We see it constantly. Someone decides to start a newsletter and immediately signs up for seven tools: a writing app, an email platform, a landing page builder, an analytics suite, a referral tool, a design tool for headers, and a scheduling app. They spend two weeks setting everything up and zero weeks writing.

You need three tools. That's it. A writing tool, a platform, and a growth mechanism. Everything else is procrastination disguised as preparation.

Tool 1: Writing

Your newsletter lives or dies on the quality of your writing. The tool you use to write matters less than you think, but it should do two things: get out of your way and make editing painless.

Our picks: Claude or iA Writer

Claude is our recommendation for most people starting out. Not because AI should write your newsletter (it shouldn't), but because Claude is an incredible writing partner. Draft in your own voice, then ask Claude to tighten the prose, catch redundancies, and suggest better openings. It's like having an editor on call. Free to start.

iA Writer is for the purists. Markdown, distraction-free, beautiful typography. No AI, no suggestions, just you and the blank page. It costs $50 once (not a subscription), and the focus mode that highlights only your current sentence is genuinely game-changing for first drafts.

Our take: Start with Claude for the first 10 issues. Once you've found your voice and rhythm, consider adding iA Writer for the actual drafting process. Use Claude for editing and ideation.

Tool 2: Platform

This is where most people get stuck. The newsletter platform wars are endless. We'll save you the research: it's between Beehiiv and Substack, and for most people, Beehiiv wins.

Beehiiv vs Substack: Our honest take

Substack is simpler to start with. You sign up, you write, you publish. There's a built-in social network of readers who browse Substack like a content feed. If you're writing personal essays or opinion pieces and want to be discovered within Substack's ecosystem, it's a reasonable choice.

Beehiiv is better for everything else. Here's why we recommend it:

  • Custom domains. Your newsletter lives at your domain, not yourname.substack.com. This matters for brand credibility and SEO
  • Better monetisation. Beehiiv's ad network lets you earn money from day one through the Boost program. Substack only supports paid subscriptions
  • Built-in referral programme. Beehiiv has referral tracking and milestone rewards built in. On Substack, you need a third-party tool
  • Actual analytics. Beehiiv shows you click maps, subscriber growth trends, and engagement scoring. Substack gives you open rates and that's about it
  • You own your audience. Export your subscriber list anytime. With Substack, your readers are partially Substack's readers

Cost breakdown

  • Substack: Free forever (they take 10% of paid subscriptions if you charge)
  • Beehiiv Launch (free): Up to 2,500 subscribers, custom domain, basic analytics
  • Beehiiv Scale ($39/mo): Unlimited subscribers, referral programme, ad network, advanced analytics

Start on Beehiiv's free tier. It's genuinely generous. You can grow to 2,500 subscribers before spending a penny, and by then you'll likely be earning enough through the Boost programme or sponsorships to justify the upgrade.

For our full side-by-side breakdown, see our Beehiiv vs Substack comparison.

Tool 3: Growth

Writing great content is necessary but not sufficient. You need a mechanism that turns readers into promoters.

Option A: Beehiiv's built-in referral programme

If you're on Beehiiv Scale, you already have this. Set up milestone rewards (3 referrals = bonus content, 10 referrals = community access) and your readers become your growth engine. We've seen newsletters double their subscriber count in three months with a well-designed referral programme.

Option B: SparkLoop

If you're on Beehiiv's free tier or using another platform, SparkLoop adds referral tracking and, crucially, a paid recommendations network. Other newsletter creators pay you when you recommend their newsletter, and vice versa. It's the growth hack that the biggest newsletters use.

Cost: SparkLoop starts at $49/month, which sounds steep for a new newsletter. But their upside-down trial lets you start earning before paying. If the referral revenue covers the cost, it's essentially free growth.

The complete stack and what it costs

  • Writing: Claude (free) + iA Writer ($50 one-time, optional)
  • Platform: Beehiiv Launch (free up to 2,500 subscribers)
  • Growth: Beehiiv's built-in referrals (free on Scale) or SparkLoop ($49/mo)

Total cost to start: $0. Total cost once you're growing: $39-88/month, which your newsletter should be earning back through ads and sponsorships by that point.

What you don't need

  • A landing page builder. Beehiiv includes customisable subscribe pages
  • A separate analytics tool. Beehiiv's built-in analytics are sufficient until you're past 10,000 subscribers
  • A design tool for email headers. Plain text newsletters outperform designed ones for engagement. Seriously
  • A social media scheduler. Share your newsletter link manually when you publish. Automation can come later

Three tools. Start writing this week. Everything else is a distraction.

For more detail on building a newsletter from scratch, check out our Start a Newsletter use case. Or use the Stack CardNewStack Builder to get personalised tool recommendations for your specific newsletter goals.

Fewer tools. Better writing. More readers.