When I started comparing email marketing tools, two names kept popping up over and over again — Mailchimp and ConvertKit.
On one side, Mailchimp stood out as the established giant — packed with features, endless integrations, and a brand almost everyone has heard of. It felt like the “default” choice for businesses that wanted an all-in-one marketing hub.
On the other side, ConvertKit looked refreshingly focused. Instead of trying to be everything for everyone, it was built with creators in mind — bloggers, YouTubers, coaches, and course builders who want simplicity and automation without the clutter.
But here’s the challenge: I didn’t want to get stuck with a tool that was either too bloated and overwhelming for everyday use, or too limited to grow with me as my audience scaled.
That’s why I decided to put both tools to the test. I sent out campaigns, built automation workflows, tried designing landing pages, and compared how smooth (or frustrating) it was to actually get things done.
This isn’t just a surface-level review. It’s a hands-on look at Mailchimp vs Kit — so you can see which one truly fits your business and your stage of growth.
So, let’s dive in and see how Mailchimp and Kit stack up.
We keep things simple — we only review tools we actually use. At Mailotrix, we believe you can’t judge an email marketing tool by its features page. So we test every tool ourselves — running real campaigns, breaking automations, checking deliverability, and seeing how it performs in day-to-day use.
We also dig through real user reviews to understand what others are experiencing, compare it with our own results, and then share a straightforward, unbiased verdict you can trust.
I’ve tested both Kit and Mailchimp across email editors, design, automation, forms, pricing, and more. If you don’t want to go through the full breakdown, here’s the fast version in my own words:
Feature
Mailchimp
Kit
Winner
Email Editor
More design control
Simple for plain text
Tie
Segmentation & Contacts
Can get messy, costly
Clean, tag-based
Kit
Automation
Visual workflows, paid plan required
Visual workflows, free plan available
Kit
Landing Pages
Flexible but overwhelming
Quick, distraction-free
Kit
Deliverability
Decent
Better inbox placement
Kit
Pricing
Gets expensive quickly
Free plan: 10,000 subs, unlimited emails
Kit
My Final Take
If you’re a creator who wants to grow with simple tools, earn directly from your list, and save money, Kit is the better long-term choice.
👉 Note: If you have 5–10 minutes, I strongly recommend reading the full comparison above. This short verdict is handy, but it doesn’t capture every feature, strength, and weakness in detail.
Email Editors
When I tried both tools, my main goal was simple — I wanted to see how easy it is to sit down, write an email, and send it. Both say they are “easy to use,” but when I started testing, I noticed a big difference between them.
I started with Mailchimp because it’s the tool everyone talks about. At first, the editor looked nice, but soon I felt like I was clicking too much just to find simple settings.
For example, when I wanted to use my own HTML design, I had to dig around in the “Code Your Own” section. If I was a beginner, I’d probably get lost there.
Mailchimp gives more than 80 templates, but honestly, many of them felt outdated. One thing I did like — you can switch templates while editing.
That saved me once when I realized my first choice didn’t look right. I also tried Mailchimp’s AI builder. It pulled my website colors and fonts, which was cool,
but I still had to edit a lot before the email looked how I wanted. Instead of saving me time, it felt like extra work.
Another thing that frustrated me was Mailchimp’s constant updates. They keep changing the look of the editor, but those changes don’t always make it easier.
Sometimes I felt like I was spending more time searching for buttons than actually writing my email.
Kit’s editor works in a very different way. Before you can even start writing, you have to choose your sender details and pick your subscribers. Honestly,
I didn’t like that, because sometimes I just want to focus on writing first, and Kit doesn’t allow that.
Kit’s email editor
Once I got into the editor, it was very simple — but only because there aren’t many options. There’s no drag-and-drop like Mailchimp. Most emails are plain text with basic tools like bold, italic, font color, or adding images.
I personally enjoy writing simple emails, but it also felt a bit too limited. And the missing undo button annoyed me. If I made a mistake, I had to fix it all over again.
That said, I get why some creators like Kit. If you prefer writing quick, personal, text-style emails, the editor feels clean and distraction-free. And with the November 26, 2025 update, you can now track version history — see edits, who made them, and restore previous drafts — which adds a nice layer of safety when you’re tweaking emails.
But if you need polished, design-heavy newsletters, Kit still doesn’t give you much creative freedom.
My Verdict on Email Editor
After using both, I’d say Mailchimp is better for people who want more design control, and Kit is better for those who just want to send simple emails without overthinking. Both are easy in their own way, so I’d call this round a tie.
