If you’re looking for an all-in-one tool for email marketing and lead generation, you may be struggling to choose between ConvertKit vs MailerLite. Both of these tools have a lot of fantastic features to offer to help you grow online.
However, there are some significant differences to consider. MailerLite is intended for absolute beginners in the email marketing space, with a strong focus on ease of use and straightforward editing tools. ConvertKit, while still relatively straightforward, is a little more advanced, and focuses on helping content creators to stand out online.
Today’s head-to-head analysis of ConvertKit vs MailerLite will give you a behind-the-scenes look at everything you need to know about the two services and how they work.
ConvertKit vs MailerLite: An Introduction
Let’s start with a basic overview of both services. MailerLite and ConvertKit have a lot of overlap in the SaaS environment. Both of these tools will help you to strengthen your relationship with digital audiences through convenient tools like email marketing automation, and form creation.
ConvertKit, however, markets itself specifically as an all-in-one tool for creators in the digital space. Graphic designers, YouTube stars and influencers can use the platform to highlight their presence online, sell products, and generate leads.
The technology comes with a state-of-the-art landing page builder, which you could also use to create a one-page portfolio site.
ConvertKit also has a host of other valuable tools, like a visual builder for customer journey-based automations, the ability to build “creator profiles”, and ecommerce functionality. ConvertKit also has some very basic analytics and insights to offer.
MailerLite is a comprehensive email marketing tool with some added benefits. You can create dynamic email marketing campaigns with intelligent automations, and track your results with valuable analytics. There’s also the option to design your own sign-up forms and websites for connecting with clients online.
MailerLite also has it’s own tools for ecommerce, allowing you to sell digital products and subscriptions online. The solution also stands out as being one of the easiest services to use in the email marketing landscape, with a relatively affordable pricing plan.
Both of these tools offer excellent customer support, RSS feeds, and tools to help you stand out online, similar to email marketing tools like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign.
ConvertKit vs MailerLite: Pros and Cons
All software products have their own distinctive pros and cons to consider. MailerLite and ConvertKit are no different. These tools can both offer an excellent opportunity for business owners to stand out online, but they have very different strengths.
For instance, MailerLite allows you to easily build websites and email marketing campaigns, while ConvertKit focuses more on advanced automations and landing page creation.
ConvertKit Pros
- Powerful landing page creation tools
- Excellent themes and templates
- Easy-to-use visual designer for automation
- Powerful ecommerce functionality
- Great integrations with various tools
- A/B testing for subject lines
ConvertKit Cons
- No full-featured website builder
- Can have a slight learning curve for beginners
- Not the best analytics
MailerLite Pros
- Build websites, forms and emails in the same place
- Ecommerce functionality for subscriptions and digital products
- Easy to use and affordable environment
- Great form and email builder
- Convenient analytics tools
- Affordable pricing packages
MailerLite Cons
- Less advanced automations
- Some limitations on customer service
- Missing full reporting feature
ConvertKit vs MailerLite: Core Features
As tools both designed for developing your online presence and helping you form connections with your audience on the web, both ConvertKit and MailerLite have a lot in common.
Each of these tools come with crucial features, like email templates and automations, form creation tools, and basic analytics for tracking your campaign insights.
However, both have different focus areas which set them apart from eachother for business leaders looking to invest in online marketing services.
Let’s take a closer look.
Website and Landing Page Builders
A major difference between ConvertKit and MailerLite, comes in the options you’ll have for developing your online presence through sites and landing pages. While both solutions do come with digital marketing tools to help you stand out online, MailerLite has it’s own dedicated website builder, while ConvertKit does not.
ConvertKit offers a “landing page builder”, which is one of the best on the market. The solution comes with a ton of templates to choose from, which you can customize as much as you like.
There are various options to change the content you display and the information you collect from customers. You can also unlock the customization abilities of CSS if you like.
ConvertKit’s landing pages come with more than 100,000 stock photos to enhance your appearance online, and all of the templates are responsive.
Notably, the flexibility of the landing page builder means you can technically create a one-page website if you like with this product. However, you won’t be able to design a full and comprehensive website.
The good news is ConvertKit’s simple landing page creator will still allow you to build a page which connects directly with your online marketing strategies for email.
You’ll also be able to implement ecommerce into your pages where you can accept donations, tips and payments. ConvertKit also supports the creation of Creator Profiles, where you can list information about yourself on the web and share links to social media pages.
MailerLite switches landing pages out for website creation and email signup forms. The website builder gives you a drag-and-drop environment where you can position content blocks to build the perfect website layout.
You can add interactive blocks like surveys and quizzes, and use integrated forms to collect email leads.
The website builder comes with tools to help you rank on search engines, like a blog page, and SEO functionality. You can also offer exclusive content behind a paywall, sell digital products, and create subscription packages for customers.
The comprehensive environment is very straightforward for beginners, while still giving users a lot of functionality.
You can connect your domain name, add content for social media sharing, measure traffic with heat maps and analytics, and access unlimited storage and bandwidth.
The form builder allows you to create GDPR compliant forms which match your website pages. You can create embedded signup forms, pop-ups, and promotion pop-ups, which are all available from ConvertKit too.
Email Marketing and Marketing Automation
Both ConvertKit and MailerLite have email marketing at the core of their feature sets. You can use both of these tools to connect with your audience through regular automated content, designed to serve a range of different purposes.
ConvertKit prides itself on delivering state-of-the-art email marketing functionality. There are a ton of great ways to segment your audience with tags.
You’ll also be able to access a convenient email designer where you can use templates to create professional content, or build your own email designs from scratch. The builder offers everything from buttons and dividers to clickable CTAs.
