One of these two gives you the biggest free plan in this entire roundup. The other has the higher inbox placement rate and the cheaper paid tier. The right pick depends on whether you are building a general audience or monetizing a creator business.
MailerLite and Kit both compete for the same budget-conscious audience, but they were built for different jobs. MailerLite is a general-purpose sender with the best inbox placement rate in our 2026 roundup and a drag-and-drop builder most teams pick up in minutes. Kit, formerly ConvertKit, rebuilt itself around creators who want to sell digital products and paid newsletters directly from the same tool they use to send email.
MailerLite‘s Comfort plan starts at $12/month. Kit‘s Creator plan starts at $33/month, though its free plan covers a far larger list than MailerLite’s.
| Feature | MailerLite | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan size | 500 subscribers, 12,000 emails/mo | 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts |
| Entry paid price | $12/mo (Comfort) | $33/mo (Creator) |
| Segmentation style | Lists & drag-and-drop builder | Tag-based, steeper learning curve |
| Digital product & paid newsletter sales | ~ 1 product on free plan | ✓ every tier, including free |
| Inbox placement rate | 97.2% | 96.5% |
| AI assistant tools | ✓ writing assistant, subject lines | ✓ Kit MCP: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini |
| Our overall score | 4.6/5 | 4.5/5 |
Free plan size and entry pricing run in opposite directions
The cheaper paid plan isn’t the platform with the bigger free tier.
Bottom line: Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email broadcasts, tagging, and segmentation, making it one of the largest free tiers of any platform in this roundup. MailerLite's free plan is far smaller at 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. The picture flips once you pay: MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12/month, while Kit's Creator plan starts at $33/month. In practice this means a brand-new list with under 500 subscribers can run entirely free on either platform, but a list between 500 and 10,000 subscribers is free on Kit and a paid upgrade on MailerLite.
Do not compare these two on free-plan size alone. Kit's 10,000-subscriber free tier looks like an easy win, but it is unlimited broadcasts with basic tagging, not the branching automation you get once you pay for either platform.
Creator monetization: the feature that defines Kit
MailerLite can technically do this. Kit is built around it.
Bottom line: Digital product sales, paid newsletter subscriptions, and newsletter sponsorships are core features on every Kit plan, including the free one, with no separate app or integration required. MailerLite's free plan includes a single digital product slot, treating monetization as one feature among many rather than the platform's organizing purpose. For a newsletter writer, course creator, or indie publisher whose income comes directly from their list, Kit's approach removes a layer of tooling that would otherwise require a separate platform like a dedicated course or membership tool.
If your revenue model depends on selling directly to subscribers, Kit's built-in product, subscription, and sponsorship tools are worth the higher price over MailerLite's single-product free allowance.
Segmentation style and deliverability
Tags versus lists, and a half-point gap in inbox placement.
Bottom line: Kit organizes subscribers around tags rather than lists, giving creators granular, rule-based segmentation once they learn the system, though the learning curve is steeper than list-based tools. MailerLite uses a more familiar drag-and-drop email builder with 70-plus content blocks and a straightforward visual automation builder that most new users pick up faster. On raw deliverability, MailerLite posts the highest inbox placement rate in our 2026 roundup at 97.2%, compared with 96.5% for Kit, both strong numbers but a real difference for senders running high email volume where every percentage point affects revenue.
Should I choose MailerLite or Kit?
Bottom line: MailerLite suits general small-business senders who want the best deliverability and an easier builder; Kit suits creators whose business model runs through direct monetization of their subscriber list.
- You want the highest inbox placement rate in this roundup
- You prefer a drag-and-drop builder over tag-based logic
- Your paid-plan budget matters more than free-tier size
- You want an AI writing assistant included on paid tiers
- You run a general small-business list, not a creator monetization model
- You want to sell digital products or paid newsletter subscriptions directly
- You need a free plan that scales to 10,000 subscribers
- Tag-based segmentation fits how you think about your audience
- You want newsletter sponsorship tools built into the platform
- You are a creator first and a general marketer second
For general small-business senders who just want reliable inbox placement at a fair price, MailerLite is the stronger all-around pick, with the highest deliverability rate in our 2026 roundup and a $12/month entry plan.
But Kit is the right call for one specific buyer: a creator whose income depends on selling digital products, paid subscriptions, or sponsorships directly to their list, where its built-in monetization tools remove the need for a second platform.
Before choosing Kit over the cheaper MailerLite plan, confirm you will actually use its monetization features. If you just need to send a reliable newsletter without selling anything through it, MailerLite's lower price and higher deliverability make it the easier default.
The most common questions senders ask when choosing between MailerLite and Kit MailerLite is the better default for general small-business senders, scoring 4.6/5 versus Kit's 4.5/5, with the highest inbox placement rate in our 2026 roundup at 97.2% and a cheaper entry price. Kit is the better pick specifically for online creators who want digital product sales, paid newsletters, and sponsorship tools built into every plan, including the free one. MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12/month. Kit's Creator plan starts at $33/month. Both scale upward as subscriber count grows. At the free tier the gap reverses: Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, while MailerLite's free plan covers 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. Kit, by a wide margin. Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email broadcasts, audience tagging, and built-in digital product and subscription sales. MailerLite's free plan covers 500 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month, with automation and one digital product included but MailerLite branding left on every email. Kit's automation builder is more customizable with a steeper learning curve, built around tags rather than lists. MailerLite offers a more straightforward visual workflow builder with a drag-and-drop email editor and 70-plus content blocks that most senders find easier to pick up. Neither is strictly better automation; Kit rewards creators willing to learn tag-based logic, while MailerLite favors teams that want to move fast with less setup. Kit, decisively. Digital product sales, paid newsletter subscriptions, and newsletter sponsorships are built into every Kit plan, including the free tier, as core features of the platform. MailerLite's free plan includes only one digital product slot, with monetization treated as an add-on rather than the platform's central purpose the way it is on Kit.Frequently asked questions: MailerLite vs Kit
Is MailerLite or Kit better?
How much does MailerLite cost compared to Kit?
Which has a bigger free plan, MailerLite or Kit?
Does Kit have better automation than MailerLite?
Which is better for selling digital products, MailerLite or Kit?
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