Winner for email editors: Tie (1–1)
Design and Flexibility
Mailchimp impressed me with the sheer number of options. They offer around 100 themed templates — from newsletters and event invites to ecommerce promotions and holiday emails.
Plus, there are 14 blank layouts if you want to create your own design. I loved having this freedom because it let me make emails that really matched my style and brand.
The templates looked modern and professional. I could quickly swap images, change colors, and adjust fonts. Honestly, I felt like I had full control — I could experiment and make each email look exactly how I wanted.
It saved me a lot of time and gave me confidence that my emails would look good to my subscribers.
Kit is much simpler. They only give 3 options — text only, classic, and modern. You can format text and add images in classic and modern, but overall, these are plain-text emails.
If you were expecting a big library of ready-made, visual templates, you’d be disappointed.
That said, Kit focuses on simplicity for a reason. Their research shows that plain-text emails often perform better.
And if you look at newsletters from Seth Godin or Brian Dean, you’ll see the point — simple emails can work really well. I get why Kit does it, but for me, I like having more flexibility to make emails look polished when I want.
My Verdict on Design
I understand Kit’s philosophy, but I personally prefer having more options to play with. Mailchimp clearly wins this round because it gives more templates, more freedom, and more control over how your emails look.
Winner for Design and Flexibility: Mailchimp (1–2)
Segmentation & Contact Management
This feature is all about how each tool organizes contacts and lets you create segments to send targeted emails. Kit and Mailchimp handle it differently, so I tested which one is easier to use.
Kit doesn’t use traditional lists. When you upload contacts, they all go to the same place. At first, this felt a bit odd, but then I realized you can assign contacts to a form, sequence, or tag to keep things organized.
You can also create segments based on similar characteristics, even if those contacts are in different forms, sequences, or tags.
I actually liked this approach because it’s straightforward. I didn’t have to worry about juggling multiple lists or accidentally duplicating contacts. Once you get used to Kit’s tagging and segmentation system, everything feels clean and efficient.
And with the November 10, 2025 update, things got even better — Kit now lets you organize your tags, segments, and products into custom folders, making audience management even easier and far less messy.
Mailchimp works differently — it uses lists. Contacts in different lists are completely separate, which is useful if you’re managing emails for different clients or businesses. The downside is that if the same contact is in multiple lists, Mailchimp counts them multiple times in your billing.
For one business or project, the best approach is to put everyone in a single list and use tags, segments, or groups to organize them. You can create segments based on contact fields, or let subscribers self-categorize using groups when they sign up. It works, but I sometimes felt it was more complicated than it needed to be.
My Verdict on Segmentation
Both tools get the job done, but I prefer Kit’s simpler approach. It’s smart, clean, and doesn’t overcomplicate things. Mailchimp has more options, but sometimes that just makes managing contacts feel heavier than necessary.
Winner for Segmentation: Kit (2–2) 🎯
Email Automation
At the heart of Kit’s system is Sequences, which lets you build a series of emails — for example, a welcome or onboarding sequence.
What I liked is that I could create and edit emails right while building the sequence, without jumping to another section. It made the workflow feel seamless.
The Visual Automations editor lets you define how someone enters a sequence — like signing up through a form, making a purchase, or being assigned a tag.
You can add steps based on actions, conditions, or events, and even attach multiple sequences to a single automation. On top of that, Kit has universal automation rules, letting you add/remove tags or subscribe contacts to sequences/forms when they perform certain actions.
It’s a lot of options, which can feel overwhelming at first, but once you understand that everything in Kit is tag-driven, it starts to make sense.
Mailchimp also has automations and a visual editor, though it took them some time to get this updated. One thing they do better than Kit is offer more types of automated campaigns — for example, you can trigger emails based on webpage visits.
The downside: Mailchimp no longer offers any automations on its free plan — especially after retiring the Classic Automation Builder on June 1, 2025. All users were forced to move to the newer Customer Journey Builder, which is more visual but fully locked behind paid plans.
Kit still lets free users build one visual automation, which is limited but at least gives beginners a starting point.
Once you’re on paid plans, both tools handle basic automations well, but Mailchimp’s free users are completely left out after the update.
My Verdict on Automation
Honestly, I didn’t see a huge difference between Kit and Mailchimp here. Both let you set up smart workflows and sequences, but each has small limitations on the free plan. I’d give one point to each.
Winner for Automation: Tie (3–3)
Registration Forms
Forms are one of the most important features in any email marketing tool — they literally help you grow your email list.
I really liked how Kit has improved their forms. They moved away from the old way where you had to add fields via code — now everything can be done in their, which is a huge time-saver for me.
