ConvertKit vs MailerLite

ConvertKit's free plan is far more generous — 10,000 subscribers vs MailerLite's 1,000. For a creator starting out, this means you can grow to 10,000 subscribers before paying anything on ConvertKit, while MailerLite requires upgrading at 1,001 subscribers. Over the first year of audience building, ConvertKit's free plan alone is a compelling advantage.

The tag-based subscriber model prevents the hidden cost of duplicate billing. In MailerLite, if the same subscriber is on multiple lists, they may count multiple times (depending on configuration). In ConvertKit, each subscriber is a single record regardless of how many tags or sequences they belong to. For creators with complex audience segmentation, this prevents billing surprises.

MailerLite is meaningfully cheaper at paid tiers. At 50,000 subscribers, MailerLite costs $109/month vs ConvertKit's $179/month — a $70/month difference ($840/year). If you do not need creator commerce or advanced automations, MailerLite's lower price for comparable core email features is a strong argument.

ConvertKit's commerce features unlock a revenue stream MailerLite cannot match. Selling digital products, e-books, courses, and paid newsletters directly through ConvertKit — with Stripe-connected checkout and automated delivery — requires no third-party tool. For creators with a product to sell, this integration simplifies operations meaningfully.