MailerLite vs ConvertKit – Which is The Higher Possibility For You?

In case you’re not pleased with Mailchimp however can’t determine between the 2 comparatively new gamers, MailerLite and ConvertKit, you’re not alone. In a sea of limitless e mail advertising automation choices, companies and creators are in search of simplicity and adaptability.

Many people search for an e mail advertising instrument that gives the “full package deal,” particularly if you happen to’re a small enterprise proprietor who doesn’t have a whole lot of time to spend on a historically difficult course of like e mail advertising. Nonetheless, opting for a whole package deal may additionally result in difficult options or paying for issues that your online business doesn’t want at this stage.

Happily, each MailerLite and ConvertKit provide easy however sturdy packages which might be good for these searching for a contemporary e mail advertising service. Which one do you have to select? All of it depends upon your wants. Our in-depth evaluations of MailerLite and ConvertKit provide an in depth evaluation of the instruments as an entire, however this MailerLite vs ConvertKit head-to-head will inform you precisely how every instrument matches as much as its competitor.

MailerLite vs ConvertKit: Abstract

MailerLite wins if you happen to’re searching for a easy but extra full package deal with easy-to-use modifying instruments. It’s made for enterprise homeowners, versus ConvertKit, which is made particularly for creators. Each include some fascinating options equivalent to a touchdown web page editor and advertising automation, however how do they really carry out?

Ease of Use & Editor

Each MailerLite and ConvertKit wish to be simpler to make use of than Mailchimp. Whereas establishing is fairly straightforward with each instruments, if you happen to’re searching for an easy-to-use visible editor, solely MailerLite succeeds on this regard.

Each providers have fairly easy and easy-to-use dashboards. MailerLite allows you to entry all the primary options from the get-go proper from its jargon-free dashboard. ConvertKit can be easy, maybe as a result of it has fewer options. Nonetheless, in relation to truly creating emails, MailerLite comes out forward.

MailerLite’s editor is definitely our favourite of all of the instruments we’ve examined!

ConvertKit’s lack of a drag and drop editor makes designing emails a clunky course of, the place the specified final result isn’t typically reached. That is ironic seen because it’s marketed as a instrument for creators.

Winner: MailerLite wins this spherical for usability: 1-0

Design & Flexibility

MailerLite presents a drag-and-drop editor, in contrast to ConvertKit, which has a bare-bones, text-based e mail editor. In case you wished to edit a ConvertKit template, you’d be higher off figuring out some HTML/CSS.

Even if you happen to’re not a designer, MailerLite’s ease of use and adaptability make it straightforward to create lovely emails resulting from their vary of content material blocks and design choices. Templates can be found on MailerLite’s paid plan and the 14-day premium trial.

You get 74 pre-designed templates, and you’ll even decide a specific sort of marketing campaign (for instance, occasions). It’s fairly straightforward to customise the template to match your model utilizing the wealthy textual content editor, but when you already know HTML/CSS, you are able to do it that means (but it surely’s not crucial). If you wish to, you’ll be able to create templates from scratch utilizing the drag-and-drop editor. It doesn’t get a lot simpler than that.

ConvertKit likes to maintain issues tremendous easy by simply providing plain-text e mail templates – they do that to make sure good deliverability charges (extra on that under).

You’ll be able to change colours, fonts, and button types, however not an excessive amount of extra. In case you wished so as to add movies and pictures, you’d need to know HTML/CSS.

Winner: MailerLite for extra flexibility and choices: 2-0

Electronic mail Automations

Each MailerLite and ConvertKit provide good e mail automation options in case you wished to spend a day on the seashore.

MailerLite allows you to create a multistep workflow utilizing its visible builder. These might be based mostly on marketing campaign actions, equivalent to opens and hyperlinks clicked, or circumstances based mostly on customized fields and segments.

The editor is easy-to-use, and it’s included on MailerLite’s free plan, whereas you’ll need to pay for automation with ConvertKit.

With ConvertKit, you too can create e mail sequences and workflow-based visible automations. One of many coolest options is you can customise your communications utilizing tags for various occasions (e.g. when a person clicks a hyperlink or subscribes to a type). In case you wished to do this with MailerLite, it’s a bit extra work.

Winner: Each ConvertKit and MailerLite do a great job in relation to automation, which is why they each get some extent. Nonetheless, if you happen to want extra complicated automations, check out these instruments: 3-1

Registration Varieties

With the intention to get subscribers, you want a sign-up type, in fact. With each MailerLite and ConvertKit, you’ll be able to create GDPR-compliant kinds and touchdown pages (even if you happen to don’t have an internet site).

Each provide pop-up, slide-in and embedded kinds which might be easy and smooth. If you wish to customise kinds, nonetheless, MailerLite is the higher choice. Like with most issues in ConvertKit, an absence of choices means making any adjustments is a irritating course of.

