ConvertKit vs Mailchimp
An honest side-by-side on pricing, features, and who each tool actually suits.
Best for: Bloggers, newsletter operators, and course creators who send regular broadcasts plus a handful of evergreen sequences.
Visit ConvertKit
Best for: Small businesses and retailers who want email, landing pages, and a light CRM in one polished suite and do not yet have a large list.
Visit MailchimpOur verdict
Choose ConvertKit if you are a creator; choose Mailchimp if you are a shop.
The deciding difference is the data model. ConvertKit gives every subscriber one record with tags, so the same person on three lead magnets is billed once and segmented instantly. Mailchimp's audiences remain list-shaped, so that person can exist twice and you pay for both. For a blogger or newsletter operator, that alone settles it — and ConvertKit's deliverability measures better in like-for-like sends.
Mailchimp earns its place elsewhere. The template editor is the most refined in the category, the integration catalogue is enormous, and the bundled CRM, landing pages, and social posting let a very small business run its whole funnel in one tool. If email is a monthly newsletter attached to a store, that breadth beats ConvertKit's focus.
Cost flips as you grow. Mailchimp is cheaper to start and gets steadily worse value as contacts accumulate, especially since it bills unsubscribed profiles unless you prune. Above roughly 5,000 engaged subscribers, price out both properly before renewing.
At a glance
| ConvertKit | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Editor score | 4.7 / 5 | 3.9 / 5 |
| User rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.0 / 5 |
| Verified reviews | 3 | 1 |
| Starting price | $15/mo | $13/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Ease of use | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| Support | 4.7 | 3.5 |
| Value | 4.7 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
| Feature | ConvertKit | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Autoresponder sequences | Yes | Yes |
| Behavioural triggers | Yes | Yes |
| Visual automation builder | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in CRM | No | Yes |
| Lead scoring | Yes | Yes |
| Subscriber deduplication | Yes | No |
| Tag-based segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag-and-drop email editor | Yes | Yes |
| Landing pages | Yes | Yes |
| Signup forms & pop-ups | Yes | Yes |
| Template library | Yes | Yes |
| A/B testing | Yes | Yes |
| Send-time optimisation | No | Yes |
| SMS marketing | No | Yes |
| Abandoned cart recovery | No | Yes |
| Sell digital products | Yes | No |
| Revenue attribution | No | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Zapier / no-code integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Social media posting | — | Yes |
ConvertKit
Pros
- Category-leading deliverability
- Tag-and-segment model beats list duplication
- Visual automations that stay readable as they grow
- Free tier is usable to 10,000 subscribers
- Landing pages and forms included on every plan
- Sell digital products without a second platform
Cons
- Plain-text aesthetic fights design-heavy brands
- Reporting stops well short of revenue attribution
- Shallow e-commerce automation versus Klaviyo
- No SMS channel
Mailchimp
Pros
- Best-in-class template library and editor
- Enormous, well-maintained integration ecosystem
- Marketing CRM, landing pages, and social in one place
- Reporting and benchmarking against industry averages
- Familiar enough that new hires need no training
Cons
- Gets expensive fast as the contact count grows
- Pays per contact even for unsubscribed profiles
- Journey builder gated behind Standard
- Support quality varies sharply by tier