campaigns, automation, lead generation, transactional emails, and landing pages. | Substack is a publishing and subscription platform for writers, podcasters, video creators and media companies, combining content creation, email distribution, payments, community and analytics. |
Plans
Sender
- Free ForeverFree
- Standard$108 a year
- Professional$180 a year
- Standard$6.30 a month
- Professional$10.50 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
Substack
- Free publishingFree
- Free to startFree
- Custom domain$50, paid once
- Paid subscriptionsPrice not published
In their own words
Sender
Sender combines email marketing with SMS for campaigns, automation, lead generation, transactional emails and landing pages. Its tools include a drag-and-drop email builder, HTML editor, workflows, segmentation, personalization, signup forms, popups, A/B testing and analytics. Transactional messages can be sent through REST API or SMTP, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication. Integrations include Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, PrestaShop, Magento and Zapier, among others.
The Free Forever plan costs nothing for one seat, up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month, and includes Sender branding. Standard costs $108 a year, billed annually, for three seats, 500 subscribers and 6,000 emails per month; the displayed first-year discount is excluded. Professional costs $180 a year, billed annually, for ten seats, 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails monthly. Sender has no mobile app, though its features are accessible through a mobile browser. Its stated audiences include small and growing businesses, ecommerce brands, B2B companies, creators and nonprofits.
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers, bringing posts, newsletters, podcasts, video, live streams, and pages into one publishing flow. Its editor supports scheduling, autosaved drafts, version history, templates, SEO metadata, and headline A/B testing. Creators can offer free or paid posts, subscriptions, trials, gifts, and group plans. Discovery tools include recommendations, Notes, leaderboards, referrals, and search; audience segmentation and email automation are also available. Podcast episodes can be distributed automatically to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while video can go automatically to YouTube and LinkedIn. Publishing is free. When creators enable paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges payment processing fees. Creators own their intellectual property and mailing list and can export their data. Substack serves writers, journalists, podcasters, video creators, experts, educators, and media companies. It is available on the web, Android, and iOS. Substack directs users to its Help Center and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers.