Kit (formerly ConvertKit) vs Mailchimp

Kit and Mailchimp both operate as freemium email marketing platforms, but they are built for different jobs. Kit is designed around the creator economy: its…

Best for Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Individual creators and solopreneurs who want to grow an audience past 10,000 subscribers for free and sell digital products like courses or ebooks without adding separate commerce tools.
Best for Mailchimp: Businesses and marketing teams that want AI-assisted campaign creation and are willing to accept contact-based pricing in exchange for phone support and a dedicated onboarding specialist at the Premium tier.

At a Glance

 Kit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Primary categoryEmail MarketingEmail Marketing
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting priceFree (paid plans from $33/month)Free (paid plans start around $13/month, price scales with contacts)
Free planYesYes
Free trialYesNot documented
PlatformsWebNot documented
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedYes
Public APIYesNot documented

Key Differences

Free tier ceiling

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers

Mailchimp: Free plan is capped at 250 contacts and 500 sends per month

Determines how long a user can grow an audience before ever paying

Pricing basis

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Paid tiers priced per 1,000 subscribers, starting at 33 dollars a month for Creator

Mailchimp: Contact-based pricing that scales across Essentials, Standard, and Premium tiers, from a few hundred to over a million contacts

Changes how predictable and how steep cost growth is as a list expands

Core positioning

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Built for creators to grow audiences, automate campaigns, and monetize

Mailchimp: General email marketing and automation platform for campaigns and audience management

Signals which product roadmap and feature set a buyer's use case aligns with

Built-in digital product sales

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Sell digital products directly, included in every tier including free

Mailchimp: Not documented

Removes the need for a separate storefront or commerce tool for creators selling courses, ebooks, or templates

AI-assisted content tools

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Not documented

Mailchimp: AI features for campaign creation and content generation

Can speed up campaign drafting for teams producing frequent sends

Audience engagement scoring

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Subscriber Signals on the Pro tier identifies the most engaged audience members

Mailchimp: Not documented

Helps prioritize outreach and monetization toward the most responsive subscribers

SMS marketing availability

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Available on Creator and Pro tiers

Mailchimp: Send SMS campaigns alongside email

Determines whether a single platform can cover both email and text outreach

Premium support depth

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Not documented

Mailchimp: Premium tier includes phone support and a dedicated onboarding specialist

Matters for teams that want hands-on help rather than self-serve documentation

Entry cost at low subscriber volume

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Paid tiers start at a fairly high base of 33 dollars a month, pricier than some general-purpose email tools at low volume

Mailchimp: Free plan is genuinely usable for testing before committing to a paid, contact-scaled tier

Affects how much a very small list costs to start sending paid campaigns

Feature-by-Feature

Pricing and Plans

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Free planAvailableAvailable
Contact or subscriber based pricingAvailableAvailable
Number of paid tiersAvailableAvailable

Core Email Marketing

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Campaign automationAvailableAvailable
Audience and contact managementAvailableAvailable

Audience and Monetization

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Built-in digital product salesAvailableNot documented
Engaged subscriber identificationAvailableNot documented

Messaging Channels

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Email campaignsAvailableAvailable
SMS marketingAvailableAvailable

AI Features

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
AI content generation for campaignsNot documentedAvailable

Support

FeatureKit (formerly ConvertKit)Mailchimp
Phone supportNot documentedAvailable
Dedicated onboarding specialistNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Newsletter (Free) — Free N/A
Creator — $33/month Monthly (also available at $390/year, for up to 1,000 subscribers)
Creator Pro — $66/month Monthly (also available at $790/year, for up to 1,000 subscribers)

Mailchimp

Free — $0 Monthly
Essentials — From ~$13/month Monthly or annual
Standard — From ~$20/month Monthly or annual
Premium — From ~$350/month Monthly or annual

