MailerLite vs ConvertKit (Kit) in 2026: I Run My Business on One of Them

Last updated: July 24, 2026

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for both platforms, which means I earn a commission if you sign up through one of them, at no extra cost to you. Here is the part most comparison posts skip: I have run my own business email on Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for years. I set up MailerLite and tested it properly before writing this. Where I am speaking from daily use versus hands-on testing, I tell you which.

MailerLite vs Kit at a Glance (2026)

Prices shown are at the 1,000 subscriber tier. Both platforms charge more as your list grows, and both give you roughly two months free if you pay annually. Check the current tier for your list size before you commit, because the gap between them changes as you scale.

Pricing: MailerLite Is Genuinely Cheaper, and It's Not Close

Let's be real, this is why most people are reading a comparison in the first place.

At 1,000 subscribers, MailerLite Comfort runs about $19 a month. Kit Creator runs about $39. That's roughly $240 a year difference for a list size that most small businesses take a year or two to reach.

Here's the thing I'd want someone to tell me: at that list size, you probably cannot yet prove that email is making you $240 more on one platform than the other. So if budget is the deciding factor right now, it should be, and MailerLite is the answer. There's no shame in picking the cheaper tool while your list is small. You can move later.

MailerLite's Power plan is the one worth looking at if you're comparing seriously. It gives you unlimited automations, unlimited emails, unlimited sites and landing pages, and unlimited user seats. At 1,000 subscribers it lands around $39 a month, which is roughly what Kit charges for its entry plan, and you're getting MailerLite's top tier for the price of Kit's cheapest.

See MailerLite's current pricing › See Kit's current pricing ›

Calculator: What Will You Actually Pay at Your List Size?

Both platforms price by how many subscribers you have, which makes the comparison tables you find online almost useless. A price that's true at 1,000 subscribers is wrong at 5,000. So put your real number in and see what each one costs you.

One thing the calculator makes obvious: the gap between the two widens as your list grows. That matters, because you're not choosing a tool for the list you have today, you're choosing one for the list you're building.

Check MailerLite for your list size › Check Kit for your list size ›

The Free Plans Are Not What Everyone Assumes

This is the part most comparisons get wrong, and it surprised me too.

MailerLite has the reputation for being the generous free option, but their free plan caps at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. As of this update, Kit's free Newsletter plan goes to 1,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, unlimited landing pages, and unlimited forms.

The catch is automations. Kit's free plan gives you exactly one basic automation. MailerLite's free plan gives you three, plus two user seats and one digital product you can sell.

So the honest read: if you're starting from zero and just want to send a newsletter while you build to your first thousand people, Kit's free plan is the more generous starting point. If you want to actually automate something (a welcome sequence, a lead magnet delivery, a follow-up), you'll hit the wall on Kit's free plan almost immediately and MailerLite gives you more room to play.

Neither free plan is where you stay. They're both onramps, and they're designed that way.

Where MailerLite Genuinely Wins

The price, obviously. Covered above, but it deserves repeating because it's not a small gap. It's roughly half the cost at the same list size, and the gap widens as your list grows.

The website builder. MailerLite includes actual website building, not just landing pages. If you don't have a site yet, or your site is an afterthought, this is real value that Kit doesn't match. Ten sites on Comfort, unlimited on Power.

The learning curve. I set MailerLite up cold and had a campaign built faster than I expected. The interface makes obvious things obvious. Kit is not hard, but it asks you to understand its tagging model before it fully makes sense, and that's a real cost when you just want to send an email this afternoon.

The AI writing assistant. Built in, useful for subject lines and first drafts when you're staring at a blank editor. Small thing, but a nice one.

The MailerLite dashboard

Where Kit Genuinely Wins

I want to be careful here, because this is the platform I actually use, and it would be easy to let that turn into cheerleading. So let me be specific about what has mattered in practice.

The tagging and segmentation model. Kit doesn't think in lists, it thinks in people with tags attached. One subscriber, many tags. That sounds like a technical detail until you want to email "everyone who clicked the link about the workshop but hasn't bought yet." In Kit that's a two-minute segment. That capability is the difference between sending newsletters and running a business on email.

Automations that branch. Unlimited visual automations on the Creator plan, and they can trigger on behavior: purchased, clicked, opened, went quiet for 14 days. This is the piece I lean on most. Sequences that run without me are the reason my email list has felt like it's working while I'm on a shoot.

