# Newsletter trial brief

Synthetic preparation fixture · 9 October 2026 · no account actions executed

## The task

Prepare one weekly email for an independent publisher: one useful idea, one action and one link. Compare beehiiv, Kit and Buttondown with the same content and requirements. The draft is a fixture, not an issue that Fewertools has sent through any of those providers.

## Two cost scenarios

- 1,000 total subscribers, one weekly issue, one publication.
- 10,000 total subscribers, one weekly issue, one publication.
- Quote monthly billing and annual billing independently. Multiplying a displayed monthly equivalent by 12 is local arithmetic; it is not an observed invoice or checkout.
- Evaluate a free newsletter and a paid-subscription requirement separately. A free audience allowance does not prove that the desired paid feature is free.
- Keep provider plan charges separate from payment processing, platform revenue share, optional add-ons, taxes, foreign exchange and discounts.

## Five requirements

1. Draft and preview the same issue in mobile and desktop layouts.
2. State what the signup form tells a reader and whether confirmation is required.
3. Record which selected plan supports the required paid subscription workflow.
4. Demonstrate the subscriber export fields needed for a later move, including status and tags.
5. Explain what cancellation and email unsubscribe do in the chosen configuration.

## Status before any provider run

Public plan and workflow documentation: reviewed where linked on the comparison.
Price scenarios: calculated locally from the recorded public quote inputs.
Native draft/preview, signup, confirmation, sends, payment, unsubscribe and exports: NOT RUN.

## Provider run protocol, once separately authorised

Use a private test publication and only addresses controlled by the tester. Do not import the synthetic CSV as a live audience: its addresses are deliberately undeliverable and its rows are not evidence of consent. Record the exact provider, account plan, selected billing period, subscriber count, run date, steps, screenshots, outputs and failures. Respect provider limits. Do not subscribe, charge or message a third party.

Use a provider's non-charging preview or sandbox where supported. Buttondown's published paid-subscription guide says Stripe test mode is unsupported. This pack does not authorise a real charge or refund; leave that step NOT RUN unless the account owner separately agrees the exact action and cost.

A completed draft preview is not a delivery result. One received test email is not a deliverability benchmark. A CSV file is not proof that paid subscriptions, consent history or billing identities migrate correctly.