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Short answer: pick Kit if you sell your own products, services or digital downloads and want simple, powerful automations. Pick Mailchimp if you run an online store, want lots of designed templates, and care more about pretty one-off campaigns than automated sequences.
Both are solid tools. The real difference is who they were built for. Mailchimp was built for businesses sending newsletters and promotions. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) was built for creators and small businesses that sell through email. That one difference shapes pricing, features and how each tool feels day to day.
Below you'll find the side-by-side comparison, what each free plan really gets you, and a simple way to decide in under a minute.
Kit vs Mailchimp at a glance
| Kit | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Creators, coaches, service businesses, digital products | E-commerce stores, businesses wanting many templates |
| Free plan | Generous subscriber limit, unlimited landing pages and forms | Small contact limit and a monthly send cap |
| Automations | Visual automation builder, tags, sequences | Customer journeys (more limited on lower plans) |
| Email design | Clean, text-focused templates | Large drag-and-drop template library |
| Selling built in | Digital products, paid newsletters, tips | Shopify / WooCommerce integrations, product blocks |
| How you're billed | By subscribers | By contacts (including unsubscribed contacts kept in your audience) |
| Learning curve | Low | Low to medium |
Pricing: what you'll actually pay as your list grows
Entry prices look similar on both pricing pages. The gap appears as your list grows.
Kit bills by subscriber count and its free plan has historically been one of the most generous around, enough for most small businesses to build their first few thousand subscribers without paying. You upgrade mostly to unlock automations and integrations, not to add more people.
Mailchimp bills by contacts, and the free plan has a much lower contact limit and a monthly email cap. One detail catches people out: depending on your plan and settings, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can still count toward your bill unless you archive them.
What to do: look up the price at three list sizes on both pricing pages and add them to this table before publishing.
| List size | Kit (paid plan with automations) | Mailchimp (Standard) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $ | $ |
| 5,000 | $ | $ |
| 10,000 | $ | $ |
Free plan: what you really get
For a brand-new business, the free plan matters more than anything else.
Kit free plan includes unlimited landing pages and signup forms, broadcasts (one-off emails), subscriber tagging and the ability to sell digital products. That's everything you need to build a list from zero. What you're missing are automated sequences, which you'll want once you have a lead magnet and a welcome series.
Mailchimp free plan gives you the email builder, basic templates, a landing page builder and signup forms. The limits on contacts and monthly sends mean you'll outgrow it quickly if your list takes off, and most automation features need a paid plan.
Winner for a new list: Kit. You can grow much further before paying anything.
Automations
Automations are where email starts making money while you sleep: welcome sequences, nurture emails, product launches, follow-ups after purchase.
Kit uses a visual automation builder. You connect a trigger (someone joins a form, buys a product, clicks a link) to actions (send a sequence, add a tag, wait, branch). Tags are the heart of Kit. Instead of managing separate lists, you have one list and tag people by interest and behaviour. It is simple and it scales well.
Mailchimp calls them Customer Journeys. They are capable, especially for e-commerce triggers like abandoned carts and post-purchase follow-ups when you connect a store. The more advanced branching features sit on higher plans.
Winner: Kit for service businesses and digital products. Mailchimp for e-commerce if you're connecting Shopify or WooCommerce.
Deliverability
Deliverability is whether your emails land in the inbox or in spam. Both tools have good reputations. In practice your own habits matter far more than the platform:
- Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your domain (both tools walk you through it).
- Send from your own domain, never a free Gmail address.
- Only email people who opted in. Never buy a list.
- Clean out subscribers who haven't opened anything in 90+ days.
Winner: tie. Your list hygiene decides this, not the tool.
Templates and email design
If beautiful, image-heavy emails matter to your brand, Mailchimp wins. Its template library and drag-and-drop editor are among the best available.
Kit leans towards clean, text-based emails. That isn't a weakness. Plain emails that read like a note from a person often get better engagement than designed newsletters, and they are faster to write. Kit does have a visual editor and templates, just fewer of them.
Winner: Mailchimp for design, Kit for speed of writing.
Selling through email
Kit lets you sell digital products (templates, e-books, prompt packs), paid newsletters and tips directly from your account, without a separate store. For a small business selling knowledge or services, that's a big plus.
Mailchimp is stronger when you already have a store: product recommendation blocks, purchase data in your audience and e-commerce automations.
Who should choose Kit
- You sell services, coaching, courses or digital products.
- You want to build a list for free for as long as possible.
- You plan to use a lead magnet plus a welcome sequence (you should).
- You prefer simple, personal emails over designed newsletters.
Start with Kit's free plan
Who should choose Mailchimp
- You run an online store on Shopify or WooCommerce.
- Designed, image-rich campaigns are central to your brand.
- Your team already knows Mailchimp and the list is small.
Try Mailchimp
How to switch from Mailchimp to Kit
- Export your subscribed contacts from Mailchimp as a CSV.
- In Kit, import the CSV and add a tag such as `imported-mailchimp`.
- Rebuild your signup forms in Kit and swap the embed code on your website.
- Recreate your welcome sequence (a good moment to improve it).
- Send a short "same newsletter, new home" email so people recognise your next send.
Kit has historically offered free migration help for paid plans. .
Our verdict
For most small businesses reading this blog, Kit is the better choice: a more generous free plan, simpler automations and built-in selling. Mailchimp is the better pick for e-commerce stores and design-led brands.
Whichever you choose, the tool matters less than starting. An email list is the one marketing asset you fully own.
FAQ
Is Kit free?
Yes. Kit has a free plan that includes unlimited landing pages, forms and broadcasts up to a subscriber limit. Automations and integrations require a paid plan.
Is Kit the same as ConvertKit?
Yes. ConvertKit rebranded as Kit in 2024. Same company, same product.
Can I move my list from Mailchimp to Kit?
Yes. Export your contacts as a CSV from Mailchimp and import them into Kit. Tag them on import so you know where they came from.
Which is better for beginners?
Both are beginner-friendly. Kit is usually easier to grow on for free, while Mailchimp is easier if you want ready-made designed templates.
Is Mailchimp good for small business?
Yes, especially for online stores. Just check how contacts are counted on your plan so your bill doesn't grow faster than your list.
