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Newsletter platform refund policies (2026): which monthly and yearly plans can you get money back on?

Last verified 20 Oct 2026 against official pricing pages · published 31 Oct 2026

Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.

Short answer: on most newsletter platforms, money you've paid stays paid. Of the 14 we checked, only Mailchimp promises a money-back window on yearly plans (60 days, full refund), Constant Contact backs every new plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and EmailOctopus refunds unused months to individuals who aren't buying for a business. Everyone else says fees are non-refundable: cancelling stops the next renewal and you keep the plan until the paid period ends.

Each row summarises that platform's own terms of service (linked, read 2026-10-31). Yearly savings are computed from official prices on our pricing pages. This isn't legal advice, and your country's consumer law may give you more rights than the terms say.

Refund and cancellation rules by platform

Platform	Monthly plan	Yearly plan	Cancelling	Yearly billing saves	Source
Mailchimp	No refund or credit on monthly plans (Mailchimp may offer one at its discretion).	60-day money-back guarantee: full refund of the annual fee if you ask Mailchimp billing within 60 days of purchase.	Monthly: cancelling or deleting the account is immediate; a downgrade starts at the end of the billing month. Annual: close the account through sales, with no refund after 60 days.	—	Terms
beehiiv	All fees are non-refundable.	No prorated refund if you cancel mid-term.	Cancel in Workspace Settings; you keep the plan until the end of the paid term and it doesn't renew. A downgrade also waits until the term ends.	$240 14% on Lite, 10,000 subscribers	Terms
Kit	No refund of fees already paid if you cancel before the period ends.	Same: no refund of the remaining months.	Cancel at any time in your renewal settings or by emailing [email protected]; the plan then doesn't renew.	—	Terms
MailerLite	No refund, including unused plans, a plan bought by mistake or a cancellation right after a renewal charge.	Only if MailerLite ends the service without cause before the paid year is over.	Any refund MailerLite chooses to give can only be made within 30 days of the last payment.	$22.80 10% on Comfort, 1,000 subscribers	Terms
Ghost	Fees are not refundable; all sales are final unless Ghost decides otherwise.	Same: not refundable.	Cancel any time in your site's dashboard before the period ends to stop the automatic renewal.	$36 17% on Starter, 1,000 subscribers	Terms
Brevo	No refunds for prepaid or unused fees.	Same: the subscription can't be cancelled before its term ends, and unused fees aren't refunded.	Closing the account doesn't end a running subscription; it auto-renews for the same length unless you stop it.	$21 10% on Starter, 1,000 subscribers	Terms
Klaviyo	Fees are charged in advance and are non-refundable.	Same, unless Klaviyo ends the agreement without cause or for its own uncured breach (then a pro-rata refund may apply).	No refund of fees already paid when the agreement ends, apart from those two cases.	—	Terms
ActiveCampaign	You pay all fees up to the cancellation date; the terms offer no money-back period.	Same for quarterly and annual plans.	Cancel in your account or by emailing [email protected] (account owner only); it takes effect at the end of the current period. Not logging in doesn't cancel.	$48 21% on Starter, 1,000 subscribers	Terms
GetResponse	No refunds, even if you cancel right after a renewal charge.	Same for 12- and 24-month periods: you pay for the whole period.	Cancelling stops future charges only. App Store purchases are refunded through Apple, not GetResponse.	—	Terms
HubSpot	Amounts paid are non-refundable and payment obligations can't be cancelled.	You can't cancel before the end of the current term and get no refund of prepaid fees.	To stop a renewal, turn off auto-renew before the term ends.	—	Terms
Omnisend	Charges are non-refundable.	Same, unless an order form says otherwise.	Plans renew automatically each period unless you cancel before the renewal date.	—	Terms
EmailOctopus	Cancel before the next renewal date and you aren't charged again.	Business customers: no refund if you cancel mid-year. Consumers (individuals not buying for a business): 14 days to change your mind, and a pro-rata refund of unused months if you cancel later.	Also a pro-rata yearly refund if EmailOctopus changes its terms to your material disadvantage or removes critical functionality and you cancel.	$54 10% on Pro, 10,000 subscribers	Terms
Constant Contact	30-day money-back guarantee on every new plan: cancel within 30 days of signing up for a full refund (pricing page). After that, no refunds of prepaid or unused fees (terms).	30-day money-back guarantee on new plans too, including prepaid 6- or 12-month plans; after 30 days, cancelling early refunds nothing and fees run to the end of the term.	The terms say you must cancel by calling customer support before the subscription renews, or you are billed again.	—	Terms Pricing page
Substack	Writers pay no plan fee (Substack takes a share of paid subscriptions), so there is no plan to refund. Readers: refunds are up to the writer; Substack itself refunds a request sent to its support within 7 days of a payment, unless a perk was claimed or the writer marked the subscription non-refundable.	Readers: the same 7-day rule, plus a refund if the publication is dormant (no posts for 6 months on a yearly subscription, 1 month on a monthly one). iOS app purchases are refunded by Apple.	Writers can refund readers at any time from their dashboard. Substack may also refund duplicate charges caused by a payment error.	—	Refund policy

