Newsletter platforms
AWeber vs Lighthouse compared on 15 fields
- AWeber score
- 85/100 (6 of 8 criteria)
- Lighthouse score
- 73/100 (5 of 8 criteria)
- Fields won by AWeber
- 3 of 6
- Fields won by Lighthouse
- 0 of 6
AWeber
Lighthouse
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
AWeber and Lighthouse are both newsletter platforms. We compared them on 15 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the newsletter platforms scorecard AWeber scores 85/100 (6 of 8 criteria) and Lighthouse 73/100 (5 of 8 criteria) (ranks 7 and 17 in the category).
Of the 6 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), AWeber wins 3, Lighthouse wins 0 and 3 are ties.
AWeber scores clearly higher on free plan or trial, verified features and entry price.
Side by side
| Field | AWeber | Lighthouse | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | ✓ $15/month | $19/month | AWeber |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | $12.49/month | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Free plan | ✓ Yes | No | AWeber |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Trial length (days) | ✓ 14 | 7 | AWeber |
| Platforms supported | 1 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Integrations (vendor count) | 750 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Public API | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Data export | – | Waitlist data as CSV (Pro) | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Paid subscriptions | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Automations / sequences | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Custom domain | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Landing pages and forms | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Segmentation and tags | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Open and click analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: AWeber pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Lighthouse pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | AWeber | Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 79$15/month billed monthly on Lite; $12.49/month billed annually on Lite (scored on the monthly price) | 69$19/month billed monthly on Starter (scored on the monthly price) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 100Free plan (Free) | 60Free trial (7 days), no free plan |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 1003 of 3 plans have a public price | 932 of 2 plans have a public price |
| Verified features | 15% | 1005 of 9 tracked features verified: paid subscriptions, automations / sequences, landing pages and forms, segmentation and tags, open and click analytics | 603 of 9 tracked features verified: custom domain, landing pages and forms, open and click analytics |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100750 integrations | 100public API, documented data export |
| Free plan limits | 10% | 25Free plan: 500 subscribers, 3,000 emails per month | – |
| Total score | 100% | 85/100 (6 of 8 criteria) | 73/100 (5 of 8 criteria) |
AWeber plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace |
|
| Lite | $15 | $12.49 | per workspace |
|
| Plus | $30 | $19.99 | per workspace |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Lighthouse plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
| Pro | $29 | Not stated | per workspace | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these newsletter platforms is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v2). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to newsletter platforms. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other newsletter platforms on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $9/month or less = 100, $100 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $9/month or less = 100, $159 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 9 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (paid subscriptions, automations / sequences, custom domain, referral programme, a/b testing, landing pages and forms, segmentation and tags, newsletter website, open and click analytics). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 5 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Cost at 1,000 subscribers | 10% | Category | Monthly price of the cheapest paid plan that allows at least 1,000 subscribers.Log scale: $5/month or less = 100, $100 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a subscriber limit are not used. |
| Free plan limits | 10% | Category | What the free plan allows: subscribers (full marks at 2,500), emails per month (full marks at 10,000).Each stated limit linear up to its full mark (unlimited = 100), averaged. Tools without a free plan, or whose free plan states none of these limits, are not scored here. |
| Paid subscriptions | 5% | Category | Whether writers can charge for subscriptions, and the platform's fee on that revenue.No paid subscriptions (verified) = 0; paid subscriptions: linear, 0% fee = 100, 15% or more = 0. Fee not stated = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is AWeber cheaper than Lighthouse?
AWeber starts lower: $15 per month billed monthly ($12.49 billed yearly) on the Lite plan, against $19 per month billed monthly on the Starter plan for Lighthouse. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do AWeber and Lighthouse have free plans?
AWeber has a free plan; Lighthouse does not.
Which is better, AWeber or Lighthouse?
On our scorecard AWeber scores higher (85/100 (6 of 8 criteria) vs 73/100 (5 of 8 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.