As an email marketer, I’ve used my share of email marketing software. ConvertKit and Mailchimp are two of the most popular, and they both speak to a small business audience, which can make it hard to decide between the two.
Here, I’ll break down the pros and cons of each app and talk about the differences between using ConvertKit and Mailchimp for your next email campaign.
ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp at a glance
If you’re just looking for top-line takeaways, here’s a condensed version of this features comparison:
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ConvertKit is best for creators and small eCommerce business owners. It offers more email automation flexibility than Mailchimp, but its reporting capabilities leave a lot to be desired.
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Mailchimp is best for small- to medium-sized businesses. Its wide variety of well-designed templates makes branding a breeze, and detailed reports allow marketers to gather essential performance data.
ConvertKit |
Mailchimp |
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Pricing |
⭐⭐⭐ Limited free version for up to 300 subscribers and unlimited email sends Creator and Creator Pro versions start at $15 and $29/month for 300 subscribers |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Limited free version for up to 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month Essentials and Standard plans start at $13 and $20/month for 500 contacts; Premium plan starts at $350/month |
Email creation |
⭐⭐⭐ Basic email creation in WYSIWYG editor using your own templates or based on premade Starting Points |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Choose between the classic drag-and-drop editor, templates, a code-your-own option, and a new AI-enhanced email builder |
Design and templates |
⭐⭐ Text-and-image-only capabilities with 15 basic template options |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ High design customizability plus 13 common layouts, 100 pre-designed templates, and AI-based creative assistance |
A/B testing |
⭐⭐ Can only test subject lines |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Not available in free plan, but all paid plans enable subject line, design, content, and send time testing |
Contact management |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Flexible tagging allows for easy search and segmentation |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tagging system is similar to ConvertKit but with more options to segment based on contact activity in addition to contact tags |
Automation |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Goes beyond the standard email sequence setup; you can automate actions triggered by subscriber purchases, form fills, and more |
⭐⭐ Templates are more limited in their functionality and more difficult to edit than ConvertKit’s simple and familiar “if this, then that” automation format |
Best for |
Creators, solo sellers, and users that prioritize highly customizable automations |
Small businesses and brands that prioritize design and detailed reporting |
The even parts of the playing field
First, let’s talk about what’s not different between the two email marketing platforms. If you’re looking for a tie-breaker, none of these categories will be it.
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Ease of use: Sure, some people will find one or the other more intuitive, but at the end of the day, both ConvertKit and Mailchimp are purpose-built to be user-friendly.
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Customer support: Both companies are accessible via email or chat (for users with paid plans), and both provide similar levels of assistance. Free users, however, might appreciate Mailchimp’s help bot.
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Email sequencing: Both platforms have options for automating email sequences and drip campaigns that are functionally very similar. (Automations beyond email sequencing are a different story, which I’ll discuss below.)
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Deliverability: Though each provider may suggest they have superior deliverability rates, actual tests show the two platforms have nearly identical performance.
ConvertKit: pros, cons, and details
ConvertKit is a meat-and-potatoes dinner to Mailchimp’s fully catered buffet. It forgoes many of the “bells and whistles” features that other email tools offer and invests that energy in more powerful contact management, automation, and page-building tools.
Experienced marketers who are comfortable with email platforms and will utilize all of the extra features a tool provides may feel limited by ConvertKit’s simplicity, but beginner and intermediate users will find that ConvertKit offers everything they need to get the job done.
ConvertKit strengths
Flexible contact list management: While Mailchimp includes optional tagging functionality, ConvertKit’s contact management system replaces the traditional contact list with tags and segments, which makes the subscriber database searchable and allows users to create “lists” customized to their specific needs at the moment. For example, let’s say I’m the email marketing director at a major wildlife conservation fund. My contact tags might look something like this:
Instead of creating a list for major political donors in each city, past attendees in each city, journalists in each city, etc., I can just use my tags to pull up the segment I want to target with whatever campaign I’m working on right now.