Migration guide
MailerLite → Kit
Kit costs more than MailerLite at every tier ($33 Creator vs $10 Growing Business at the 1k-subscriber anchor). This migration isn't about cost; it's about graduating from a generalist ESP to a creator-specialist tool. If your creator business has grown to where you need tag-based segmentation, built-in digital-product commerce, or richer automation than MailerLite's generalist surface, Kit is the canonical move.
Published · By the TierGauge editorial team
When this migration makes sense
- You sell or plan to sell digital products (courses, templates, paid newsletters) and would rather not run a separate Gumroad / Lemon Squeezy / Stripe checkout.
- You've outgrown MailerLite's group-based subscriber organization and want tag-based segmentation that scales with audience-interest fragmentation.
- You're running multi-step behavior-triggered automations (post-purchase upsells, content drips, onboarding sequences) and feel MailerLite's automation surface is shaped for general broadcasts, not creator funnels.
- Kit Creator at $33/mo or Pro at $66/mo is in budget for the commerce + tagging combo, even though MailerLite Growing Business at $10/mo is technically cheaper.
When it doesn't
- Your business is genuinely cost-constrained and the price delta ($23-46/mo) matters more than the feature gap.
- MailerLite's drag-and-drop visual editor is doing real work for you and you want to keep that interaction model. Kit's broadcast composer is text-first and lighter on visual layout.
- You don't sell digital products, don't need tag-based segmentation, and your automations are linear send sequences. MailerLite covers that use case at a third the price.
- MailerLite's bundled landing-page and website builder are part of your stack. Kit's landing pages are functional but the website builder isn't a replacement.
What you lose by leaving MailerLite
- MailerLite's generous free tier (1,000 subscribers + 12,000 sends/month). Kit's Newsletter free tier covers up to 10,000 subscribers but with single-flow automation only.
- MailerLite's bundled drag-and-drop landing-page and website builder.
- MailerLite's polished generalist UI and onboarding (Kit's UX is creator-focused but lighter on hand-holding).
- Group-based subscriber organization (you'll convert to tags during migration).
- Lower per-month cost: MailerLite is genuinely cheaper at every tier comparable to Kit's Creator and Pro.
What you gain with Kit
- Tag-based subscriber organization: flexible, multidimensional segmentation that scales as audience interests fragment across many topics.
- Built-in digital-product commerce on Kit Creator: digital downloads, paid subscriptions, sales pages, customer billing. No separate Gumroad / Stripe cart for digital sales.
- A creator-tuned automation builder where tag triggers, product-purchase triggers, and behavioral triggers are first-class. Funnels that branch by buyer behavior are the canonical Kit use case.
- A larger creator-tool integration ecosystem (Teachable, Podia, Thinkific, Memberful, ConvertBox, Deadline Funnel) that MailerLite's generalist integrations don't match in depth.
- Kit Commerce: a real path to selling courses or paid newsletters from inside the email tool, not as a third-party bolt-on.
- Editorial credibility with the creator audience: Kit is the canonical creator-economy ESP, which matters more than is widely admitted when courses and newsletters are the product.
Plan mapping at the entry paid tier
The lowest non-free, non-custom tier on each side. Use this for the "if I'm on $X with MailerLite, what's the equivalent on Kit?" gut check.
| Limit | MailerLite (Growing Business) | Kit (Creator) |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 500 subscribers (anchor; scales up) | 1,000 subscribers (anchor; scales up) |
| Emails / month | Unlimited | · |
| Team seats | 3 | 2 |
| Automations | · | Unlimited |
Step-by-step migration
- 01
Export your list from MailerLite
Pull a fresh CSV of every active subscriber. Capture the fields you actually use downstream: email is required, name is standard, signup date and tier (free/paid) are useful when MailerLite provides them.
- 02
Provision Kit
Sign up, set sender identity, and verify your sending domain (DKIM, SPF, DMARC). Do this before importing the list; sending from an unverified domain is the single fastest way to land in spam at the moment of cutover.
