Choosing between Mailchimp and ConvertKit is one of the most common dilemmas for email marketers. Both platforms are popular, but they serve different audiences and excel in different areas. This comprehensive comparison will help you decide which platform is the right choice for your business in 2025.
🎯 Quick Verdict
Choose Mailchimp if: You're a small business or beginner wanting an easy-to-use platform with beautiful templates, a generous free plan, and all-in-one marketing features (landing pages, social media, ads).
Choose ConvertKit if: You're a content creator, blogger, course creator, or online entrepreneur who prioritizes audience building, subscriber engagement, and simple but powerful automation workflows.
📊 Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Mailchimp | ConvertKit |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free (500 contacts) | Free (1,000 subscribers) |
| Paid Plan Price | $13/month (500 contacts) | $29/month (1,000 subscribers) |
| Best For | Small businesses, beginners | Creators, bloggers, educators |
| Email Templates | 100+ designed templates | Limited (text-focused) |
| Automation | Good (requires Standard plan) | Excellent (included free) |
| Ease of Use | Very easy | Easy |
| Landing Pages | ✅ Included | ✅ Included |
| CRM Features | Basic | Subscriber-focused |
| Deliverability | Good (varies) | Excellent |
| Support | Email, chat (limited) | Email, live chat |
💰 Pricing Comparison
Mailchimp Pricing
- Free Plan: $0 - 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month, basic templates
- Essentials: $13/month (500 contacts) - Remove branding, A/B testing, 24/7 support
- Standard: $20/month (500 contacts) - Customer journey builder, retargeting ads, custom branding
- Premium: $350/month (10,000 contacts) - Advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, phone support
Pricing at 5,000 contacts:
- Standard Plan: $100/month
- Premium Plan: $350/month
ConvertKit Pricing
- Free Plan: $0 - 1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, landing pages, forms
- Creator: $29/month (1,000 subscribers) - Automation, integrations, third-party integrations
- Creator Pro: $59/month (1,000 subscribers) - Newsletter referral system, subscriber scoring, advanced reporting
Pricing at 5,000 subscribers:
- Creator Plan: $66/month
- Creator Pro Plan: $108/month
Price Winner: For small lists (under 1,000), Mailchimp free plan wins with more contacts. For larger lists, ConvertKit is significantly cheaper ($66 vs $100/month for 5,000 contacts).
✉️ Email Design & Templates
Mailchimp
Mailchimp excels in email design with:
- 100+ professionally designed templates across all industries
- Drag-and-drop editor that's intuitive and powerful
- Beautiful, modern designs that look great on mobile
- Content studio for organizing brand assets
- Creative Assistant AI for design suggestions
- Easy image editing within the platform
ConvertKit
ConvertKit takes a minimalist approach:
- Limited template library (intentionally simple)
- Text-focused emails that prioritize readability
- Basic formatting options (no complex designs)
- Emphasis on personal, plain-text style emails
- Works well for newsletters and personal communication
Winner: Mailchimp - If visual design matters, Mailchimp is the clear winner. ConvertKit's approach works for creators who want personal, text-based communication.
🤖 Automation Capabilities
Mailchimp
Mailchimp's automation has improved but requires higher tiers:
- Customer Journey Builder (Standard plan and above)
- Pre-built automation templates
- Behavioral targeting based on email activity
- E-commerce automations (abandoned cart, product recommendations)
- Conditional branching in workflows
- Time delays and triggers
ConvertKit
ConvertKit was built for automation from day one:
- Visual automation builder (even on free plan)
- Tag-based subscriber management
- Unlimited automation rules and sequences
- Easy conditional logic and branching
- Link triggers to move subscribers between sequences
- Subscriber scoring to identify engaged contacts
- Simplified workflow creation
Winner: ConvertKit - More powerful automation included at lower price points. Automation is accessible even on the free plan, while Mailchimp requires Standard plan ($20+/month).
📈 List Management & Segmentation
Mailchimp
- Traditional list-based system with groups and segments
- Tags available (but lists are primary)
- Advanced segmentation (Premium plan only)
- Multiple lists can complicate management
- Re-importing can create duplicates
ConvertKit
- Tag-based system (no lists)
- All subscribers in one master list
- Unlimited tags and segments
- No duplicate contact issues
- Easier to manage subscriber preferences
- Broadcast to specific tags or segments
Winner: ConvertKit - Tag-based system is more flexible and eliminates duplicate contact headaches common with Mailchimp's list structure.
📊 Analytics & Reporting
Mailchimp
- Comprehensive email reports (opens, clicks, bounces)
- Click map showing where people clicked
- Campaign comparison reports
- E-commerce revenue tracking
- Social media performance
- Audience insights and growth reports
- Industry benchmarking
ConvertKit
- Basic email analytics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes)
- Subscriber growth charts
- Broadcast performance reports
- Automation funnel visualization
- Advanced reporting (Creator Pro plan)
- Less detailed than Mailchimp
Winner: Mailchimp - More comprehensive reporting and analytics, especially for e-commerce and advanced marketers.
