Kit (ConvertKit) vs MailerLite: Commerce or Low Cost

Kit and MailerLite are both priced for individuals and small teams, and buyers compare them about 100 times a month in the United States, plus 90 searches for "convertkit vs mailerlite". MailerLite is a general email platform with a low price; Kit is a creator platform with commerce built in. This page compares them from Kit's own pages and our October 2026 measurement of MailerLite.

The short answer

For a list that never buys anything, MailerLite is far cheaper: Comfort is $12 a month at 500 subscribers against Kit Creator's $39 at 1,000. For a creator who sells, Kit's free plan covers 10,000 subscribers and includes selling, while MailerLite's free plan was cut to 250 subscribers in June 2026. Our composite scores: Kit 3.79, MailerLite 3.71.

## Free plans

Kit Free: up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, digital products and subscriptions, the API ^[6]. MailerLite Free, after its June 2026 update: "Subscriber limit was reduced from 500 to 250 active subscribers." ^[56], and the monthly sending allowance fell to 2,500. Kit's free plan holds forty times as many subscribers.

Paid plans and prices

Kit Creator is $39 a month or $390 a year at up to 1,000 subscribers; Pro $79 or $790 ^[2]. MailerLite Comfort is $12 a month or $10.80 billed annually at 500 subscribers; Power $25 or $22.50 ^[50]. MailerLite's annual discount is 10%; Kit's is two months, 16.7% ^[4].

Kit's page has no 500-subscriber band; its first paid band covers up to 1,000. For lists in the low thousands the gap is roughly three to one in MailerLite's favour.

## What each is built for

MailerLite began as an affordable email tool for small businesses and grew outward: websites, landing pages, automations, and some selling. Kit began as an email tool for bloggers and grew into commerce for creators: products, subscriptions, payment plans, recommendations and sponsorships ^[10]. The products overlap in the middle, newsletters, forms and automations, and differ at the edges. MailerLite is stronger as a cheap, general sender with a website builder. Kit is stronger as the system a creator sells through.

That difference shows in the free plans. MailerLite's free plan, after June 2026, is a small sandbox of 250 subscribers ^[56]. Kit's is a working business of up to 10,000 subscribers, which can sell from the first day but cannot run automations ^[6].

Price band by band

Subscribers	Kit Creator	MailerLite Comfort	Kit Pro	MailerLite Power
1,000	$39	$19	$79	$39
2,500 to 3,000	$59	$33	$99	$49
5,000	$89	$49	$139	$69
8,000	$119	$69	$169	$99
10,000	$139	$89	$189	$129
25,000	$199	$179	$279	$239

Monthly billing. Kit from its pricing page's script ^[2]; MailerLite from the ladder in its pricing page's script ^[50]. MailerLite is about half Kit's price at 1,000 subscribers and about 10% cheaper at 25,000. The gap closes as the list grows.

On annual billing the gap narrows a little more, because Kit takes two months off and MailerLite 10%. At 10,000 subscribers: Kit Creator $1,390 a year, MailerLite Comfort $961.20. Our arithmetic.

Sending allowances

Kit has none: the bill depends on subscribers alone ^[4]. MailerLite's Comfort plan allows ten times the band's ceiling in emails each month, and sending past that also upgrades the plan; Power is unlimited under fair use ^[55]. A creator who mails a list daily is simpler to budget on Kit or on MailerLite Power than on Comfort.

Automations and the free plan

Kit Free has no automations or sequences; they start on Creator ^[6]. MailerLite Free, in our measurement, included three automations, so a welcome series is possible without paying, but only up to 250 subscribers ^[56]. Past 250, MailerLite needs Comfort; past 10,000, Kit needs Creator.

Seats and support

Kit Creator allows two team members; Pro unlimited ^[3]. MailerLite Comfort allows three seats; Power unlimited ^[50]. Kit offers 24/7 email and chat support on paid plans and answers free accounts within 24 hours ^{[2] [6]}. MailerLite offers 24/7 email support on Comfort and live chat on Power ^[50].

Three senders, priced on both

A small business with 2,000 customers and a monthly newsletter. MailerLite Comfort, $33 a month ^[50]. Kit Creator, $59 ^[2]. MailerLite saves $312 a year.

A creator with 4,000 subscribers selling a $49 course. Kit Free covers the list and the sales at $0 a month plus 3.5% and 30 cents per sale ^{[6] [2]}; a launch sequence needs Creator, $89. MailerLite Comfort at 5,000 is $49 a month with automations included ^[50].

A newsletter with 20,000 subscribers sent twice a week. MailerLite Comfort at 20,000 is $159 a month, and about 173,000 emails a month fit its 200,000 allowance ^[50]. Kit Creator is $189 ^[2]. Our arithmetic.

Refunds and cancellation, side by side

Kit's billing article promises a 30-day refund on every plan: "We have a 30-day refund policy, so if you cancel, you can request any funds paid in the last 30 days to be refunded in full." ^[4]. Its Terms of Service say that on cancellation before the period ends "we will not refund any Paid Services Fees already paid to us" ^[8]. In practice, ask within 30 days and cite the help article.

