Kit vs Mailchimp
Kit or Mailchimp? Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Compared on | Visit | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Email marketing for creators, formerly ConvertKit, with a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers | Intuit's email and SMS marketing platform, free for 250 contacts, with AI writing on Standard and Premium |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $32.50/mo billed annually (Creator)Kit pricing | $13/mo (Essentials)Mailchimp pricing |
| What it covers | For 1,000 subscribers (the smallest tier); $390 billed yearly, shown as $33/mo. 2 users. The price rises with subscriber count, for example $50/mo billed yearly at 3,000 subscribers. | Starting price for the 0-500 contacts tier; email sends up to 10x the contact count (5,000 a month at 500 contacts); 3 user seats. The price rises with the contact tier, up to $385/month for 50,000 contacts. Overages are billed if contact or send limits are exceeded. Annual plans exist only for Standard and Premium at 10,000+ contacts, through sales. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Creator or Pro, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of Essentials or Standard (payment details required at sign-up); a 1-month Premium trial for qualified new customers through sales |
| Platforms | Web, API | Web, iOS, Android, API |
| Integrations (vendor's figure) | 100+ direct app integrations through the Kit App Store | 300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Stripe and Salesforce |
| Open source | No | No |
| Made by | Kit, Inc. | The Rocket Science Group LLC d/b/a Mailchimp (part of Intuit) |
Choose Kit if…
- The job is creators growing a newsletter list to 10,000 subscribers without paying.
- The job is selling digital products or paid newsletter subscriptions to an email list.
Choose Mailchimp if…
- Price matters: its cheapest paid plan is $13/mo against $32.50/mo.
- You want a mobile app (iOS and Android).
- The job is small businesses sending regular newsletters to a few thousand contacts.
- The job is ecommerce stores that want automated flows tied to Shopify or WooCommerce data.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, Kit and Mailchimp are also compared with their other rivals: Mailchimp vs Klaviyo, Mailchimp vs Brevo and Mailchimp vs MailerLite.
What Kit does
- Unlimited landing pages and opt-in forms with templates and incentive delivery
- Visual Automations builder and automated email sequences (Creator and Pro)
- Subscriber tagging and segmentation, with engagement scoring on Pro
- Kit MCP for connecting Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini to the account (Creator and Pro)
- AI subject line generation and testing inside the email editor
- Commerce: digital products, paid newsletters, recurring subscriptions and tip jars
Watch out for
- The free plan has no automations, sequences or app integrations
- Creator includes 2 users; unlimited users need Pro
- Digital product and subscription sales carry a 3.5% + 30c fee on every plan
What Mailchimp does
- Drag-and-drop email builder with pre-built and branded templates; custom-coded templates can be sent on Standard and Premium
- Marketing Automation Flows: up to 4 steps per flow on Essentials, up to 200 steps with branching and multiple starting points on Standard and Premium
- Signup forms, pop-up forms, landing pages and surveys on every plan
- Tags and segmentation, with predictive segments, customer lifetime value and purchase likelihood on Standard and Premium
- Intuit Assist generative AI: Write with AI in the email editor, plus send time and send day optimization (Standard and Premium)
- Subject line helper and suggested next actions on every plan
Watch out for
- The free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with no automation flows or scheduling
- Essentials automation flows are limited to 4 steps; generative AI features need Standard or Premium
- Overage charges apply on paid plans when contact or send limits are exceeded
Questions
Is Kit or Mailchimp cheaper?
On published entry prices, Mailchimp is cheaper: $32.50/mo billed annually (Creator) for Kit against $13/mo (Essentials) for Mailchimp. What each plan includes differs, so compare the limits too.
Do Kit and Mailchimp have free plans?
Both do. Kit: Up to 10,000 subscribers; unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts; tagging and segmentation; sell digital products and subscriptions (3.5% + 30c per sale); 1 user. No visual automations, email sequences, RSS campaigns or app integrations, and Kit branding stays on. Mailchimp: Up to 250 contacts; 500 email sends a month with no more than 250 a day; 1 user seat and 1 audience; limited pre-built templates; no automation flows, email scheduling or A/B testing; Mailchimp branding stays on; email support for the first 30 days only. Sending pauses if the contact or send limit is exceeded.