Saving = 12 monthly payments minus the vendor's printed yearly total, for the cheapest plan that fits 1,000 subscribers (or 10,000 where a free plan covers 1,000). A dash means the vendor prints no yearly total for that plan, a free plan covers both sizes, or there's no saving. Not covered yet: AWeber, Buttondown, Flodesk, Sender, Moosend, Mailjet, SendPulse, Shopify Email, Systeme.io. We couldn't read their terms automatically or they state no clear rule, so check their terms before paying for a year.

Should you pay yearly if you can't get a refund?

Yearly billing is a bet that you'll stay the whole year. With no refund, the saving only pays off if you don't switch platforms in the meantime. A simple rule: if you're still testing a platform, pay monthly for the first month or two (or use its free plan), then switch to yearly once you're sure. Mailchimp is the one platform where trying a yearly plan is low-risk for two months (Constant Contact gives 30 days on any new plan), thanks to its 60-day money-back guarantee.

Set a reminder before the renewal. Every platform here renews automatically. A cancellation only stops the next charge, so cancel before the renewal date, not after.
Closing the account isn't always cancelling. Brevo says closing your account doesn't end a running subscription, and ActiveCampaign says not logging in doesn't cancel anything.
Downgrades wait for the period to end. Mailchimp and beehiiv apply a downgrade at the end of the current billing period, with no refund of the difference.
Breaking the rules forfeits the rest. Every platform keeps prepaid fees if it closes your account for spam or other terms violations.

To see what each platform would cost you monthly vs yearly, use the newsletter cost calculator, or open a platform's pricing page above; each one answers "Is it cheaper if you pay yearly?" with the exact numbers.

Sources

Mailchimp terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
beehiiv terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Kit terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
MailerLite terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Ghost terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Brevo terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Klaviyo terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
ActiveCampaign terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
GetResponse terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
HubSpot terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Omnisend terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
EmailOctopus terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Constant Contact terms of service (read 2026-10-31)
Constant Contact pricing page (30-day guarantee wording, read 2026-10-31)
Substack refund policy (help center) (read 2026-10-31)

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FAQ

Can I get a refund on a yearly email marketing plan?

Usually not. Of the 14 platforms we checked, only Mailchimp promises a money-back window on yearly plans (60 days, full refund), and Constant Contact gives a 30-day money-back guarantee on every new plan, prepaid ones included. EmailOctopus refunds unused months only to individuals who aren't buying for a business. The others say fees are non-refundable: cancelling stops the next renewal, and you keep the plan until the paid period ends. Your country's consumer law may give you extra rights; this summarises only the platforms' own terms.

Does Mailchimp give refunds?