On ConvertKit, you can create templates for the rest of your team to use, check the deliverability rate of your content whenever you choose, and add all kinds of features to boost your performance. There’s also some basic A/B testing available to optimize your campaigns.
The most impressive feature of ConvertKit for email marketing is its visual automation builder. This advanced but easy-to-use solution allows companies to create automated funnels specifically designed for different segments of their target audience.
You can choose from a range of triggers and flows to determine when certain messages reach your customers.
ConvertKit allows users to set up universal automation rules, which automatically add and remove contact tags when users complete an action, or move people into specific sequences. You can also leverage scheduling tools to send your messages at the exact right time.
MailerLite is also an excellent solution for email marketing. You can choose from three different editors for creating responsive campaigns, depending on how much customization support you need.
There’s the option to monetize your audience by integrating WooCommerce, Shopify, and Stripe, and you can manage your subscribers with segmentation and tags.
MailerLite makes it easy to send targeted campaigns with personalized content to every subscriber, with a state-of-the-art automation builder.
You can determine exactly when you want your content to go out to your audience, and continuously improve your campaigns with insights. Triggers allow you to send emails when a subscriber joins a group, completes a form, clicks and link and more.
You can also schedule emails to go out on specific dates for anniversary celebrations, or if you have a specific sale or promotion to consider. Advanced plans also come with tools for customer retention, like abandoned cart emails.
Reporting and Analytics
Though ConvertKit is generally considered to be a lot more complex than MailerLite for its automation and landing page capabilities, it’s actually lacking in a lot of the analytical functionality you get from MailerLite.
With ConvertKit, you really only get some basic insights into your target audience. You can track your deliverability rate, open rates, unsubscribes and link clicks.
Additionally, ConvertKit does allow you to perform some basic A/B testing, and you can integrate sales reports from other applications. However, the built-in tools leave something to be desired. MailerLite is a lot more comprehensive in this regard.
The MailerLite analytics section allows companies to build intuitive reports to see exactly what’s working in their campaigns, and what they need to improve. There’s a reporting dashboard with visual graphs and charts. Plus, you can customize the time frame you’re getting your reports from.
You can track email open rates, the best performing automations in your list, and your page conversions and form signups. You can also track how your list is evolving with reports about segments and groups.
Automation reports show you how people are interacting with your emails over time, and there are email campaign tools for tracking bounces and spam complaints.
On top of all that, you can also access heatmaps for your websites, track form analytics to see how people are signing up for your campaigns, and examine your paid subscription and product stats. There are also click maps, reading environment insights, and “opens by location”.
Ecommerce Features
Both ConvertKit and MailerLite also allow business leaders and creators to sell various products online. However, the way you make sales will be slightly different with both tools. With ConvertKit, you’ll have the option to add ecommerce functionality to profiles and landing pages.
You can add buy-now buttons to an existing website, and integrate some of the top ecommerce services on the market directly into your pages. You’ll also have a range of great pricing structure options.
You can offer your customers one-time purchases, tip jars, and recurring subscriptions. There’s also the option to set up custom donations.
ConvertKit also allows you to integrate your sales reports from your ecommerce tools into your website, so you can improve your chances of increasing your revenue over time.
Though ConvertKit has quite a lot to offer from an ecommerce perspective, MailerLite does give you a little more freedom. With MailerLite, you can create websites and webpages from scratch to sell subscriptions and digital products.
You can choose from a range of ecommerce templates to get you started, and drive traffic with email, pop-ups, and social media.
The tool integrates with a range of different ecommerce tools, including Stripe, so you can set up one-time purchases or recurring subscriptions. There are also plenty of tools for tracking your purchases and top-performing products, so you can gradually increase your revenue.
MailerLite vs ConvertKit: Pricing
When finding the right tools to build your email list and opt-in forms, it’s important to take budget into account.
ConvertKit Pricing
Starting with ConvertKit, pricing can be a little complex to understand for bloggers and creators at first. There’s a free plan you can use to create unlimited forms and landing pages. The free service also allows you to sell digital products and send unlimited emails to up to 1,000 subscribers.
However, the free plan is somewhat limited, with basic workflow automations and ConvertKit branding on all of your email sequences. There are two alternative premium plans for your email marketing software which give you access to more automation features, email sequences, and tools.
The Creator plan starts at $9 per month paid annually, and the Creator Pro plan is $25 per month, when paid annually. However, you will need to pay more depending on the number of email subscribers you have. The initial pricing packages only cover up to 1,000 subscribers.
MailerLite Pricing
Many of the best email automation tools follow the same pattern, and MailerLite is no exception. The email marketing platform comes with a free plan and free paid plans.
The free plan comes with access to the drag and drop editor, email automation builder, websites, 10 landing pages, and signup forms for 1 user and up to 1,000 subscribers. You can also send a maximum of 12,000 emails.
The “Growing Business” package from MailerLite starts at $9 per month for unlimited monthly emails, 3 users, all the features of free, and the option to sell digital products. You also get unlimited templates, dynamic emails, and an unsubscribe page builder.
The “Advanced” package is $19 per month for unlimited monthly emails and users, all the features of “Growing”, plus a Facebook integration, HTML editor, and multiple automation triggers.
There’s also an Enterprise package with custom pricing, advanced support for small business users, and all the other premium features.
MailerLite vs ConvertKit: Finishing Thoughts
For any online business in search of landing page templates and email support, MailerLite and ConvertKit has a lot to offer. Freelancers and creators will love the ConvertKit features designed to generate new subscribers and sales.
The landing page tools are excellent, and it’s easy to build a comprehensive creator profile online, even for a service provider.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a user-friendly solution for building your own website where you can sell tutorials, webinars, digital products and more, MailerLite might be the tool for you.
While both tools come with a great email service, MailerLite doesn’t require you to connect with WordPress or another site builder to design your own website.