Winner: MailerLite wins for personalisation: 4-1

Spam & Design Testing

MailerLite allows you to preview your emails on desktop and cellular, however that’s so far as it goes. ConvertKit solely offers the choice to preview on desktop, which implies you’ll be able to’t make sure in case your emails are responsive. Spam testing can be not obtainable, but it surely checks and flags emails for hyperlinks that will trigger emails to go to spam (like brief URLs and PayPal hyperlinks).

Winner: No winners right here, as spam and design testing are just about non-existent in each.

Touchdown Web page Builder

Although each embody a touchdown web page builder on their free plan, the choices obtainable in every instrument are fairly completely different.

MailerLite presents many extra touchdown web page templates, plus the choice so as to add extra parts to up engagement and conversions, like movies, quizzes, testimonials and picture carousels.

ConvertKit allows you to change colours and types to match your model, however that’s just about it. You’ll be able to’t even hyperlink a picture, which looks like one thing fairly customary. As with the e-mail editor, there isn’t any method to simply transfer parts across the web page.

Winner: MailerLite will get some extent right here for person expertise and design choices: 5-1

Reporting

Whereas MailerLite doesn’t provide social media or e mail consumer stats, it does provide information for opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and gadgets. You may as well observe purchases for Shopify and WooCommerce.

ConvertKit’s reporting is actually primary, providing solely click on charges, open charges, unsubscribes, and it’s a must to view stats for particular emails – there isn’t a dashboard to see your total stats.

Winner: MailerLite wins once more: 6-1

Deliverability

It’s crucial that the e-mail instrument you choose has good deliverability, in any other case all of your efforts main as much as sending your marketing campaign may have been for nothing.

We’ve been monitoring the deliverability of the suppliers we assessment for plenty of years.

Listed here are the typical figures of how they carried out in our final 3 rounds of bi-annual deliverability assessments (Mar 2021 – Apr 2022):

	MAILERLITE	CONVERTKIT
General Deliverability Fee	97%	93%

Winner: It’s a detailed one, however the level in the end goes to MailerLite for its barely increased deliverability charge. Actually, MailerLite has gained the highest rating for plenty of latest rounds: 7-1

Integrations & Extras

ConvertKit has about 90 integrations together with Shopify, Stripe, WooCommerce, SumoMe, ConvertPlug, Wix, WordPress, and different massive names you’d anticipate. You should use it with Zapier too, which opens up a ton of different choices. Nonetheless, it doesn’t combine with any main CRMs, surprisingly. Its web site mentions some “integrations” that aren’t fairly seamless: you’d have to repeat and paste the HTML code.

MailerLite additionally presents loads of integration choices (Shopify and WordPress, for instance), and Zapier. It offers you entry to the developer API, so you need to use it with different apps.

Each are listed in our high e mail advertising instruments for Shopify if you would like to see how they examine.

Winner: It’s a tie: 8-2

Help

Each provide assist by way of e mail and chat. ConvertKit has been fairly responsive and educated.

MailerLite’s assist can be superb. They’ve the identical few brokers who get again to you with considerate and detailed responses.

Each providers have fairly good tutorials or assist articles for individuals who want self-help.

Winner: Fairly shut tie right here, though MailerLite has a greater data base: 9-3

Costs

Each provide a free plan in case you have lower than 1,000 subscribers. ConvertKit’s free plan presents limitless emails, touchdown pages and kinds, whereas MailerLite’s free plan offers you an allowance of 12,000 emails (nonetheless fairly beneficiant) and is restricted to 10 touchdown pages.

If you get to the paid Rising Marketing strategy, MailerLite presents touchdown web page and e mail templates (no templates are included on the free plan), limitless emails, precedence e mail assist and the power to take away MailerLite’s branding.

ConvertKit’s free plan permits you to promote digital merchandise and subscriptions (a function obtainable on MailerLite’s paid plans) and its paid plans include integration choices like API, automated e mail sequences and funnels, hyperlink corrections for despatched emails, deliverability reporting, and free migration from one other instrument.

Let’s check out their lowest-level plans to check:

 

	MAILERLITE	CONVERTKIT
Free plan	1,000 subscribers	1,000 subscribers
2,500 subscribers	$17/mo	$49/mo (for 3,000 subscribers)
5,000 subscribers	$32/mo	$79/mo
10,000 subscribers	$54/mo	$119/mo
25,000 subscribers	$139/mo	$199/mo
50,000 subscribers	$239/mo	$379/mo
100,000 subscribers	$425/mo	$679/mo

Winner: MailerLite wins this spherical for worth for cash and affordability.

The ultimate rating is 10-3, crowning MailerLite the general winner.