🔗 Integrations & Ecosystem
Mailchimp
- 300+ integrations in their marketplace
- Native integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce
- Social media integrations (Facebook, Instagram)
- E-commerce platforms well supported
- CRM integrations available
ConvertKit
- 125+ integrations focused on creator tools
- Strong WordPress and blogging platform support
- Course platforms (Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi)
- Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
- Zapier for extended integrations
Winner: Mailchimp - Broader integration ecosystem covers more use cases. ConvertKit's integrations are excellent but more niche (creator-focused).
🎓 Ease of Use & Learning Curve
Mailchimp
- Very intuitive interface for beginners
- Excellent onboarding tutorials
- Can feel overwhelming due to many features
- Frequent UI changes can be confusing
- Great documentation and resources
ConvertKit
- Clean, simple interface
- Focused on essential features only
- Shorter learning curve for automation
- Less hand-holding in onboarding
- Great support documentation
Winner: Tie - Both are easy to use. Mailchimp is slightly more beginner-friendly for the first campaign. ConvertKit is simpler overall with fewer distractions.
📧 Deliverability Performance
Mailchimp
- Good overall deliverability (average 95-97%)
- Can vary based on shared IP reputation
- Strict anti-spam policies
- Dedicated IP available (Premium plan)
- Some users report deliverability issues
ConvertKit
- Excellent deliverability (average 98-99%)
- Strong sender reputation
- Focused on permission-based marketing
- Proactive spam prevention
- Consistently high inbox placement
Winner: ConvertKit - Better overall deliverability and more consistent inbox placement rates.
🎯 Best Use Cases
Choose Mailchimp For:
- Small businesses needing an all-in-one marketing platform
- E-commerce stores wanting product recommendations and abandoned cart emails
- Teams that need beautiful, designed email templates
- Businesses using social media ads and retargeting
- Companies wanting comprehensive analytics and reporting
- Beginners who want generous free plan for learning
Choose ConvertKit For:
- Bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers building audiences
- Course creators and online educators
- Authors and writers with newsletters
- Coaches and consultants focused on email marketing
- Anyone who prioritizes automation and subscriber engagement
- Creators who prefer simple, text-based emails
⚡ Pros & Cons Summary
Mailchimp Pros
- Beautiful email templates and easy design tools
- All-in-one marketing platform (landing pages, social, ads)
- Excellent free plan for getting started
- Comprehensive analytics and reporting
- Great for e-commerce with product features
Mailchimp Cons
- Expensive as your list grows
- Automation limited to higher-priced plans
- Customer support has declined in quality
- List-based system can create duplicates
- Deliverability can be inconsistent
ConvertKit Pros
- Powerful automation even on free plan
- Tag-based system eliminates duplicates
- Excellent deliverability rates
- More affordable for larger lists
- Free migration assistance
- Great for building engaged audiences
ConvertKit Cons
- Limited email templates (text-focused)
- Fewer integrations than Mailchimp
- Not ideal for e-commerce businesses
- Less comprehensive reporting
- Interface less polished than Mailchimp
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate from Mailchimp to ConvertKit?
Yes! ConvertKit offers free migration services. Their team will help you transfer your subscribers, tags, and sequences from Mailchimp. The process typically takes 1-2 weeks and is handled by ConvertKit's migration specialists.
Which platform has better automation?
ConvertKit has better automation capabilities, especially at lower price points. Automation is included even on the free plan, while Mailchimp requires the Standard plan ($20+/month) for their Customer Journey Builder.
Is Mailchimp or ConvertKit better for e-commerce?
Mailchimp is better for e-commerce businesses. It offers product recommendations, abandoned cart emails, purchase-based segmentation, and revenue tracking. ConvertKit has minimal e-commerce features and is focused on content creators.
Which is more affordable?
For very small lists (under 500), Mailchimp's free plan wins. For lists over 1,000 contacts, ConvertKit is typically 30-40% cheaper. At 5,000 contacts, ConvertKit costs $66/month vs Mailchimp at $100/month.
Does ConvertKit have email templates?
ConvertKit has limited templates and focuses on simple, text-based emails. If you need beautiful, highly designed emails with images and complex layouts, Mailchimp is the better choice.
🎯 Final Recommendation
For Small Businesses & E-commerce: Choose Mailchimp. The beautiful templates, e-commerce features, and all-in-one platform make it ideal for businesses that need professional-looking emails and comprehensive marketing tools.
For Content Creators & Educators: Choose ConvertKit. The powerful automation, tag-based system, and creator-focused features make it the best choice for bloggers, podcasters, course creators, and anyone building an engaged audience.
Try Both: Both platforms offer free plans. We recommend signing up for both, creating a test campaign, and seeing which interface and feature set resonates with your workflow. You can't go wrong with either choice - it comes down to your specific needs and preferences.