Adding dropdowns or checkboxes as tags was simple, and they synced perfectly with their contact management system. This feature honestly made me feel like Kit really thought about the user experience.
I also liked that you can choose how the form appears — embedded, pop-up, or slide-in — and tweak colors, images, or even add custom CSS.
One small but useful thing: Kit can hide forms from returning visitors, so people don’t sign up twice. That little detail really helped me avoid clutter in my list.
Mailchimp gives you similar options — you can build embedded or pop-up forms and choose which list the sign-ups go to. But I have to admit, I got a bit confused using Mailchimp.
Different editors pop up depending on the form type or whether you start from “Campaigns” or “Lists.” I felt like I was constantly switching between editors, which slowed me down.
The Form Builder itself is fine — drag-and-drop fields, edit values, and tweak colors and fonts. But the embedded form editor looks different from the pop-up editor, which is modern and nice. I kept thinking, “Why can’t all editors be like this?” It just felt unnecessarily complicated.
My Verdict on Forms
Overall, I found Kit much easier to work with. Setting up a simple form was fast, and everything made sense in one editor. Mailchimp gives more options, but the multiple editors made the process confusing.
I really liked Kit’s landing page builder. It’s simple and clean, and everything is in one place. I could quickly choose a template, add my text, images, and buttons, and have a page ready in minutes.
What I liked the most was how easy it was to link forms and sequences directly — I didn’t have to jump between sections or worry about connecting things manually.
The templates are limited compared to Mailchimp, but I actually liked that. It kept me focused on creating a page that converted, instead of spending time trying to make it look fancy.
One little frustration: the design customization isn’t super flexible, so I couldn’t move sections around as freely as I sometimes wanted. Still, for simple and effective landing pages, it worked perfectly for me.
Mailchimp’s landing page builder gives more templates and options, which is great if you want a polished, highly designed page. I liked the variety, and the drag-and-drop editor let me move things around freely.
But here’s the thing — all that choice made me overthink every decision. I spent more time experimenting with layouts than actually getting my page live. Also, connecting forms and automation wasn’t as smooth as Kit — I had to double-check everything to make sure subscribers would enter the right sequence.
My Verdict on Landing Pages
If you want speed and simplicity, Kit wins for me. It helped me set up pages fast without getting distracted. Mailchimp is powerful and flexible, but sometimes that flexibility becomes a distraction.
Winner for Landing Pages: Kit (5–3)
Spam & Design Testing
This one’s a quick round — any guesses who comes out on top? I’ll give you a hint.
Mailchimp is definitely the design-conscious email provider. I loved that it offers desktop and mobile previews, so I could see exactly how my email would look on any device. The Inbox Preview feature is super handy — it lets you check how emails display across different email clients. On monthly plans, you even get 25 tokens to test this.
There’s also a Push to Mobile app to see emails on your phone, and a link checker that highlights missing links. Mailchimp doesn’t offer official spam testing, but with all these features, I felt confident my emails would look good and function properly before sending.
Kit takes a different approach. Their philosophy is all about simple, text-based emails, so there’s almost no spam or design testing. You only get a basic preview tool to see emails as individual subscribers would. That’s fine if you like keeping things simple, but I found it limiting — I couldn’t double-check the design or links as thoroughly as I could with Mailchimp.
My Verdict on Spam & Design Testing
Honestly, this one is a no-brainer for me. Mailchimp clearly wins here because it gives you the tools to preview, test, and make sure your emails look perfect.
Winner for Spam & Design Testing: Both (6–4)
Reporting and analytics
Reporting is a key feature in any email marketing tool — it helps you see how your emails are doing and make smarter decisions for the future.
Kit’s reporting is very basic, and honestly, it frustrated me sometimes. There’s no main reports section — you have to open each email or sequence to see the stats.
You only get open rates, click rates, unsubscribes, and links clicked. That’s it. I really missed things like bounce rates, location data, or click heat maps. Another thing that annoyed me: you can’t rename emails for internal use.
If you send the same email to different audiences, it’s hard to tell them apart. I felt like I was missing tools that could really help improve my campaigns.
Mailchimp, on the other hand, gives you a lot more reports. Besides the basic stats, you get hourly performance, social stats, opens by location, click maps, performance by domain, and even ecommerce sales.
I also liked that you can compare your campaigns to industry averages, see bounce rates, and track complaints. This made me feel confident I could understand every part of my email campaigns and make better decisions for the next one.
My Verdict on Reporting
If you just want basic numbers, Kit works. But if you want detailed insights to improve your email strategy, Mailchimp is clearly better.