Only on annual plans: Mailchimp offers a 60-day money-back guarantee (full refund if you ask its billing team within 60 days of buying). Monthly plans are not refundable. (From Mailchimp's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does beehiiv give refunds?

beehiiv's terms say all fees are non-refundable: if you cancel a yearly plan you keep access until the term ends, but get no prorated refund. (From beehiiv's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Kit give refunds?

Kit's terms say you can cancel at any time, but fees already paid aren't refunded, including the rest of a yearly plan. (From Kit's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does MailerLite give refunds?

MailerLite's terms say it refunds only if it ends your service without cause before a paid year is over; unused or mistaken yearly plans are not refunded. (From MailerLite's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Ghost give refunds?

Ghost(Pro)'s terms say upgrade fees are not refundable and all sales are final unless Ghost decides otherwise; cancelling only stops the next renewal. (From Ghost's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Brevo give refunds?

Brevo's terms say a subscription can't be cancelled before its term ends and prepaid or unused fees are not refunded, so a yearly plan is a year's commitment. (From Brevo's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Klaviyo give refunds?

Klaviyo's terms say fees are non-refundable; a pro-rata refund is only possible if Klaviyo ends the agreement without cause or for its own uncured breach. (From Klaviyo's terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Constant Contact give refunds?

Constant Contact's pricing page backs every new plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee (cancel within 30 days of signing up for a full refund). After that, its terms say early cancellation refunds no prepaid or unused fees, and you cancel by calling support before the renewal. (From Constant Contact's pricing page and terms of service, read 2026-10-31.)

Does Substack give refunds?

Substack charges writers no plan fee, so there is nothing to refund on the writer side. For readers, refunds are up to the writer, but Substack itself refunds requests made to its support within 7 days of a payment (unless a perk was claimed or the subscription is marked non-refundable) and when a publication goes dormant. (From Substack's refund policy, read 2026-10-31.)

Comparisons: beehiiv vs Kit · beehiiv vs Substack · Kit vs MailerLite · beehiiv vs MailerLite · Substack vs Ghost · Mailchimp vs MailerLite · Brevo vs MailerLite · Brevo vs Mailchimp · Constant Contact vs Mailchimp · Constant Contact vs MailerLite · ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp · GetResponse vs Mailchimp · ActiveCampaign vs GetResponse · GetResponse vs MailerLite · beehiiv vs Ghost · Kit vs Substack · Kit vs Mailchimp · beehiiv vs Mailchimp · Kit vs Ghost · Substack vs MailerLite · Ghost vs MailerLite · Substack vs Mailchimp · Ghost vs Mailchimp · beehiiv vs Brevo · beehiiv vs Constant Contact · beehiiv vs ActiveCampaign · MailerLite vs EmailOctopus · EmailOctopus vs Mailchimp · EmailOctopus vs Brevo · EmailOctopus vs Kit · EmailOctopus vs beehiiv · GetResponse vs Brevo · ActiveCampaign vs Brevo · ActiveCampaign vs Constant Contact · ActiveCampaign vs Kit · ActiveCampaign vs MailerLite · Kit vs Brevo · Constant Contact vs Brevo · Constant Contact vs Kit · GetResponse vs Kit · Klaviyo vs Mailchimp · Klaviyo vs Omnisend · Klaviyo vs Brevo · Klaviyo vs Constant Contact · Klaviyo vs MailerLite · Klaviyo vs Kit · Klaviyo vs ActiveCampaign · Klaviyo vs beehiiv · Klaviyo vs GetResponse · Omnisend vs Mailchimp · Omnisend vs Brevo · Omnisend vs MailerLite · Omnisend vs Kit · Omnisend vs ActiveCampaign · Omnisend vs beehiiv · Constant Contact vs Omnisend · HubSpot vs Mailchimp · HubSpot vs Brevo · HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign · HubSpot vs Constant Contact · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers

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