Kit review
by Kit Inc. (formerly ConvertKit)Email marketing and newsletters
Email marketing for creators, formerly ConvertKit: a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, and visual automations and sequences from $39 a month.
- Free plan
- Self-serve
- Tiered
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Built-in reach (main value)
- Worth the price
A newsletter and email platform for creators: free up to 10,000 subscribers, with paid newsletters, digital products and a recommendation network built in.
Kit is built around a creator's list: landing pages, forms, broadcasts, tagging and segmentation are on every plan, and so are paid newsletters and digital product sales, at 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction. Kit's recommendation network suggests your newsletter on other creators' sign-up forms. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, and Creator adds unlimited visual automations and sequences for $89 a month at 5,000 subscribers. You pay for subscribers, not for emails sent.
- Free up to 10,000 subscribersThe free plan includes unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms, tagging and segmentation for up to 10,000 subscribers.Evidence: Pricing page and plan comparison (2026-10-16)
- Recommendations and paid newsletters on every planFree and Smart Recommendations promote your newsletter across other Kit creators' sign-up forms, and paid newsletters, subscriptions and tip jars are on every plan.Evidence: Pricing page plan comparison (2026-10-16)
- Billed on subscribers, not emailsThe billing article says the bill is based on active subscribers, not emails sent or features used, and that the account moves to the next published tier automatically as the list grows.Evidence: Help center: Billing at Kit, upgrade FAQs (2026-10-16)
- Best for
- Creators and solo publishers who want to grow and monetize a newsletter, starting free and adding automations when the list pays for itself.
- Good to know
- Kit's security page cites only its hosting providers' SOC 2 and ISO certifications, and SSO is not listed on any plan.
How Kit compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Email marketing and newsletters: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Kit | Klaviyo | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Built-in reachA newsletter and email platform for creators: free up to 10,000 subscribers, with paid newsletters, digital products and a recommendation network built in. | Saves engineering timeEmail marketing on top of a customer data platform: store and order data drive segments and flows, with SOC 2 Type II, SSO and MFA on paid plans. | Worth the priceEmail marketing, SMS and automation priced by emails sent rather than contacts stored, with servers in the EU and an ISO 27001 certificate. | Easy to adoptAn all-round email marketing tool with forms, landing pages, automation flows and 300+ integrations, priced by how many contacts you store. |
| Overall score | 6.8 | 7.4Best | 7.2 | 6.9 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $39/mo | $20/mo | $9/mo | $13/mo |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Confirmed subscriber tier; emails are not counted | Active profile tier, with a monthly email limit | Monthly email volume tier; contacts up to the plan limit | Contact tier, with a monthly email limit of 10 to 15 times the contacts |
| Free plan | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, no sequences or automations | 250 active profiles, 500 emails/mo, flows included | 100,000 contacts, 300 emails a day, automation up to 2,000 contacts | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo (250 a day), no automation flows |
| Reference scenario (5,000 contacts, monthly) | $89/mo on Creator (3,001 to 5,000 subscribers) | $100/mo (3,501 to 5,000 active profiles, 50,000 emails) | $79/mo on Standard ($18 + $61 for 20,001 to 30,000 emails) | $100/mo on Standard (60,000 emails) |
| Annual billing | 10 times the monthly price a year (about 17% off) | Not stated on the pricing page | About 10% off ($853 a year for the scenario, computed) | Through sales only (Premium, or Standard with 10,000+ contacts) |
| Automation on the cheapest paid plan | Creator: unlimited visual automations and sequences | Flows on every plan | Starter: limited to 2,000 contacts; unlimited from Standard | Essentials: flows of up to 4 steps |
| Users on the scenario plan | 2 users (Admin or Editor); unlimited on Pro | Not stated; custom roles on all plans | 1 user; up to 3 at $12/mo each | 5 seats, 4 roles |
| SMS | Listed on Creator; price not stated | Mobile messages billed by credits; $5 a month on the free plan | Every plan; credits sold separately by destination | Add-on from Essentials in select countries; credits billed separately |
