Kit (formerly ConvertKit) vs Mailchimp

Is Kit the same as ConvertKit?

Yes. ConvertKit renamed itself Kit, and on 1 November 2026 convertkit.com answers with a permanent redirect (an automatic forward) to kit.com. Guides that say ConvertKit describe the same product.

Which costs less at your list size?

Kit costs nothing under 10,000 subscribers, the lower bill for a list that can do without automations. Mailchimp’s free plan stops at 250 contacts. Each tool’s cheapest plan that fits the list, read on 6 November 2026 from the Kit pricing page and the Mailchimp pricing page:

Those rows compare unlike plans, though. Kit Free has no visual automations, sequences or AI Connectors (Kit Free plan).

The Kit Free plan

Price The Free plan costs $0 per month for as long as you stay under 10,000 subscribers.

Not on Free Visual automations and the automation template library, email sequences, rules and RSS campaigns, AI Connectors, and paid apps in the Kit App Store.

Kit’s help centre words the free limit both as “under 10,000” and “up to 10,000” subscribers. Past it, you upgrade to a paid plan to keep sending.

The Kit Free plan

Past the cap You’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to keep sending.

Switching back If you’re on a paid plan, you keep your paid features until the end of your current billing period. If you’re on a trial, access to paid features ends as soon as you switch.

Automations Visual automations and sequences stop running while you’re on the Free plan.

Mailchimp Essentials has no generative AI. The closer match is Kit Creator, Kit’s first plan with automations and AI Connectors, against Mailchimp Standard, Mailchimp’s first plan with generative AI.

Kit’s slider jumps from 45,000 to 55,000 subscribers, so a 50,000 list pays the 55,000 price. Kit’s smallest paid step is 1,000, which is why it costs nearly double at 500. A 1,000-subscriber list also pays $39 on Kit Creator. Mailchimp prices it on its 501 to 1,500 tier, between the 500 and 2,500 rows.

Two offers sit outside these list prices. Kit’s yearly billing saves 17 per cent (Kit pricing). Mailchimp shows 50 per cent off for the first 12 months and publishes no yearly price, so month 13 brings the full figure (Mailchimp pricing).

The same tiers for 15 tools, with a finder: email marketing prices.

Who counts towards each bill?

Kit bills by confirmed subscribers, and Mailchimp bills by every contact you store. The gap grows with the age of your list.

Mailchimp’s help centre says subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts all count towards the limit; archived, cleaned and deleted ones do not (About Mailchimp pricing plans).

How contacts are counted

Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts are included in your contact count.

Archived, cleaned, and deleted contacts don’t count toward your contact total or the price of your marketing plan.

A list that has shed 1,000 unsubscribers keeps paying for them until you archive them.

Kit’s billing article counts confirmed subscribers and ignores how many emails you send. Pass a tier and the account moves up by itself. Dropping back is a manual “Switch to a lower tier” request that takes effect on the next billing date. Kit’s billing article does not say how it counts unsubscribed or bounced addresses.

Mailchimp also caps sends at 12 times your contacts a month on Standard. Over a contact or send limit, it adds overage blocks to the next bill instead of stopping your campaign (Mailchimp pricing).

Which AI features sit on which plan?

Mailchimp’s generative AI starts on Standard. Kit names no plan for its editor AI. Its AI Connectors (an MCP server, a link that lets Claude or ChatGPT read and act on your account) need Creator.

The Mailchimp pricing page lists generative AI as “No additional cost add-on” on Standard and Premium and “Not included” on Essentials and Free. A pricing page footnote puts predictive segments on Standard or Premium; Standard starts at $20 a month for 500 contacts, read 6 November 2026.

Kit’s AI page describes a subject-line generator and tester inside the broadcast editor, and names no plan or limit (kit.com/ai).

AI Connectors give an assistant 65 or more tools on your account. On Free the client connects, but every tool call returns an upgrade prompt (Kit help centre). What these features do across the category: AI features in email tools.

Does Kit or Mailchimp train AI on your list?

Mailchimp’s terms say yes, Customer Data included. Kit says it trains no AI model on Kit data; that statement sits in a help article, and its terms do not mention AI.

Mailchimp’s Standard Terms of Use (effective 10 October 2025) say “We may use your Inputs and Outputs, including Customer Data, for machine learning purposes in order to develop and improve the AI Model” (section 30).

Standard Terms of Use, 30

We may use your Inputs and Outputs, including Customer Data, for machine learning purposes in order to develop and improve the AI Model, the Services, and similar products and features, and you instruct us to process Customer Data for such purposes.