- 03
Import the list and map fields
Upload the CSV. Map email + name + any custom fields. Decide whether to import as one list or split into segments/tags. MailerLite-style organization rarely maps 1:1, so plan the split before the upload, not after.
- 04
Rebuild automations and templates
Kit's automation builder is structurally similar but won't import MailerLite's flows directly. Rebuild only what you actively use; the move is a chance to delete the unused ones rather than lift-and-shift dead infrastructure.
- 05
Send a test broadcast
Pick a small segment and send a real broadcast (not just a preview). Verify deliverability, link clicks, and unsubscribe flow. If anything's off, you find it before the announcement, not after.
- 06
Announce the move and cut over
Send your last broadcast from MailerLite announcing the new sender domain and what to expect. Cut over DNS and sending from Kit on the same day, not staggered. A dual-send week creates more confusion than it prevents.
MailerLite-to-Kit specific gotchas
Universal steps cover most of the work. These are the failure modes unique to this exact pair.
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#1
Subscriber list export: MailerLite exports CSVs with group memberships in a column. Kit's import accepts CSVs and can map a single column to tags. Plan: export from MailerLite, transform the group-column into tag-name columns (one per group) before importing, so each subscriber lands with the right Kit tags.
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#2
Custom fields: MailerLite custom fields have field types (text, number, date) that don't all 1:1 map to Kit custom fields. Audit your MailerLite custom fields first; rebuild only the ones that drive automation logic in Kit before importing subscribers.
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#3
Automation rebuild: MailerLite's automation builder is structurally similar to Kit's Visual Automations but trigger types differ. MailerLite triggers off subscribe / form submission / date / link click; Kit adds tag-based and product-purchase triggers as first-class. Rebuild flows from scratch and use the migration as an opportunity to delete the dead ones.
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#4
Form embeds: MailerLite forms use a vendor-specific embed script. Kit forms use a different script. Audit every site, landing page, and external embed where MailerLite forms run and swap the embed code before disabling MailerLite.
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#5
Custom domain authentication: MailerLite handles SPF / DKIM / DMARC via its own DNS records; Kit issues different DNS records. Stagger the cutover so you're not bouncing emails for 24 hours during DNS propagation; warm the new sender domain on Kit with a small list segment first.
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#6
Bundled landing-page / website builder: if you publish landing pages or a small site through MailerLite's site builder, those pages don't migrate. Plan to either keep a MailerLite Free plan running solely for the legacy site, or rebuild on a dedicated site tool (Webflow, Carrd) before switching primary email to Kit.
Common questions
- Is Kit cheaper than MailerLite?
- Both start at the same headline price (Free). The reason to migrate is the pricing model and feature scope, not the entry-tier number.
- Will I lose subscribers in the move?
- Email lists transfer as raw addresses; subscriber relationships transfer with you because the addresses haven't changed. What you can lose: re-engagement (some readers won't notice the new sender domain immediately), paid subscriptions if MailerLite handles billing differently from Kit (the gotchas above call out the specific cases), and any "engagement" or warmth signals that MailerLite's deliverability inferred from your sending history. Plan a clear announcement and a deliverability warm-up week.
- How long does the migration take?
- For a list under 10,000 subscribers, a clean migration is one focused week: domain setup and verification, list import, automation rebuild, test broadcast, announcement, cutover. Larger lists or complex automations can stretch to 2 or 3 weeks. The constraint is rarely the import itself; it's the deliverability warm-up and the time to rebuild flows you actually depend on.
- Are MailerLite and Kit direct competitors?
- Yes. Both are primarily email marketing tools, which is why this is a defensible head-to-head migration rather than a cross-category consolidation.
- Where can I see MailerLite vs Kit side-by-side?
- The /compare/kit-vs-mailerlite page on TierGauge shows side-by-side plans, headline pricing, included features, and limit comparison at the entry paid tier. This migration guide is the long-form decision narrative; the compare page is the data-only dashboard.
Sources
- MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing
- Kit: https://kit.com/pricing
Pricing verified . Migration mechanics are based on the public pricing pages and standard ESP migration patterns; verify destructive steps (DNS cutover, paid subscription transfer) against the vendor's current docs before executing.