Choose Mailchimp If...
You are a small business that wants an all-in-one marketing platform combining email marketing, a built-in CRM, landing pages, social media tools, and 300+ integrations. Mailchimp excels at polished email design with 100+ drag-and-drop templates.
Choose ConvertKit If...
You are a creator (blogger, YouTuber, podcaster, author) who wants a generous free tier for up to 10,000 subscribers, powerful visual automations, tag-based subscriber management, and the ability to sell digital products directly from your email platform.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | Mailchimp | ConvertKit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | 500 contacts | 10,000 subscribers | ConvertKit |
| Starting Paid | $13/mo | $25/mo | Mailchimp |
| Email Templates | 100+ drag-and-drop | Minimal (text-focused) | Mailchimp |
| Automation | Good (Standard+) | Excellent (visual) | ConvertKit |
| Subscriber Mgmt | List-based | Tag-based | ConvertKit |
| Landing Pages | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| CRM | Built-in | No | Mailchimp |
| Digital Products | No | Yes | ConvertKit |
| A/B Testing | Essentials+ | Creator+ | Tie |
| Integrations | 300+ | 120+ | Mailchimp |
| Analytics | Advanced | Basic | Mailchimp |
Email Design & Templates
Mailchimp is the clear winner for email design. Its drag-and-drop editor offers 100+ professionally designed templates covering everything from product launches and newsletters to event invitations and holiday promotions. You can customize colors, fonts, layouts, and images without touching any code. The editor is intuitive and produces emails that look polished in every inbox.
ConvertKit takes a deliberately minimalist approach to email design. Its emails are primarily text-based, resembling a personal message from a friend rather than a branded marketing campaign. ConvertKit offers a handful of simple templates, but the philosophy is clear: plain-text emails get higher open rates and feel more authentic.
If your brand relies on visual storytelling and polished design (e-commerce, retail, agencies), Mailchimp is the better choice. If you are a creator whose audience values authenticity and personal connection, ConvertKit's text-first approach can actually outperform flashy templates.
Automation & Workflows
This is where ConvertKit truly shines. Its visual automation builder lets you create sophisticated email sequences with branching logic, conditional triggers, delays, and subscriber actions -- all on the free plan. You can build welcome sequences, sales funnels, course delivery systems, and re-engagement campaigns with drag-and-drop simplicity.
Mailchimp offers automation, but the most useful features are locked behind the Standard plan ($20/mo for 500 contacts). Its Customer Journey builder is capable but feels more complex than ConvertKit's visual approach. Mailchimp's pre-built automation templates (abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase) are helpful for businesses, but the learning curve is steeper.
For creators who rely on automated sequences (course launches, nurture sequences, evergreen funnels), ConvertKit's automation is more intuitive and more powerful at every price point.
Pricing at Scale
Pricing differences become dramatic as your list grows. Here is how costs compare at key subscriber milestones:
| Subscribers | Mailchimp (Standard) | ConvertKit (Creator) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $20/mo | $25/mo |
| 5,000 | $75/mo | $66/mo |
| 10,000 | $115/mo | $100/mo |
| 25,000 | $270/mo | $166/mo |
| 50,000 | $385/mo | $266/mo |
Mailchimp is cheaper at small scales (under 2,500 contacts), but ConvertKit becomes significantly more affordable as your list grows. At 25,000 subscribers, ConvertKit saves you over $100/mo compared to Mailchimp's Standard plan. Mailchimp's list-based model can also lead to paying for the same subscriber multiple times if they appear on multiple lists.
ConvertKit's tag-based system means you never pay for duplicate subscribers, and its free tier (10,000 subscribers) is dramatically more generous than Mailchimp's (500 contacts). For creators growing an audience, ConvertKit's pricing is more sustainable long-term.
Our Verdict
Different Tools for Different People
The best choice depends entirely on whether you are a business or a creator.
Choose Mailchimp if you are a small business that needs an all-in-one marketing platform. Its CRM, polished templates, advanced analytics, and 300+ integrations make it the ideal hub for businesses running multi-channel marketing campaigns. Mailchimp works best for e-commerce brands, retail stores, agencies, and businesses with design-heavy email needs.
Choose ConvertKit if you are a creator who wants to build and monetize an audience. Its generous free tier, powerful automations, tag-based subscriber management, and built-in digital product sales make it the best email platform for bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, course creators, and newsletter writers. ConvertKit is built by creators, for creators -- and it shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate from Mailchimp to ConvertKit?
Yes. ConvertKit offers a free concierge migration service for accounts with over 5,000 subscribers. For smaller lists, you can export your Mailchimp contacts as a CSV file and import them directly into ConvertKit. Tags and segments will need to be recreated manually, but subscriber data transfers cleanly.
Which platform has better deliverability?
Both Mailchimp and ConvertKit have strong deliverability rates (typically 95-99% inbox placement). ConvertKit's text-focused emails tend to avoid spam filters more consistently because they look like personal messages. Mailchimp's image-heavy templates can sometimes trigger spam filters if not configured properly, but both platforms offer authentication tools (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to maximize deliverability.
Is ConvertKit's free plan really free for 10,000 subscribers?
Yes. ConvertKit's free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, email broadcasts, and basic automations. The main limitations are no visual automation builder (available on Creator plan), no advanced reporting, and ConvertKit branding on emails. For creators just starting out, it is one of the most generous free plans in email marketing.