Nicole's Newsletter | Substack
Depends
Confidence: Low
Free, five-year-old personal newsletter from freelance journalist Nicole Pajer . worth following if you pitch journalists or track her beats, pointless if you're shopping for software.
Comparison
Nicole's Newsletter | Substack vs Mailchimp
Nicole's Newsletter | Substack and Mailchimp both land on Depends.
Mailchimp
Depends
Confidence: High
Buy if you're a small business or startup testing email marketing on the free tier.
| Compare | Nicole's Newsletter | Substack | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | PR pros tracking what journalists need | Small businesses starting email marketing free |
| Who it's not for | Teams evaluating email or newsletter software . wrong page | Large or fast-growing lists . pricing punishes growth |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.⁵ | Three breaches in 12 months (2022-23); brand actively abused in phishing.14 |
| Support quality | No evidence | Insufficient direct evidence in reviewed sources |
| Public sentiment | No independent user reviews found; only the publication's own pages and a third-party directory listing.¹ | Long-time users increasingly complain about complexity, pricing, and post-Intuit decline, while professional reviewers still rate the core email and AI tools highly.⁷ |
| Biggest gotcha | Substack writers can add paid tiers anytime; nothing shown today.¹ | Premium tier starts at $350/month; costs jump steeply between tiers10 |
Pick Nicole's Newsletter | Substack when
- PR pros tracking what journalists need
- Editors scouting freelance writers
- Fans of Nicole Pajer's reporting
When Nicole's Newsletter | Substack is not a fit
- Teams evaluating email or newsletter software . wrong page
- Anyone expecting a product with support, SLAs, or contracts
- Buyers wanting reviews, ratings, or vendor accountability
- Readers outside PR, journalism, or her beats
Pick Mailchimp when
- Small businesses starting email marketing free
- Teams wanting AI-assisted campaigns
- Senders who want a polished, mature platform
When Mailchimp is not a fit
- Large or fast-growing lists . pricing punishes growth
- Anyone wanting simple, predictable billing
- Advanced senders needing deep features (users call it limited)
- Teams handling sensitive recipient data
Sources
- Nicole's Newsletter | Substack (homepage)nicolepajer.substack.comofficial
- Welcome! . by Nicole Pajernicolepajer.substack.comofficial
- About . Nicole's Newsletternicolepajer.substack.comofficial
- How Email Interviews Can Make or Break a Journalist/PR Relationshipnicolepajer.substack.comofficial
- Security pagenicolepajer.substack.comsecurity
- Sidestack directory listingsidestack.ioreview
review
- Mailchimp Pricing 2026: Watch Out for These Extra Costsemailtooltester.comreview
review
review
review
review
- Mailchimp hit by second cyberattack in 6 months, 133 customers impactedcybersecuritydive.comnews
- Mailchimp suffers third breach in 12 monthscomputerweekly.comnews
official