Winner for Reporting: Mailchimp (6–5) 🏆
Deliverability
No matter how good your emails look, it doesn’t matter if they don’t reach your subscribers’ inboxes. I wanted to see which tool does a better job getting emails delivered reliably.
I liked Kit for deliverability. They have a team that helps with deliverability, tools to keep your email list clean, and support for setting up your domain correctly.
They also give tips for warming up your IP and handling bounced emails or spam complaints. These features made me feel confident that my emails would actually reach people instead of getting lost.
Mailchimp covers the basics like authentication and stopping bounced emails, which works okay. But I missed some features, like built-in list cleaning, a proper deliverability dashboard, and feedback from subscribers marking emails as spam. Mailchimp works fine, but for keeping emails consistently in the inbox, I think Kit is better.
My Verdict on Deliverability
Mailchimp is okay, but Kit has better tools to make sure your emails get delivered every time. I feel safer using Kit if I want my emails to reach people reliably.
Winner for Deliverability: Kit (7–5)
Integrations & Extras
Integrations are important because they let you connect your email tool to other apps you use every day. Both Kit and Mailchimp do this well, but one goes a little further.
Kit has around 90 integrations with popular tools like Wix, WordPress, Shopify, and Stripe. They also work with Zapier, so you can connect even more apps.
I liked that it covered the basics, but I was surprised that it doesn’t connect to any major CRMs. For an email tool, that felt like a big missing piece.
Mailchimp is on another level. There are so many integrations I lost count — over 180! Every big CRM, ecommerce platform, website builder, lead capture tool, and social app is included.
I felt confident that I could connect almost any tool I use without extra work.
My Verdict on Integrations & Extras
Kit is good for everyday apps, but Mailchimp wins this round. With more than double the integrations, it makes connecting your tools really easy.
Winner for Integrations & Extras: Mailchimp (7–6) 🏆
Monetization Features
Now let’s talk about making money with your emails. This is especially important if you’re a blogger or content creator.
Kit has some neat ways to help you earn money. You can sell products directly through your email list and manage everything in one place. It’s great for digital products, though it’s not as advanced as a full ecommerce platform.
I also really liked the tip jar feature. You can accept small donations from your readers directly through your newsletters or website.
It’s a simple way to make a little extra cash while giving value to your audience. You can also offer paid subscriptions for your newsletters, though there are transaction fees starting at 3.5% + $0.30. Even with fees, this feature opens up new ways to earn.
One feature I personally love is the Creator Network. It lets you connect with other creators, share newsletters, and grow your audience together.
Plus, on the Creator Pro Plan, you can set up a referral program so your subscribers can help promote your content. These options really make Kit stand out if you want to make money from your email list.
Mailchimp also has ways to sell products, mainly for ecommerce. You can build a store and use landing pages to show off products from your connected store.
But when it comes to paid newsletter subscriptions, Mailchimp doesn’t have a built-in option. You’d need to use another service, which is extra work.
My Verdict on Monetization
If your goal is to make money from your newsletters, Kit is clearly better. It gives you multiple tools to earn, while Mailchimp feels more geared toward ecommerce stores than individual creators.
Winner for Monetization: Mailchimp (8–6) 🏆
Support
Good support can make or break an email marketing tool, and I’ve had some real experiences with both Kit and Mailchimp.
I ran into a problem once when my automation sequence wasn’t triggering correctly. I clicked the chat button in kit (which you can find on any screen) and got connected quickly.
The support agent walked me through the issue step by step and even suggested a small fix I wouldn’t have thought of. It felt personal, and I left the chat knowing my sequence would work properly.
Honestly, I loved how fast and easy it was to reach them — no hunting through menus or guides.
Mailchimp was a bit more frustrating. One time I had trouble connecting my landing page form to my email list. I tried finding help in their knowledge base first,
but it was confusing — different guides showed different steps depending on where I started.
When I finally got to chat support, the agent was helpful, but it took a while to respond because chat is only available during business hours. By the time I got the answer, I had wasted a lot of time trying to figure things out myself.
My Verdict on Support
If you want fast, easy-to-reach help, Kit wins hands down. Mailchimp has detailed guides, but the support experience felt slower and more complicated. I honestly felt like Kit had my back every time I ran into an issue.
Winner for Support:Kit (9–6)
Prices
Now let’s talk about pricing — something that really matters for creators and small businesses.
Both Kit and Mailchimp offer free plans, but the differences are pretty significant. Mailchimp’s free plan now allows only 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends after the update rolled out around September 2025 (down from 1,000 contacts and 10,000 sends). It also doesn’t include email scheduling.