| Paid newsletters | Every plan; 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Hosting providers' only (AWS, Cloudflare) | SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 | ISO 27001:2022; SOC 2 not stated | SOC 2 reports (type not stated); ISO 27001 |
| Data location | Not stated; transfers to the US under the DPF or SCCs | United States; Germany for new accounts (EU Residency) | Servers in the EU | United States |
| SSO | Not listed | SAML on any paid plan | Add-on on Professional (price not published); included on Enterprise | Enterprise SSO on Premium |
| Contact export | CSV export of subscribers | CSV export of lists and segments | Export button in the account; Export contacts API endpoint | CSV export of audiences, segments, tags and groups |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Kit is a creator-first platform with the largest free plan in this group and paid newsletters on every plan. Automations start on Creator, and its compliance file relies on its hosting providers. | From its public pages, Klaviyo pairs email and SMS with a customer data platform, with flows on the free plan and SOC 2 Type II, SSO and MFA on paid plans. Its user limit is not stated and its pages disagree on EU storage. | From its public pages, Brevo has the lowest price for our scenario and keeps data in the EU, with unlimited automation from Standard. It includes one user on Standard, and SSO and the Professional total need a conversation with sales. | From its public pages, Mailchimp is a broad, familiar email marketing tool with landing pages on every plan and seats with roles on Standard. Multi-step automations start on Standard, overage prices are shown only in the account, and data stays in the US. |
Evidence: Kit: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Klaviyo: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Brevo: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Mailchimp: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 9.0 / 10, Excellent
- price for each list size published; can be bought online; month-to-month price published; going over moves you to a published tier; SMS marketing is listed on Creator, but the pricing page does not say what it costs
- Free plan
- 8.0 / 10, Excellent
- free plan: 10,000 contacts, no sending cap stated, no automations, 14-day trial of paid plans, no card
- Price for 5,000 contacts
- 4.5 / 10, Fair
- $89/mo on Creator: 3,001 to 5,000 subscriber tier; billed on subscribers, not emails sent
- Campaign and growth tools
- 10.0 / 10, Excellent
- A/B testing on the scenario plan; landing pages on the scenario plan; no vendor branding on the scenario plan; SMS on the scenario plan; paid subscriptions on the scenario plan
- Compliance and data location
- 2.5 / 10, Fair
- hosting provider's SOC 2 only, DPA in the terms, no EU storage option
- Team access, API and export
- 6.5 / 10, Good
- 2 users included; SAML SSO not listed; user roles on the scenario plan; 2FA; API; contact export
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Kit's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read Kit's pricing page with its plan comparison and the tier data its slider uses, the brand page, the security and GDPR pages, the Data Processing Agreement, and help center articles on billing, tier upgrades, team members, multi-factor authentication and exporting subscribers on Oct 16, 2026; we did not sign up, start a trial or call the API.
The pricing page shows prices for 1,000 subscribers; the slider data behind it lists every tier, and 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers cost $89 a month on Creator and $139 on Pro, with a yearly price of 10 times the monthly one. The billing article is direct: you are billed on confirmed subscribers, and the account moves to the next tier automatically when the list grows.
A few points are left open. SMS marketing appears on the Creator card without a price. The help center calls the top plan 'Creator Pro' while the pricing page calls it 'Pro'. The security page names AWS and Cloudflare's SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications, not a report for Kit itself.
Strengths
- Largest free plan here
Up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms, at no cost.
vs Mailchimp: beehiiv’s free plan stops at 2,500 subscribers and Mailchimp’s at 250 contacts.
- Paid newsletters on every plan
Paid newsletters, recurring subscriptions, digital products and tip jars are on every plan, at 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction.
vs Mailchimp: Mailchimp, Klaviyo and Brevo do not list paid newsletters.
- Simple billing
Billed on confirmed subscribers only, with no email limit, and moved up a published tier automatically as the list grows.
- Trial without a card
Creator and Pro start with a 14-day trial that needs no credit card.
vs Mailchimp: Mailchimp’s 14-day trial needs payment details.
