Switch From Mailchimp to Kit: Migration Steps and Gotchas

Switch from Mailchimp to Kit without losing your list. Subscribers transfer cleanly, but forms and automations do not. Here are the steps and gotchas.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-13T19:28:08+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-13T19:28:08+00:00

Switch From Mailchimp to Kit: Migration Steps and Gotchas

Moving email platforms is mostly a data move, then a rebuild. Your subscribers transfer cleanly. Your forms, templates, and automations do not. Kit is the new name for ConvertKit, built for creators who sell to their audience. This tutorial walks through the full move in order, with the gotchas that catch most people.

Why people switch from Mailchimp to Kit

The old platform prices by contacts stored. Its free plan now covers only 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily send limit of 250. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts. Standard starts at $20 a month for 500 contacts. Premium starts at $350 a month for 10,000 contacts. The bill rises with your list, even if you email rarely. Essentials also caps automations at four steps, which pushes growing senders onto Standard.

The new platform prices by subscribers too, but its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator starts at $39 a month, or $33 a month on yearly billing, for up to 1,000 subscribers. Pro starts at $79 a month, or $66 a month on yearly billing, for up to 1,000 subscribers. Both paid plans include a 14-day free trial with no card required. There is no send limit on any plan. Selling through the new account carries a 3.5 percent plus $0.30 fee per transaction on every plan, including free.

The new account suits creators who send a newsletter and sell courses, ebooks, or paid subscriptions. The old platform suits teams that need its broader marketing tools, such as ads, social posting, and its larger template library. The move makes sense when the old contact-based bill outgrows your sending, or when its automation limits slow you down.

Before you start: take inventory

Do not touch anything until you know what you own. Open the old account and list every audience, tag, group, and segment. Note which ones are live and which are stale. List every active automation and journey, with its trigger and its emails. List every form, landing page, and template, with the page or site where each one lives.

Then pick your new plan. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but it has no sequences and no visual automations. If your old setup relies on automations, you need Creator or Pro. A free migration service comes with paid plans. Its Essentials service covers lists under 10,000 subscribers and moves subscribers, tags, lists, and segments in two to five business days. Concierge covers larger lists and also rebuilds forms, automation emails, templates, and integrations.

Keep the old account active for at least 30 days after the move. That overlap is your safety net if something goes wrong.

Step 1: Back up your old audience

Export a backup before you import anything. Only Owners and Admins can export audiences on the old platform. Open Audience, then All contacts, then Export audience, and choose Export CSV. The export may arrive as a ZIP file with one file per contact type. Keep the subscribed file. Do not import the unsubscribed or cleaned files. Those people opted out, or their addresses bounced. Importing them can harm your sender reputation.

Open the CSV and check it. Remove duplicate rows. Check that the email column is clean. Keep the tags column, because those tags carry over as tags on the new side. Save the file somewhere safe. This backup is your rollback plan.

Step 2: Import your subscribers

The new platform offers two import routes. The built-in Mailchimp importer is the better choice for most people. The CSV route gives you more control over exactly who comes across.

For the importer, create an API key on the old platform first. Treat that key like a password. Do not email it or share screenshots of it. Note that API keys created on or after June 22, 2026 expire after one year. Then, inside Kit, open Subscribers, click Add Subscribers, choose Other provider, and select Mailchimp. Paste your API key and follow the prompts. The importer pulls your contacts with their audience, group, tag, and geolocation data. It also brings contact ratings and subscribe dates, which the CSV route does not.

For the CSV route, open Subscribers in the new account, click Add Subscribers, and choose Import a CSV. Upload your cleaned subscribed file. Match each column with its field: email with email, first name with first name, and so on. Create custom fields for anything that has no match. Tag all imported subscribers "Migrated from Mailchimp" so you can find the cohort later.

Before you import either way, disable any automations that trigger on tags. Audiences, groups, segments, and tags all become tags on import. Those tags will fire any Automation Rule or Visual Automation that uses them as an entry point. Importing into a live automation can fire your welcome sequence at your entire list by mistake.

Step 3: Rebuild your forms and landing pages

Forms and landing pages do not transfer. Rebuild each one in Kit. Open Audience growth there, then Landing Pages and Forms, and create a new form or landing page for each old asset. Match the fields your old form collected. Keep the same incentive or lead magnet, so subscribers get what they signed up for.

Then swap the embeds on your site. Replace every old form embed with the new one. Check each page after the swap. Test the form with your own email address. Confirm the confirmation email arrives and the tag applies correctly.

The new account uses one list per account. You organize subscribers with tags and segments, not with separate audiences. This is a real change in how audiences work. Tag by source, by interest, and by product. Clean tags make segments and automations simple later.

Step 4: Rebuild your automations and templates

Automations do not transfer either. Rebuild each old journey as a Visual Automation or Sequence in the new account. Start with the welcome sequence, because new subscribers hit it first. Then rebuild purchase follow-ups, onboarding series, and re-engagement flows. The Creator plan includes unlimited visual automations and sequences. The free plan includes neither, so this step is another reason to be on a paid plan.

Templates also need rebuilding. The two platforms use different template systems, so you cannot export an old template into the new editor. Rebuild your main templates there. A clean, simple template that sends reliably beats a fancy template that breaks on mobile.

Check your sender details before you send. Confirm your sending domain and authentication in the new account. Send a test broadcast to yourself and a colleague. Check the links, the images, and the unsubscribe footer. Then test on a small segment first, not your whole list.

Step 5: Switch over and cancel Mailchimp

Once your new setup works, move your sending over. Send your next regular newsletter from the new account. Watch for bounces and spam complaints in the first two sends. A spike means something in the import or the authentication needs a second look.

Keep the old account running for 30 days. Do not cancel it on day one. If a form still points at the old platform, or an automation still runs there, you need the account live to catch it. After 30 days of clean sending from the new account, export one final backup from the old platform, then downgrade or cancel it.

Finally, update your records. Note the date of the move, the plan you chose, and the tags you created.

Gotchas that catch most switchers

Automations firing on import is the biggest gotcha. Disable tag-triggered automations before you import, then re-enable them after. The welcome sequence reaching your whole list is the classic failure, and it is easy to prevent.

The free plan gap is the second gotcha. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, but it has no sequences and no visual automations. If escaping the old automation limits is your goal, the free plan does not solve your problem. Budget for Creator at $39 a month.

The third gotcha is cost at scale. The Creator plan at 10,000 subscribers costs $139 a month on monthly billing. Check the price at your real list size on the pricing page before you commit. The $39 entry price covers only up to 1,000 subscribers.

The fourth gotcha is the sales fee. The new platform takes 3.5 percent plus $0.30 on every product, paid newsletter, or subscription payment, on all plans. If you sell through its commerce tools, factor that fee into your prices.

The fifth gotcha is the API key. API keys created on or after June 22, 2026 expire after one year. If you keep an integration running on that key, set a rotation reminder.

Bottom line

The move is a weekend job for a small list and a week-long job for a large one. Export and back up first. Use the built-in importer for the cleanest transfer. Disable tag-triggered automations before you import. Rebuild your forms, templates, and automations by hand, or use the free migration service on a paid plan. Keep the old account live for 30 days as a safety net. The move pays off when the old contact-based pricing or its four-step automation cap is the thing holding you back. If you need the old platform's broader marketing suite, stay where you are.