Kit (formerly ConvertKit) vs MailerLite

Which costs less at your list size?

Kit costs nothing up to 10,000 subscribers, as long as you can live without automations. MailerLite’s free plan stops at 250, so a list of 500 already pays.

Both tools bill by list size and ignore how many emails you send, within limits. The table shows the monthly price at four list sizes, on each tool’s cheapest plan for that size.

The free column is Kit’s strongest card. Free covers unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages (Kit Free plan). It leaves out automations (visual automations and sequences) and the AI Connectors.

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.

MailerLite’s Free plan works differently. It holds 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and sending locks once active subscribers pass 250 (MailerLite pricing FAQ).

What automations cost on each, list by list

An automation is an email series that sends itself: a welcome sequence, a course drip, a follow-up after someone buys. The moment you need one, the comparison flips.

Kit’s automations start on Creator. MailerLite’s start on Comfort, which costs less at every list size below.

Kit’s slider jumps from 1,000 to 3,000 and from 45,000 to 55,000, so a list between steps pays for the step above (Kit pricing). MailerLite’s slider has a tier at each of the four sizes, so no list pays for a step above (MailerLite pricing).

Comfort has one cap Kit lacks. It allows 10 times the top of your subscriber tier in emails a month, so 25,000 emails at the 2,500 tier. Power lifts the cap and costs $25 a month at 500 subscribers, checked 6 November 2026.

Yearly billing narrows the gap a little. Kit lists Creator at $33 a month billed yearly billed yearly at the 1,000 step (Kit pricing). MailerLite takes 10% off any monthly price.

Who counts towards the bill, and when the price drops

MailerLite counts active subscribers only. Unsubscribed and bounced addresses do not count, but an address active at any point in a billing cycle counts for that cycle (pricing FAQ).

How do you count subscribers?

Counting Billing is based on the number of active subscribers in your account. Subscribers who have unsubscribed or bounced don’t count. To keep things fair, we use a cumulative count within each billing cycle: this means any address that was active at any point during the cycle counts toward your limit, even if it’s deleted later.

Paid accounts When the number of active subscribers exceeds the current subscriber limit, the subscriber limit will automatically increase and your credit card will be charged for the next pricing tier.

Free accounts When the number of active subscribers exceeds the 250 active subscriber limit, sendings will be locked (campaigns + automation).

Kit bills by confirmed subscribers. Pass a tier’s limit and Kit moves you up automatically. Prune the list and the lower price waits for you to request “Switch to a lower tier”, which starts on your next billing date (Billing at Kit).

Kit’s billing article does not say whether unsubscribed or bounced contacts count. Clean the list before you cross a tier edge on either tool.

Which plan has the AI features?

MailerLite puts an AI writing assistant on Comfort. Kit’s main AI feature is AI Connectors, which lets an assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT work inside your account, from Creator up.

The two sell different kinds of AI. MailerLite’s assistant drafts the email for you. Its Free plan gets a limited subject line generator and one use of the AI landing page builder (MailerLite pricing).

Kit’s AI Connectors is an MCP server. MCP is a standard that lets an outside AI assistant read your account and act on it. Kit lists 65+ tools for it (AI Connectors article). On Free the assistant connects, and every tool call returns an upgrade prompt.

Kit’s subject line generator sits in the broadcast editor, and the Kit AI page names no plan for it. MailerLite also has an MCP server: limited on Free, full from Comfort. Its terms (17.2) say connecting an agent authorises it to read and modify account data.

Does either train AI on what you give it?

MailerLite’s terms license your AI inputs and outputs to improve AI models; Kit says it trains no AI on Kit data.

MailerLite’s terms (22 September 2026) state: “You grant MailerLite a license to use your Inputs and Outputs to improve AI models” (17.3). Inputs are what you type into its AI tools; Outputs are what they write back. Neither MailerLite’s terms nor its AI policy offers an opt-out.

Terms of service, 17.3

You grant MailerLite a license to use your Inputs and Outputs to improve AI models, and you agree to comply with any restrictions on AI usage.

Its AI policy adds that its partners, OpenAI and Google, do not train on your data under enterprise agreements. That covers the partners. Clause 17.3 covers MailerLite itself.

Kit’s help centre says: “Kit itself does not train any AI/LLM on Kit data.” The line sits in the AI Connectors FAQ, dated 1 October 2026.

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 do not mention AI, and clause 8.2 licenses your content “to develop, maintain and improve the Services”.

Connect an outside assistant to either tool and that provider’s own settings decide what trains its models. The AI-training guide sets both answers beside 13 other email tools.

What selling a paid newsletter costs

MailerLite takes nothing from paid subscriptions: it says it “takes 0% commission on your paid subscriptions” and that “Only Stripe fees apply” (MailerLite).

Kit charges 3.5% plus $0.30 per sale on every plan, Free included, and calls that “the only cost of selling through Kit” (Kit help centre). The article does not say whether Stripe’s processing fee sits inside that 3.5%.

So a free Kit account that sells still pays per sale. On 100 sales of $10 a month, Kit’s fee comes to $65, at the rate in Kit’s selling FAQ. Stripe’s own fee on MailerLite depends on your Stripe account, which MailerLite does not price.

Moving from one to the other

Kit does the move for you on a paid plan; MailerLite gives you a checklist.

Kit says “Migration is included with every paid Kit plan” (Kit migrations). Under 10,000 subscribers, the Essentials service moves subscribers, tags, lists and segments in 2 to 5 business days. From 10,000, Concierge also rebuilds forms, automation emails, templates and integrations.

MailerLite’s Kit migration guide is self-serve. You export a CSV from Kit and import it. Then you rebuild your forms and landing pages by hand, and recreate each Kit sequence as a MailerLite automation. It asks you to “Only bring over subscribers who have opted in to receive your emails.”

Kit users praise ease of use and object to price rises

We read 21 public reviews: 19 on Kit and 2 on MailerLite, too few for a MailerLite pattern.

Kit users praise how easy it is (6 of 19 Kit sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot). Slow support once billing goes wrong is the top complaint (5 of 19: Trustpilot, Trustpilot).

Price rises as the list grows come next (4 of 19: Trustpilot, Trustpilot). One reviewer writes that “the price has increased nearly 3x”.

Where to go next

Every Kit tier is on Kit pricing, and every MailerLite tier on MailerLite pricing. The profiles cover each tool’s reviews and limits: Kit and MailerLite.

For a newsletter-first rival, beehiiv vs Kit prices the two at the same list sizes. Mailchimp vs MailerLite and Brevo vs MailerLite cover the other common switches. The AI email marketing hub routes every job to its page.

Questions buyers ask about Kit and MailerLite

Is ConvertKit the same as Kit?

Yes. ConvertKit now trades as Kit, at kit.com.

Is Kit or MailerLite free for longer?

Kit. Its Free plan holds up to 10,000 subscribers; MailerLite’s holds 250 and 2,500 emails a month.

Which is cheaper with automations?

MailerLite Comfort, at each of the four list sizes on this page. At 50,000 subscribers the gap is $60 a month.

Does MailerLite train AI on what I write with its AI tools?

Its terms (17.3) license the text you give its AI tools, and what they write, to improve AI models. Your list itself is not named in that clause.

Does Kit move my list from MailerLite for me?

Yes, on a paid plan: Kit says migration help is included with every paid Kit plan. On Free, you import the list yourself.

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