Things to know
- Automations start on Creator
The free plan has no email sequences or visual automations; they start on Creator ($89 a month at 5,000 subscribers).
Workaround: The free plan can deliver an opt-in incentive automatically when someone signs up.
- Security file relies on hosting providers
The security page cites AWS's and Cloudflare's SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, not a report for Kit itself, and lists no SSO.
Workaround: The DPA applies to all customers, and multi-factor sign-in is available.
- Two users on Creator
Creator allows the owner plus one team member, with Admin or Editor roles; more users need Pro ($139 a month at 5,000 subscribers).
Pricing reality
Kit bills on confirmed subscribers, not emails sent. For our scenario, Creator costs $89 a month for 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers, before tax, or $890 a year (10 times the monthly price). Pro costs $139 a month at the same size, with 25% off the first year of an annual plan until Nov 7, 2026. When the list passes a tier, Kit moves the account to the next tier automatically and prorates the difference. Paid newsletters and product sales cost 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction, and Paid Recommendations keep a 23.5% fee. A large import may temporarily suspend the account until Kit lifts it. The pricing page does not say what SMS costs.
Exit path
Subscribers, or any segment, can be exported to CSV from the Subscribers page, with the file sent by email. The API documentation is available on every plan.
Compared with
- Pick Kit when
- You want a larger free plan (10,000 subscribers), SMS on Creator, and a lower price at 5,000 subscribers ($89 versus $109).
- Pick beehiiv when
- You want a SOC 2 Type 2 report from the vendor, an ad network, and no transaction fee on paid subscriptions.
- Pick Kit when
- You run a creator newsletter, want paid subscriptions, or want to start free up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Pick Mailchimp when
- You need 5 seats with roles, ISO 27001 in the vendor’s name and integrations for a store.
Choose it if
- You are a creator or solo publisher who wants to start free with a sizeable list.
- You want to sell paid newsletters or digital products from the same account.
- You prefer a bill based on subscribers, with unlimited sending.
Look elsewhere if
- Your security review asks for the vendor’s own SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report, or SSO.
- Several teammates need their own logins on a mid-priced plan.
Bottom line
From its public pages, Kit is a creator-first platform with the largest free plan in this group and paid newsletters on every plan. Automations start on Creator, and its compliance file relies on its hosting providers.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Confirmed subscriber tier; emails are not counted |
| Free plan | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, no sequences or automations |
| Reference scenario (5,000 contacts, monthly) | $89/mo on Creator (3,001 to 5,000 subscribers) |
| Annual billing | 10 times the monthly price a year (about 17% off) |
| Automation on the cheapest paid plan | Creator: unlimited visual automations and sequences |
| Users on the scenario plan | 2 users (Admin or Editor); unlimited on Pro |
| SMS | Listed on Creator; price not stated |
| Paid newsletters | Every plan; 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Hosting providers' only (AWS, Cloudflare) |
| Data location | Not stated; transfers to the US under the DPF or SCCs |
| SSO | Not listed |
| Contact export | CSV export of subscribers |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Kit yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Kit yet.
Kit lists 3 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Creator (1,000 subscribers), costs $39/mo.
- KitFreeFree$0/mo
- Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts
- Unlimited landing pages and forms
- Tagging, segmentation, A/B test of 2 subject lines
- Sell digital products and paid newsletters (3.5% + 30¢)
- KitLowest priceCreator$39/mo1,000 subscribers; $33/mo billed yearly ($390); $89/mo for 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers
- Unlimited visual automations and email sequences
- Remove Kit branding, 2 users
- SMS marketing, RSS campaigns, 100+ apps
- 24/7 email and chat support
- KitPro$79/mo1,000 subscribers; $66/mo billed yearly, 25% off the first year until Nov 7, 2026; $139/mo for 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers
- Unlimited users, collaborative editing
- Referral system (SparkLoop) and Facebook custom audiences
- Deliverability reporting, engagement scoring, Subscriber Signals
- A/B test of 5 subject lines or content
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: kit.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.