Pros & Cons

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Pros

  • Generous free plan covering up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends, forms and landing pages
  • Built-in creator monetization tools (paid newsletters, digital products, tip jar) rarely bundled by general ESPs
  • Flexible tag-based segmentation avoids duplicating contacts across multiple lists
  • Bootstrapped, profitable company with over a decade of creator-focused product development
  • Free migration support and educational resources (Kit University) for creators switching platforms

Cons

  • Pricing scales quickly with subscriber count on the Creator and Creator Pro tiers
  • Automation and reporting depth is lighter than enterprise marketing suites like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo
  • Digital product sales and paid recommendations carry transaction fees
  • Fewer e-commerce-specific integrations compared to Klaviyo or Omnisend
  • Email and landing page design customization is more basic than design-first tools like Flodesk

Mailchimp

Pros

  • Widely recognized brand with a large template and integration ecosystem
  • Free plan available for very small lists to get started
  • All-in-one suite covering email, landing pages, and light automation
  • Strong e-commerce integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce sellers
  • Backed by Intuit's resources and connections to other small-business tools

Cons

  • Pricing scales quickly with contact count and has risen notably since the Intuit acquisition
  • Free plan limits have been repeatedly reduced, most recently in 2026
  • Automation and segmentation depth trails specialists like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo
  • Higher-tier features like phone support and predictive segmentation are locked behind expensive plans
  • Interface can feel complex for users who only need simple newsletter sending

Use Cases

Choose Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Individual creators and solopreneurs who want to grow an audience past 10,000 subscribers for free and sell digital products like courses or ebooks without adding separate commerce tools.
Choose Mailchimp: Businesses and marketing teams that want AI-assisted campaign creation and are willing to accept contact-based pricing in exchange for phone support and a dedicated onboarding specialist at the Premium tier.
Need both: A creator-led business that outgrows a single audience-monetization tool may run Kit for digital product sales and audience engagement alongside Mailchimp for broader, AI-assisted campaign work or a larger contact list.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

  • Newsletter Monetization — Independent writers launch paid subscription newsletters and manage free-to-paid subscriber conversion.
  • Digital Product and Course Sales — Educators sell digital downloads and online courses directly to their email audience without separate storefront tools.
  • Multi-Platform Audience Building — Creators use tagging and segmentation to unify audiences collected across YouTube, podcasts and social platforms into one email list.

Mailchimp

  • Small business newsletters — Sending regular email newsletters and promotions to a growing customer list.
  • E-commerce marketing automation — Triggering abandoned cart, post-purchase, and win-back emails tied to Shopify or WooCommerce stores.
  • Multi-channel campaign management — Coordinating email, landing pages, and signup forms as part of a broader marketing funnel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Kit or Mailchimp?

It depends on list size and usage: Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers before any payment is needed, while Mailchimp's free plan caps at 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, though Kit's paid Creator tier starts at 33 dollars a month per 1,000 subscribers while Mailchimp's paid cost scales more gradually with contacts across its Essentials, Standard, and Premium tiers.

Is Kit or Mailchimp better for creators just starting out?

Kit is generally the better fit for creators starting out, since its free tier supports up to 10,000 subscribers and includes built-in digital product sales for monetizing directly from the free plan.

Does Mailchimp have AI features?

Yes, Mailchimp includes AI-assisted content tools for campaign creation and content generation; this is not documented as a feature of Kit.

Can Kit send SMS messages?

Yes, Kit supports SMS marketing, but only on its Creator and Pro tiers, not on the free Newsletter plan.

Which platform has the more generous free plan?

Kit has the more generous free plan, supporting up to 10,000 subscribers compared to Mailchimp's free plan limit of 250 contacts and 500 sends per month.

Does Mailchimp offer phone support?

Yes, Mailchimp's Premium tier includes phone support along with a dedicated onboarding specialist; phone support is not documented for Kit at any tier.

Read the full Kit (formerly ConvertKit) review · Read the full Mailchimp review