Letterpad

Free plan Self-hostedWeb

What Letterpad is

Letterpad is a web and self-hosted publishing platform for sharing stories, building an audience, and earning money. Its free plan includes unlimited posts, basic analytics, and earnings of $2 / 1000 reads. Pro costs $5 a month and adds an AI-powered editor, domain mapping, extended analytics, custom pages, a photostory builder, a custom email template, earnings of $4 / 1000 reads, a Pro Badge, and priority support. AI editing can condense, rephrase, or change the tone of selected text, while an AI assistant helps with openings, word choice, and complex topics. Other creative tools generate tables of contents and article summaries; an SEO assistant creates post titles and meta tags. Letterpad supports custom domains and custom-code theme changes, integrates with Unsplash for cover images, and is open source for self-hosting. It says blogs show no ads. Its pricing model is freemium, with paid access from $5/mo.

Who it suits

It suits writers seeking a place to publish across genres, connect with readers, and earn from reads. Self-hosting and custom-code themes also suit creators wanting control over deployment or presentation.

What it does well

Free plan allows unlimited posts
Pro adds AI editing and writing assistance
Supports custom domains and custom-code themes
Offers basic and extended analytics
Open-source engine can run on your server

What to know first

Free analytics are basic
Advanced AI tools require Pro
Pro costs $5 a month
Servers are maintained in the United States

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Free	Unlimited Posts · Basic Analytics · Earnings ($2 / 1000 reads)	Free
Pro	$5/month · AI Powered Editor · Domain Mapping · Extended Analytics · Custom pages & photostory builder · Custom Email Template · Earnings 2x ($4 / 1000 reads) · Pro Badge · Priority Support	$5 a month

As letterpad.app lists them, read 9 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Verdict

Letterpad provides a free publishing entry point with optional AI, analytics, domain, and presentation tools in Pro. Its self-hosting option and read-based earnings model give writers additional ways to manage and monetize a publication.

Facts from Letterpad's own pages

Ads: Letterpad says it does not show ads on blogs and relies on subscriptions in exchange for creative tools. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
AI assistant: Pro includes a context-aware AI chatbot for improving opening paragraphs, word choice, and complex topics. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
AI editing: Pro inline AI editing can turn a selected paragraph into one sentence or bullets, rephrase it, or modify its tone. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Analytics: Letterpad offers basic analytics on Free and advanced analytics on Pro. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Audience: Letterpad’s About post presents it as a writing platform for people seeking a place to publish across genres and connect with readers. · blog.letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Blog analytics: Yes · letterpad.app, 21 Sept 2026
Creative tools: Letterpad says its creative tools can generate a table of contents and summarize an article. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Custom domain: Yes · letterpad.app, 21 Sept 2026
Free plan: Yes · letterpad.app, 21 Sept 2026
Integrations: Letterpad’s publishing documentation says its editor is integrated with an AI model for text analysis and suggestions, and with Unsplash for cover images. · docs.letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Monetization: Letterpad says creators currently earn based on the number of reads their stories receive, with PayPal used to receive earnings. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Open source and hosting: The documentation describes Letterpad as an open-source blog publishing engine that can be used as a platform or on the user's own server. · docs.letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Privacy: The privacy policy says Letterpad servers are maintained in the United States and that it may share information with service providers supporting its business. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Product: Letterpad describes itself as a platform for sharing stories, building an audience, and earning money. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Security: The privacy policy says Letterpad encrypts the connection to users’ computers and restricts staff and contractor data access to authorized personnel. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
SEO: Its one-click SEO assistant generates post titles and meta tags automatically. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Paid from: 5 · letterpad.app, 21 Sept 2026
Support: The Pro plan lists priority support. · letterpad.app, 9 Oct 2026
Theme customization: custom code · letterpad.app, 21 Sept 2026

Where Letterpad stands on Freedom251

Blogging Platforms#63 of 125