Last Updated on October 10, 2026 by SaaS Stacked
Quick verdict
Pick MailerLite if budget is the deciding factor. It’s the cheapest competent email tool in this comparison — paid plans from ~$12/month — and it handles broadcasts plus straightforward automation well.
Pick Kit if you sell things to your audience. Courses, coaching, digital products, paid newsletters: Kit’s commerce features, creator-focused automation, and generous free tier (10,000 subscribers) make it the better business tool, and the price gap is smaller than it looks once you’re actually selling.
The uncomfortable truth: MailerLite’s free plan got gutted in 2025 (1,000 → 250 subscribers), so the “free forever” argument for MailerLite is weaker than every old comparison claims. Kit’s free tier is now dramatically more generous.
Pricing: the real math
MailerLite (verified Oct 2026 — plans renamed Comfort/Power in June 2026):
- Free: $0 — 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 3 automations, MailerLite branding
- Comfort: from $12/month — removes branding, 50 automations, templates, 24/7 email support
- Power: from $25/month — unlimited emails, unlimited automations, live chat support
- Prices scale with list size; annual billing saves 10%
Kit (formerly ConvertKit):
- Free: $0 — up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, landing pages, forms
- Creator: from $39/month (1,000 subs) — automation sequences, integrations
- Pro: from $79/month (1,000 subs) — advanced reporting, more automation depth
- Prices scale with list size; roughly 35% higher than pre-2025 guides suggest
Here’s what the sticker prices hide. At 1,000 subscribers: MailerLite Comfort runs ~$19/month; Kit Creator runs $39/month. Kit costs roughly double. But Kit’s free plan covers you to 10,000 subscribers — MailerLite starts charging at 251. A creator growing from 0 to 5,000 subscribers pays MailerLite for most of that journey and Kit nothing until they want automation depth.
The crossover nobody mentions: MailerLite is cheaper until you need what Kit does natively — selling digital products, visual automation with real branching, creator integrations. The moment you bolt a checkout tool onto MailerLite ($15–30/month for most options), the price advantage evaporates.
Free plans: not even close anymore
This used to be MailerLite’s strongest argument. Not anymore.
MailerLite’s free plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 3 automations, and their logo on your emails. It’s a trial with a nicer name — fine for testing, not a home for a growing list.
Kit’s free plan: 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, landing pages, forms, tagging and segmentation. It’s the most generous free tier in email marketing, full stop. You can build a real audience to five figures without paying Kit a cent.
Winner: Kit, by a landslide. If your plan is “grow free, pay later,” there is no comparison here.
Automation
MailerLite’s automation builder is clean and visual — triggers, delays, conditions. On Comfort and above it’s genuinely good for standard flows: welcome sequences, abandoned-cart-style nudges, re-engagement. Where it thins out: complex branching, tag-based personalization at scale, and the integration ecosystem around it.
Kit was built automation-first for creators. Visual automations with multiple entry points, tag-based subscriber journeys, and deep integrations with course platforms, checkout tools, and community products. If your business logic is “if they bought X but didn’t open Y, send Z,” Kit handles it; MailerLite strains. See our Kit automation walkthrough for a step-by-step setup guide.
Winner: Kit — not because MailerLite’s builder is bad, but because Kit’s is deeper where creator businesses actually need depth.
Selling to your list
This is the real divide. MailerLite added digital products and paid newsletters, but it’s a recent addition sitting on top of an email tool. Checkout, delivery, and post-purchase automation feel bolted on.
Kit treats commerce as core: sell digital products directly, take payment, trigger automations off purchases, run paid newsletters. For a creator whose revenue comes from the list itself — courses, templates, workshops — this is the difference between one tool and two subscriptions.
Winner: Kit, clearly.
Ease of use and deliverability
MailerLite wins on simplicity. The interface is cleaner, the learning curve is shorter, and a non-technical user gets a first campaign out faster. Kit’s power comes with more menus to learn.
Deliverability: both are reputable senders with solid infrastructure. Neither has a meaningful, documented deliverability edge over the other in 2026 — anyone claiming otherwise is selling something. Your list hygiene matters more than your vendor here.
Winner: MailerLite for simplicity; draw on deliverability.
Side-by-side
| MailerLite | Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Free subscribers | 250 | 10,000 |
| Free monthly emails | 2,500 | Unlimited broadcasts |
| Entry paid price | ~$12/mo (Comfort) | $39/mo (Creator, 1k subs) |
| Price at 5,000 subs (approx) | ~$49/mo | ~$89/mo |
| Visual automation | Yes | Yes, deeper |
| Sell digital products | Basic (newer) | Native, mature |
| Paid newsletters | Yes | Yes |
| Landing pages | Yes | Yes |
| Branding on free plan | Yes (forced) | No |
| Best for | Budget-first broadcasters | Creators who sell |
Who should pick which
Pick MailerLite if: your budget is genuinely tight, your needs are broadcasts plus simple automation, you don’t sell products to your list, and you’d rather have the simplest tool that works.
Pick Kit if: you’re growing a list you intend to monetize, you sell digital products or courses, you want the free runway to 10,000 subscribers, or your automation needs go beyond welcome sequences. Compare Kit against the other major option in our Kit vs Mailchimp head-to-head.
The honest middle: starting on MailerLite’s free plan and migrating to Kit later is a legitimate path — but migrating email platforms is annoying enough that most people should just pick their 2-year answer now.
FAQ
Is MailerLite really cheaper than Kit?
At paid tiers for pure email sending, yes — roughly half the price at most list sizes. But Kit’s free tier covers 40x more subscribers, so the lifetime cost comparison depends entirely on your growth curve and whether you sell products.
Can I migrate from MailerLite to Kit later?
Yes. Export contacts as CSV, rebuild automations in Kit’s visual builder, move forms and landing pages. Budget a weekend; the automation rebuild is the real work.
Does MailerLite have a transaction fee on product sales?
Check their current commerce terms before relying on it — this is a newer feature and terms have shifted. Kit’s commerce fees are documented on their pricing page.
Which is better for a newsletter that will eventually charge?
Kit. Its paid-newsletter tooling is more mature, and you won’t outgrow the platform when monetization starts working.
Bottom line
Tight budget, simple needs → MailerLite. It’s the cheapest way to send good emails, and the Comfort plan is genuinely good value.
Building a creator business → Kit. The free tier alone (10,000 subscribers) settles it for most people, and the commerce and automation depth pay for the price gap the moment you start selling.
The old advice — “start free on MailerLite” — died when they cut the free plan to 250 subscribers. Update your bookmarks accordingly. For the full field, see our best email marketing platforms for creators roundup.