Overview
Kit, formerly ConvertKit, is built around the idea that a creator's list is a sales channel. Readers get tagged by what they click and buy, flow through sequences, and land on product pages. MailCheap, Marc Lou's open-source newsletter app, is built around the idea that most newsletters are just a weekly send and should cost as little as possible.
So this is less a feature fight than a question about what your newsletter is for.
The free plan changes the math under 10,000 readers
Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages, and limited automation. MailCheap Cloud has no free plan and starts at $19/month for 20,000 emails.
That makes Kit the cheaper choice for a broadcast-only newsletter that stays under 10,000 readers. MailCheap only wins on price once you outgrow Kit's free plan or need a Kit paid feature:
| Subscribers | MailCheap (weekly issue) | Kit Creator (monthly) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19 | $39 (or free) |
| 5,000 | $39 | $89 (or free) |
| 10,000 | $39 | $139 (or free) |
| 25,000 | $79 | $199 |
| 50,000 | $149 | $379 |
Kit gives two months free on yearly billing; MailCheap does the same, at 10 times the monthly price per year.
What you give up moving from Kit
Kit users usually rely on more than broadcasts. Before switching, list what you use:
- Sequences and visual automations. MailCheap has a single welcome email per newsletter. An evergreen five-email onboarding series has nowhere to go.
- Tags and segments. MailCheap sends to the whole list, or to the most engaged readers first. You cannot send only to readers who clicked a link or bought a product.
- Commerce. Kit sells digital products and paid newsletters. MailCheap has no checkout.
- Recommendations. Kit's Creator Network swaps subscribers between creators. MailCheap has no recommendation network.
If you only send a weekly issue, none of that matters and MailCheap is the cheaper sender above the free tier.
Where MailCheap is ahead
MailCheap gives every issue a search-indexable page with a sitemap and author page, adds no branding on any plan, and enforces deliverability for you: test batches for new contacts, pauses above 2% bounces or 0.08% complaints, and list cleanup that stops mailing readers who ignore several issues. Its MCP server lets an agent create, schedule and send issues after you confirm. Kit's MCP needs a paid plan for actions and routes sends back to Kit for confirmation.
Decision checklist
- Choose Kit if you sell products, rely on sequences, or have under 10,000 readers and want to pay nothing.
- Choose MailCheap if you send a weekly broadcast to a larger list and want the lowest bill.
- Choose Sequenzy for Kit-style automations and segments billed per email like MailCheap. See also MailCheap alternatives and Kit alternatives.
