ConvertKit vs Mailchimp: Which Email Platform Makes You More Money?

Email is still the highest-ROI marketing channel available. For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $36. But that number assumes you are using the right platform. Choose the wrong one and you are leaving money on the table — or worse, actively damaging your deliverability and conversions.

Mailchimp built its reputation as the easy, cheap email tool. ConvertKit (now called Kit) was built specifically for creators and people selling things online. After using both extensively and talking to dozens of people who have switched between them, the conclusion is clear: for anyone building an online income, ConvertKit wins. Here is exactly why.

Who Each Platform Is Built For

Mailchimp

Mailchimp launched in 2001 and built its brand around small businesses — restaurants, retail shops, local services. It is a general-purpose email tool that does a lot of things okay. Its audience is primarily small business owners who want to send occasional newsletters and promotional emails.

The drag-and-drop editor is approachable. The free tier is generous. But "approachable" and "generous" are not the same as "optimised for revenue."

ConvertKit (Kit)

ConvertKit was built by Nathan Barry, a creator, specifically for creators. The entire platform philosophy is different: your subscribers are people, not leads. You tag and segment them based on what they have shown interest in, what they have purchased, and where they are in your funnel. You send them content that matches exactly where they are.

That philosophy change is what drives the revenue difference.

Key Differences That Affect Your Revenue

1. Automation and Sequences

Mailchimp: Automations exist but are limited to single-step triggers or basic series on paid plans. Building a multi-step welcome sequence that segments subscribers based on what they click requires workarounds and can feel clunky.

ConvertKit: Visual automation builder that lets you create branching sequences based on subscriber behaviour. Someone clicks a link about freelancing? They get tagged and entered into the freelancing sequence automatically. Someone buys your product? They exit the sales sequence and enter the customer sequence. This is how you make money from email — by sending relevant content to the right people at the right time.

2. Subscriber Tagging vs List-Based Organisation

Mailchimp: Organises subscribers into separate lists. The problem: you pay for the same subscriber if they are on multiple lists. And sending to people across lists is complicated. This pushes people toward sending the same email to everyone, which kills engagement and revenue.

ConvertKit: One subscriber database with unlimited tags and segments. Same person can have 20 tags — "bought product A," "interested in affiliate marketing," "opened last 5 emails" — without you paying twice. You can slice your audience any way you need for targeting.

3. Deliverability

This one matters most and gets talked about least. ConvertKit's deliverability rates consistently outperform Mailchimp's, particularly for creator and information product emails. The reason is largely because Mailchimp's platform attracts a lot of spam-adjacent senders, which affects reputation. ConvertKit's creator focus means higher-quality senders, higher average engagement rates, and better inbox placement.

A 5% difference in open rates across 5,000 subscribers is 250 more people seeing your offer every send. At typical conversion rates, that difference compounds into meaningful revenue difference over a year.

4. Landing Pages and Forms

Mailchimp: Landing pages exist. They are average. Nothing special.

ConvertKit: Built-in landing pages and forms that convert well and integrate seamlessly with automations. When someone fills out a landing page, they are instantly tagged and entered into the relevant sequence. No connecting tools required. For someone growing an email list as a business asset, this matters.

5. Commerce Features

ConvertKit has a built-in digital product selling feature (ConvertKit Commerce). You can sell ebooks, courses, and digital products directly through the platform without needing a separate checkout tool. Mailchimp has no equivalent.

This is not just a nice extra — it means creators can go from zero to selling in days, with email capture and delivery all handled in one place.

Pricing Comparison

Mailchimp Pricing (2026)

• Free: 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month, basic features
• Essentials: From $13/month (500 contacts) — removes branding, adds A/B testing
• Standard: From $20/month — adds automation, advanced segmentation
• Premium: From $350/month — advanced features, phone support

Note: Mailchimp charges for unsubscribes. If someone unsubscribes and stays in your database, you still pay for them. This is widely criticised and adds up over time.

ConvertKit (Kit) Pricing (2026)

• Free: 10,000 subscribers, unlimited landing pages and forms, basic email broadcasts
• Creator: From $25/month — automated sequences, visual automation builder, no ConvertKit branding
• Creator Pro: From $50/month — advanced reports, subscriber scoring, custom domains for emails

ConvertKit does not charge for unsubscribes. And its free tier gives you up to 10,000 subscribers, which is extraordinarily generous — Mailchimp caps free at 500.

When Mailchimp Makes More Sense

Fairness requires acknowledging where Mailchimp wins:

• Pure e-commerce with physical products: Mailchimp's Shopify integration is deep, and the abandoned cart and post-purchase automations are solid for product-based stores.
• Very small local businesses: If you are a local café sending a weekly special offer to 200 customers, Mailchimp's design templates and simplicity make sense.
• Teams who need social media scheduling too: Mailchimp includes basic social posting. ConvertKit does not.

The Verdict

For anyone building an online income — a blog, a newsletter, an affiliate site, a course, a digital product business, or a content brand — ConvertKit is the better choice. The automation capabilities, the segmentation model, the commerce features, and the deliverability all point in one direction.

The free tier alone (up to 10,000 subscribers with landing pages and forms) makes ConvertKit the obvious starting point. Mailchimp's equivalent is 500 subscribers. If you are serious about growing an email list as a business asset, the choice is not really a comparison — it is ConvertKit by default, and the upgrade to paid tiers only when you are ready to scale automation.

We use ConvertKit for Internet Bacon. Every page on this site has a signup form powered by it. The analytics are clear, the automations work reliably, and the deliverability is excellent. When we recommend it, it is because we have used it, not because it has a nice logo.

Quick Comparison Summary

Ready to make the switch? Start with ConvertKit free — no credit card, no limits until 10,000 subscribers. And if you want to understand how we build our email funnel, check out our guide on how to make money from an email list.