And once your subscriber count grows—even if many are unconfirmed or unsubscribed—your costs can rise quickly.
Kit’s free plan is still more generous — you get up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited emails, but you’re limited to one automation and must show recommended newsletters from the Creator Network. The subscriber space is great for beginners, but the single-automation limit can feel restrictive if you want more advanced sequences.
However, once you move to paid plans, prices have become noticeably higher. As of September 8, 2025, the lower-tier options were removed, and the Creator plan now starts at $39/month (up from $29/month). So while the free plan is attractive, upgrading now costs more than before.
Here’s a quick comparison:
Subscribers
Kit
Mailchimp
Free plan
Up to 10,000 / unlimited emails
Up to 500 / 2,500 emails
5,000
$89
$75
10,000
$139
$110
50,000
$379
$385
Overall, both aren’t the cheapest options out there. If budget is tight, MailerLite is worth checking out, since it gives similar features at a lower cost. But for me, Kit’s free plan and unlimited emails make it really easy to start growing a list without worrying about hitting limits.
Winner for Price:Kit (10–6)
AI Features: Mailchimp vs Kit
When it comes to AI, Mailchimp is clearly ahead — but Kit has a few helpful tools for creators who prefer simplicity.
Kit’s AI Features (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit keeps things lightweight and creator-focused. Its AI tools are built to help you write faster, not to manage complex data or predictive insights.
What Kit Offers:
AI Writing Assistant (inside broadcasts & sequences) Helps you generate email drafts, rewrite text for clarity or tone, summarize long content, and brainstorm subject lines.
Main Focus: Speed and creativity. It’s designed to help creators publish consistently without getting stuck or overwhelmed.
Overall, Kit’s AI is great if you want a minimal, distraction-free editor with quick writing assistance — but that’s where it stops.
Mailchimp’s AI Features
Mailchimp, powered by Intuit’s AI ecosystem, goes far beyond basic content generation. It includes advanced, data-driven AI across design, analytics, and performance optimization.
What Mailchimp Offers:
Intuit Assist (Beta) Gives data-backed recommendations on how to improve engagement and optimize campaigns.
AI Subject Line Generator (Live) Uses industry benchmarks + engagement data to suggest higher-performing subject lines.
AI Creative Assistant (Live) Automatically builds on-brand layouts based on your logo, colors, and assets.
Predictive Analytics (Live) Identifies users who are “likely to purchase,” predicts churn, and suggests the best send times.
Content Optimizer Analyzes your email copy in real time and suggests improvements based on email marketing best practices.
Verdict: Mailchimp Wins
Kit’s AI is helpful for writing, but Mailchimp delivers deeper, smarter, data-driven AI across your entire marketing workflow — from design to predictions to performance insights.
If you want quick writing help, Kit works. If you want a full AI engine powering your campaigns, Mailchimp is the clear winner.
Kit vs Mailchimp – Final thoughts
Both Kit and Mailchimp are good email marketing tools, but they work a little differently. Mailchimp has lots of templates, reports, and ways to connect with other tools, but it can feel a bit complicated and expensive. that’s why if you want to check out some more Mailchimp Alternatives I listed here.
Kit is simpler and easier to use. I really liked how fast I could make emails, forms, and landing pages. The tools for making money and growing my list also made things easier without confusing me with too many options.
For most creators and small businesses, Kit is the better choice — it’s simple, works well, and helps you get things done without extra hassle.
Overall Winner: Kit 🏆
What We Update Last time
On 30 Nov 2025 – We Update Mailchimp retired it’s Classic Automation Builder, Mailchimp’s free Plan change, kit’s Pricing Increase on Paid Plans, Kit’s segmentation system update, New Commerce Improvement, Version History for Email Broadcasts and update Mailchimp vs Kit Ai features section
Vinayak Sharma – Tool Testing Lead at Mailotrix Vinayak Sharma leads the Tool Testing Lab at Mailotrix, where he specializes in reviewing and comparing email marketing software with full transparency. Unlike many affiliates who promote tools just for commissions, Vinayak takes a hands-on approach: he signs up, tests every feature, runs real campaigns, and checks user feedback before publishing a single review. His goal? To help businesses choose the right tool without wasting money on overhyped platforms. Vinayak’s process covers everything from automation and deliverability to customer support and ease of use — giving readers a complete, no-nonsense view of each tool. Known for his honest and practical insights, Vinayak has become the trusted reviewer readers rely on when navigating the crowded world of email marketing software. If Mailotrix calls a tool “worth it,” chances are Vinayak has already put it through the wringer.