MailerLite's refund policy is strict and consistent: "We do not refund any unused or partially used plans" , with a guaranteed refund only when MailerLite ends the service without cause. On both, cancelling keeps the plan to the end of the paid period ^[4].

Which counts deleted subscribers

This is the most practical difference after price. On MailerLite, an address active at any point in the billing cycle counts for that cycle, even if deleted later ^[55]. On Kit, the count that sets the next bill is the confirmed count on the billing date, provided you have switched to the lower band ^[4]. A creator who cleans a list of 1,500 inactive addresses before renewal saves money on Kit at the next bill, and on MailerLite only from the cycle after.

The verdict in one paragraph

MailerLite is the better buy for sending; Kit is the better buy for selling. Price the list you will have in a year, not today, and count what you expect to sell through email before deciding.

Annual billing on each

Kit's annual plans are "12 months for the price of 10" ^[4], a saving of 16.7%. MailerLite's annual discount is 10% ^[50]. At 5,000 subscribers that makes Kit Creator $890 a year against MailerLite Comfort's $529.20; the gap in dollars stays, but narrows in proportion. Our arithmetic.

Moving from MailerLite to Kit

Kit publishes a dedicated guide for MailerLite users ^[38]. MailerLite groups become Kit tags, MailerLite automations become Kit visual automations or sequences, and the MailerLite site can be replaced by Kit landing pages and a newsletter site. Before moving, check the timing: MailerLite counts every address active during the cycle ^[55], so a move just after renewal wastes the least.

Three cases favour moving. The list has outgrown MailerLite's 250-subscriber free plan but would fit Kit's 10,000 ^{[56] [6]}. The creator now sells products and wants checkout, purchase tags and sequences in one account ^[28]. Or the creator wants the Creator Network to grow the list ^[6].

One case favours staying: a business that sends newsletters but never sells. For it, MailerLite's Comfort plan costs about half of Kit's Creator at 1,000 subscribers and remains cheaper at every size we compared ^{[50] [2]}.

Ratings and scores

	Kit	MailerLite
Trustpilot	4.0 from 159	4.1 from 3,362
Recent 100, mean	4.17	3.95
Composite	3.79	3.71
Value axis	3.7	3.8
Integrations axis	3.9	3.5

From our corpora and scorecards ^[9]. MailerLite wins on value for senders who do not sell; Kit on integrations, commerce and the size of its free plan.

How each counts subscribers

Kit bills confirmed subscribers, and you move down a band yourself when the count falls ^[4]. MailerLite counts cumulatively within the billing cycle: "any email address that was Active at any point during the cycle counts toward your subscriber limit, even if it is deleted later." ^[55]. On MailerLite, cleaning the list mid-cycle does not reduce the current cycle's count; on Kit, it reduces the next bill once you switch.

How each upgrades

Both upgrade automatically. Kit upgrades when the confirmed count passes the band ^[5]. MailerLite upgrades on two triggers: subscribers over the band, or sends over the allowance on Comfort, which is ten times the band's ceiling. Kit has no sending allowance at all; its bill depends only on subscribers ^[4].

Selling

Kit sells products, subscriptions and payment plans natively at 3.5% plus 30 cents including processing ^{[2] [42]}, on every plan. MailerLite sells digital products and offers paid newsletters too, but for a creator whose main income is products and launches, Kit's commerce, purchase tagging and sequences are the more complete set ^[28].

Refunds

Kit: a 30-day refund on all plans in its help centre ^[4], contradicted by its terms ^[8]. MailerLite: "We do not refund any unused or partially used plans" in its refund policy , with one guaranteed case, termination without cause. On paper, Kit is the more forgiving.

Ratings

Kit: Trustpilot 4.0 from 159, recent sample 4.17; GetApp 4.63 from 244; WordPress plugin 4.8 from 90 ^[9]. MailerLite: Trustpilot 4.1 from 3,362, recent sample 3.95. Both badges describe their recent reviews fairly.

Deliverability and account checks

Both vendors protect their sending reputation before it is at risk. Kit asks every new account for a link to its site before enabling sending, and may ask for historical open and click rates ^[7]. Whatever MailerLite's own checks, an imported list of people who never opted in is the fastest route to a suspended account on any platform; Kit names a large import as a reason for temporary suspension and asks to be told in advance ^[5].

A worked comparison over two years

A creator starts with 3,000 subscribers and grows to 8,000 over two years, mostly through a free lead magnet. On MailerLite Comfort the monthly bill moves from $33 at 2,500 to $49 at 5,000 and $69 at 8,000 ^[50]. On Kit Creator it moves from $59 at 3,000 to $89 at 5,000 and $119 at 8,000 ^[2]. Over the two years Kit costs roughly $40 a month more on average, about $960 in total. Our arithmetic. If the creator sells one $49 product to 2% of the list each year, Kit's built-in checkout and sequences carry that revenue, which on MailerLite would need its own selling tools or a separate checkout.

## Who should choose which

Choose MailerLite for a small business newsletter that will not sell, or any list where price per subscriber matters most.

Choose Kit for a creator selling products, courses or a paid newsletter, or for anyone who wants a free plan above 250 subscribers.

Our composite scores: Kit 3.79, MailerLite 3.71.