Stack
Kit (ConvertKit)
An email marketing platform for creators, with sequences, landing pages, and digital-product checkout.
What it actually does
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built for creators who sell to an audience. It combines broadcasts, automated sequences, landing pages, forms, and a checkout for digital products, so the audience list and the products sold to it live in one place.
The free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages, and forms, but only a single basic automation. Paid plans unlock full automation and start at $33/mo (billed annually) priced from a 1,000-subscriber base.
Kit has no transactional email API, so an app still needs Resend or Postmark for password resets and receipts. The pricing quirk is that free supports 10,000 subscribers while paid tiers price from 1,000, so upgrading a large free list triggers a big jump.
Kit (ConvertKit) vs its main rivals
The tools people actually weigh against Kit (ConvertKit): Beehiiv, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Substack. Same criteria for every column, including where Kit (ConvertKit) loses.
| Kit (ConvertKit) |  Beehiiv |  Mailchimp | AActiveCampaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing & access | ||||
| Free tier | Yes10,000 subs | Yes2,500 subs | Yes250 contacts | No14-day trial |
| Starting price | $33/mo | $43/mo | $13/mo | $15/mo |
Audience & sending | ||||
| Automations on free plan | 1 basic | None | Basic | None |
| Unlimited broadcasts | YesFree plan | YesUnlimited | NoSend cap | YesYes |
| Automation depth | Good | Basic | Good | Advanced |
Monetization | ||||
| Sell digital products | Yes3.5%+$0.30 | Yes0% cut | NoNo | NoNo |
| Landing pages & forms | YesUnlimited free | YesYes | YesLimited | YesYes |
Developer & API | ||||
| REST API | Free | Paid | Free | Free |
| Transactional email API | NoNo | NoEnterprise | YesAdd-on | YesAdd-on |
Team & enterprise | ||||
| SSO / SAML | YesEnterprise | YesEnterprise | YesPremium | YesEnterprise |
- Free plan allows 10,000 subscribers, the biggest free audience cap here
- Unlimited landing pages and forms on free, enough to build a waitlist alone
- Sells digital products on the free plan at 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction
- Free plan gives only 1 basic automation; real automation starts at $33/mo
- No transactional email API, so app email still needs Resend or Postmark
- Upgrading a large free list triggers a steep price jump versus flat-rate rivals
Pay less for it
5 ways foundUp to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts and forms, as long as you need only one basic automation.
Paying yearly is about 16% off the monthly rate: roughly $396/yr Creator versus $39/mo monthly.
Kit periodically offers free migration and onboarding help when moving a paid list over from another tool.
A large list is often cheaper on Beehiiv's flatter tiers than on Kit's per-subscriber pricing.
Beehiiv — Flatter pricing at scale and a free 2,500-subscriber tier; a better fit if you want a newsletter and monetization without Kit's automation-gated pricing.
StackTracker tracks what you actually pay for Kit (ConvertKit) and every other tool, flags overpayment, and shows the dollars you would save by switching.
Is it the right tool for you
- The audience is the business and you want to monetize a list
- You want sequences, landing pages, and digital-product checkout in one tool
- You can build a waitlist on the free 10,000-subscriber tier
- You need transactional app email like resets and receipts → use Resend or Postmark
- You want a large newsletter without a per-subscriber price jump → use Beehiiv
Track what Kit (ConvertKit) and the rest of your stack cost
StackTracker adds up every subscription, plus your hours, so you see the real number.
Prices and limits last verified 2026-07-20.