Kit vs MailerLite: free runway or cheapest paid email? (2026)

DraftLane comparison · researched October 2026

Creators often shortlist Kit (formerly ConvertKit) and MailerLite after leaving Mailchimp. Both send campaigns and automations. The real fork is cashflow timing: Kit’s free Newsletter plan can carry a growing list for a long time; MailerLite’s free tier is tiny, but its Comfort paid bands are usually the cheapest “just email” invoice once you are already paying.

This guide is for coaches, course creators, and solopreneurs who need tagging and sequences—not a full newspaper CMS. Pricing bands are public USD snapshots from late 2026. Verify before you buy.

Quick verdict

Choose…	When
Kit	You want to grow toward ~10k before paying, or you sell digital products/courses with visual creator automations.
MailerLite	You will pay for email anyway and want the lowest steady monthly cost for campaigns, forms, and landers.
Neither alone	The newsletter is the product (ads, recs, paid pub)—read MailerLite vs beehiiv or beehiiv vs Substack.

Side-by-side at a glance

	Kit	MailerLite
Core job	Creator automations + commerce	Cost-efficient email + landers
Free plan	Up to ~10,000 active (Newsletter); automation limits	Up to ~250 subscribers + send caps
~1k paid entry	Creator ~$39/mo	Comfort ~$19/mo
~10k paid entry	Creator ~$139/mo	Comfort ~$89/mo
Automation feel	Visual creator sequences; depth on paid	Solid basics; Power for more
Commerce	Digital products / paid subs (platform + Stripe fees)	Integrations (Stripe, etc.); not a creator storefront
Publishing	Email + landers	Email-first + landers

Monthly billing bands; annual usually cheaper. Confirm live plan names and limits.

Kit — when free runway and creator workflows win

Strengths

Free headroom: The Newsletter plan’s ~10k active-subscriber ceiling is unusually generous. Many creators stay free longer than on MailerLite or Mailchimp.
Creator sequencing: Tags, visual automations, and “bought X → send Y” patterns fit coaches and course sellers.
Commerce in-product: Selling digital products or paid subscriptions is first-class; expect a platform fee on top of Stripe—confirm live rates.

Trade-offs

Once you need Creator-tier automation depth, paid pricing at mid-list sizes sits above MailerLite Comfort.
Not a newsletter media OS: ads, recommendation networks, and polished public publications are beehiiv’s lane.
Free plan limits automations—budget the paid jump when sequences become the business.

Choose Kit when: cashflow prefers grow-now-pay-later, or your revenue depends on tagged creator journeys and digital product sales.

MailerLite — when the invoice is the pain

Strengths

Price clarity: Comfort ~$19 at 1k and ~$89 at 10k is among the friendliest creator comparisons for plain email infrastructure.
Calm operator UX: campaigns, forms, and landing pages cover most “send and sell lightly” needs without a media stack.
No commerce tax: You keep monetization on Stripe, Gumroad, or your site—MailerLite stays the ESP.

Trade-offs

Free tier is tiny; you hit paid early compared with Kit.
Automation and creator commerce feel thinner than Kit’s paid Creator surface.
If you want newsletter growth loops or a public publication business, you will assemble pieces Kit and beehiiv ship differently.

Choose MailerLite when: you already know you will pay, the offer lives off-platform, and lowest steady email cost beats free-tier theater.

Decision jobs (use these, not feature checklists)

Job A — Grow a list before spending

Kit. Price the day you need paid automations—not only today’s free headcount.

Job B — Minimize monthly email cost at a known list size

MailerLite Comfort usually wins the spreadsheet against Kit Creator at 1k and 10k.

Job C — Courses, coaching tags, and product-triggered sequences

Kit on paid Creator is the clearer fit. MailerLite can do basics; do not force it into a course CRM role if tagging depth is the product.

Pricing reality check

At ~1,000 subscribers, MailerLite Comfort (~$19) vs Kit Creator (~$39) is a meaningful gap for a solo operator—unless Kit’s free plan still covers you. At ~10,000, Comfort (~$89) vs Creator (~$139) still favors MailerLite on cost alone. Kit’s bet is that free runway plus creator commerce saves more money than the Comfort discount—if you actually use those features.

Do not buy Kit “because the free plan is famous” if you already need deep paid automations and hate platform fees on sales. Do not buy MailerLite “because it is cheaper” if you will rebuild half of Kit’s tagging model with Zapier duct tape.

Migration notes

Export CSV with consent status, tags, and purchase fields you care about.
Set SPF/DKIM/DMARC on the new sending domain before blasting.
To Kit: rebuild one visual automation and commerce hook end-to-end before cloning everything.
To MailerLite: rebuild forms and one core sequence; wire checkout where sales actually happen.
Keep the old account read-only 30–60 days.

FAQ

Is Kit still ConvertKit?
Yes—same product line under the Kit brand. Expect the same creator focus with updated plan names.

Can MailerLite replace Kit for courses?
For light sequences, yes. For heavy tag trees and product-triggered journeys, Kit is usually less painful.

What about beehiiv?
If the newsletter itself is the business, see MailerLite vs beehiiv and the three-way Kit vs beehiiv vs MailerLite.

Disclosure

DraftLane may earn commissions from some vendor links. Recommendations follow fit for creators and solopreneurs, not commission size. Features and prices change—verify on each vendor’s site. See our affiliate disclosure.

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Already picked an ESP? Monetize it → Compare beehiiv Ad Network, direct sponsorships, marketplaces, and paid subs for lists under ~50k.

Opens in spam? Deliverability checklist → Auth, list hygiene, and warmup framed for Kit / beehiiv / MailerLite / GetResponse — diagnostic, not an inbox guarantee.