Selling to your list. Kit is built with the assumption that you're going to sell something. Digital products, paid newsletters, subscriptions. It's native, not bolted on.

Deliverability reputation. Kit has a strong reputation for getting creator email into inboxes, and my own sending has been consistent over years. I'm not going to quote you a stat I can't verify, and anyone who does is guessing, but I can tell you it hasn't been a problem I've had to think about.

Inside Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Who Should Pick Which

Pick MailerLite if: you're budget-conscious and honest about it, you want a website and email in one place, your emails are mostly broadcasts to your whole list, or you're new to email marketing and want the fastest path to sending something good.

Pick Kit if: you sell digital products, you want to segment your list by behavior and send different things to different people, you're building automations that branch, or your email list is the main way you make money.

A quick gut check. Ask yourself what you'd do with a subscriber who clicked your sales link three times and didn't buy. If your answer is "email everyone again," MailerLite is plenty. If your answer is "I'd want to send THOSE people something different," you want Kit, and you'll feel the limits of a cheaper tool within a few months.

The Third Option Nobody Mentions in These Comparisons

If you're comparing email platforms because you want to sell courses or digital products, there's a version of this decision that isn't about email tools at all.

I ran my photography course, Personal Branding Breakthrough, on Kajabi for several years. Hundreds of students, multiple six figures. Kajabi does email marketing, funnels, checkout, and course hosting in one platform, which meant I wasn't paying for and connecting three separate tools during a launch.

It costs more than either platform on this page, and it's overkill if you just need a newsletter. But if your real question is "how do I sell a course to my email list," you may be comparing the wrong two things. I wrote up the full picture in my honest Kajabi review and broke down what it actually costs in my Kajabi pricing guide.

My Verdict

Jess · Art of Her · Kit customer for years

I use Kit, and I'd choose it again, because my list is how I sell and the segmentation is worth every dollar of the difference to me.

That is not the same as telling you Kit is the better platform for you.

If you're building an email list to sell things to specific groups of people, pay the extra and get Kit. If you want to send a genuinely good newsletter, run a few automations, and keep your costs down while you figure out what your business is, MailerLite at $12 is the smarter buy and you will not feel like you settled.

The mistake isn't picking the "wrong" one. It's spending three months comparing instead of sending. Both of these tools are good. Pick one this week and go write to your people.

Try MailerLite free › Try Kit free ›

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MailerLite cheaper than ConvertKit?

Yes. At 1,000 subscribers, MailerLite's Comfort plan runs about $19/month compared to about $39/month for Kit's Creator plan on monthly billing. Both platforms price by subscriber count and both offer roughly two months free with annual billing, so check the tier for your exact list size.

What is the difference between Kit and ConvertKit?

They are the same platform. ConvertKit rebranded to Kit, so any comparison of "ConvertKit vs MailerLite" and "Kit vs MailerLite" is comparing the same two tools. Older reviews use the ConvertKit name.

Does Kit (ConvertKit) have a free plan?

Kit offers a free Newsletter plan for up to 1,000 subscribers with unlimited email broadcasts, landing pages, and forms, limited to one basic automation. Plan terms change, so confirm the current limits on Kit's pricing page before signing up.

Does MailerLite have a free plan?

Yes. MailerLite's free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month, with 3 active automations, 2 user seats, and 1 digital product you can sell.

Which is better for beginners, MailerLite or Kit?

MailerLite. The interface is simpler, the learning curve is gentler, and it costs less while you are figuring out what you want email to do for your business. Kit's tagging model is more powerful but takes longer to understand.

Which is better for selling digital products?

Kit. It is built around the assumption that you are selling to your list, with behavior-based automations, detailed segmentation, paid newsletters, and native digital product sales. MailerLite can sell digital products but the segmentation is less sophisticated.

Can I switch from ConvertKit to MailerLite?

Yes. Both platforms support importing subscribers by CSV, and MailerLite offers migration help. The part that does not transfer cleanly is your automations and tag structure, so plan to rebuild those rather than expecting a straight copy across.

Is Kit worth the extra money?

It is worth it if you segment your list and sell to it. The extra roughly $20 a month at a 1,000 subscriber list buys you unlimited branching automations and behavior-based segmentation. If you mostly send the same email to everyone, you are paying for capability you will not use.