Customer Data is your contact list and what you store about it.

The same section adds “You may select preferences about your data by visiting your account settings”, without saying that a setting stops training.

Section 30 also grants Mailchimp an “irrevocable” licence to process Inputs and Outputs “for any purpose”. It asks you to add a disclaimer to AI-built campaigns where Mailchimp requires one.

Kit’s AI Connectors article states: “Kit itself does not train any AI/LLM on Kit data.” The same answer warns that a third-party assistant you connect follows its own training settings.

AI Connectors, security and data FAQ

Kit itself does not train any AI/LLM on Kit data. Please note, however, once a creator connects AI Connectors to a third-party AI client (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.), that provider’s own data-handling settings govern whether prompts/data get used for model training.

Kit’s terms (5 September 2025) do not mention AI. Every vendor’s answer in one table: does your email tool train AI?

What Kit charges on sales, and what Mailchimp adds

Kit takes a fee on anything you sell through it: paid newsletters, digital products and tips. Selling in US dollars costs 3.5 per cent plus $0.30 a transaction, on every plan including Free (Kit Commerce FAQs). The article calls that “the only cost of selling through Kit”.

Mailchimp’s extra charges come from the list instead. Unsubscribed contacts count, overage blocks land on the next bill, and Premium has no tier below 10,000 contacts. Its pricing page sells SMS as an add-on.

So a creator selling a paid newsletter to 2,000 readers pays Kit nothing a month on Free, plus the fee on each sale. On Mailchimp, the same list needs a paid plan before the first email.

Moving from Mailchimp to Kit

Kit includes migration with every paid plan (Kit migrations). Under 10,000 subscribers, the Essentials service moves your subscribers, tags, lists and segments in 2 to 5 business days.

From 10,000 subscribers, Concierge adds a rebuild of your forms, automation emails, templates and integrations, with a rush service at extra cost.

Kit’s migrations page says broadcast analytics stay on the old platform, so export the campaign reports you want before closing that account. Archive the unsubscribed contacts you no longer need first, too: Mailchimp bills them until you do.

What Kit and Mailchimp users report

Kit users praise ease of use and complain about slow support and price rises as lists grow. Mailchimp’s readable review text is too thin to show a pattern.

• Kit is easy to use, including for people with little technical skill (6 of 19 Kit sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot).
• Kit support turns slow or unhelpful once a billing or technical problem starts (5 of 19 Kit sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot).
• Kit’s price climbs as contacts are added, and some find it too high for their size (4 of 19 Kit sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot).
• Kit closed some accounts with little or no notice (2 of 19 Kit sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot).
• Mailchimp’s cost grows with the list, called a “subscriber tax” in a post promoting a rival (1 of 5 Mailchimp sources: Reddit).

Who should pick which?

Pick Kit if you run a newsletter under 10,000 subscribers and broadcasts are enough. Free covers it, and selling to that list costs only the per-sale fee. Pick Kit Creator from about 2,500 subscribers if you want automations. It sits within 3 per cent of Mailchimp Standard at 2,500 and 10,000 and costs $71 less at 50,000.

Pick Mailchimp if your list sits near 500 contacts and you want generative AI on a plan that names it. Standard costs about half of Kit Creator there. It also suits teams that keep their list clean, since unsubscribed contacts are what inflate a Mailchimp bill.

For a newsletter that earns from ads and referrals, see beehiiv vs Kit. For a cheaper paid plan with AI drafting, Kit vs MailerLite and Mailchimp alternatives. Each tool alone: Kit for email marketing and Kit pricing, Mailchimp for email marketing and Mailchimp pricing. The whole section: AI email marketing.

Questions buyers ask about Kit and Mailchimp

Is Kit cheaper than Mailchimp?

Under 10,000 subscribers, yes, on Kit’s Free plan. On Kit Creator and Mailchimp Standard, Mailchimp costs less at 500 contacts and Kit costs less at 50,000. At 2,500 and 10,000 the two sit within 3 per cent.

Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?

Yes. Mailchimp’s help centre counts subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts towards your limit. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count.

Does Kit have AI writing?

Kit’s AI page describes a subject-line generator and tester in the broadcast editor, and names no plan. Its AI Connectors, which let Claude or ChatGPT work in your account, need Creator.

Does Kit migrate my list for free?

Yes, on any paid plan. Under 10,000 subscribers Kit moves subscribers, tags, lists and segments in 2 to 5 business days; from 10,000 it also rebuilds forms and automation emails.

More email tool comparisons sit together in the AI email marketing hub →