ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp: Which One is the Best?

ConvertKit targets creators such as musicians, authors, podcasters, and online coaches.

Let’s have a closer look at some of their features:

They boast a 98% delivery rate and a 30% open rate — a 30% open rate is standard, but a 98% delivery rate is above the industry average of 80%.

With ConvertKit you can design your own branded email templates to use as many times as you need to, and their inline styling options make for a clutter-free writing experience.

You can also use unlimited landing pages and sign-up forms to capture leads on your website.

Once you’ve got your leads, you can add tags to segment your audience according to their actions or preferences.

This is great because on average the click-through rate (CTR) of campaigns that use segmented lists is over 100% higher!

ConvertKit lets you set up automated email funnels so your content reaches the right inboxes at the right time.

Unfortunately, they offer the bare minimum in terms of analytics: open rates, click rates, unsubscribers, and links clicked.

When it comes to commerce, ConvertKit lets you sell unlimited products and sends them automatically when a purchase is made.

The only catch is that they only cater to digital products and services. So if your business grows and you want to expand into a physical product store, you’ll need to integrate a full ecommerce platform.

Luckily, ConvertKit offers a lot of integrations including Shopify, Teachable, and Zapier.

Zapier gives you access to hundreds of integrations.

But don’t get too excited ― when you pay for ConvertKit and integrate it with other software, you’ll have to pay for that software too.

We always recommend looking for all-in-one software, like systeme.io, so you can keep your expenses low no matter which direction your business grows in.

ConvertKit boldly claims that its system is easier to use than Mailchimp.

Let’s find out.

The drag-and-drop builder can be used in combination with pre-designed templates, and the content studio lets you store all of your images and files so you can drop them in as needed.

Mailchimp’s marketing automation lets you automate emails and includes a customer journey tool.

You’ll be able to reach beyond email to marketing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with targeted ads and organic posting.

Like ConvertKit, Mailchimp boasts an unusually high deliverability rate ― they promise 96%-99%.

Again, this is much higher than the industry average.

Mailchimp will give you the expected analytics as well as more advanced stats such as clicks by location, hourly performance, and social stats.

They also offer smart recommendations which give you data-driven recommendations, as well as A/B testing, and customer surveys.

With Mailchimp, you can also manage your audience using segmentation, behavioral targeting, and predicted demographics.

You’ll be able to build a website to get your business online using their AI creative assistant, or you can connect your existing website.

You can use API and SMTP to send automated transactional emails if you’re selling products on your connected website.

Examples of transactional emails are order confirmations, abandoned cart reminders, and delivery information emails.

When it comes to affiliate programs, both tools offer you a way to earn money to pay for your chosen plans.

But ConvertKit and Mailchimp have got completely different approaches when it comes to affiliate marketing for other brands.

With ConvertKit you can earn a 30% commission for every customer you bring them.

But it doesn’t end there ― you’ll continue to earn 30% for every month that their ConvertKit account is active.

This means that if you can convince 3 people to use the same ConvertKit plan as you, you can pay for 90% of your plan with your commission money!

But because your affiliate earnings will go into your bank account every month, you can spend them however you like.

Mailchimp has carefully named their affiliate program a referral program because they don’t exactly endorse affiliate programs ― we’ll talk about that in a bit.

With Mailchimp, you can include a referral badge in your emails or sign-up forms which people can click on to sign up for a Mailchimp account.

If they sign up for a paid account, your account will be credited with $30. This amount is once-off for each referee.

This means that $30 will be deducted from your next bill if you’re on a paid account.

If you’re using a free account, you can earn and accumulate credits but you can’t use them unless you move to a paid account.

You’ll get access to all sorts of extra marketing tools at no extra cost if you and your referee are both on paid plans.

You’re allowed to do affiliate marketing with ConvertKit as long as you have your own business and 70%-80% of your content is your own.

For example, if you have a health and fitness business you can send an email about a workout you recommend to your audience.

In this email, you can include an affiliate link to the equipment you need for the workout.

But you must clearly indicate that this is an affiliate link and that it will redirect your audience to another site that is not your own.

ConvertKit does not allow affiliate links for content commonly seen in spam emails:

This is to protect your email deliverability rate and ConvertKit’s reputation.

If you’re interested in affiliate marketing, you’re not going to get far with Mailchimp.

This is because Mailchimp prohibits affiliate marketing.

You can include affiliate links (that aren’t blacklisted) to a tiny extent in your content.

However, if you’re caught doing affiliate marketing, Mailchimp will stop your campaign and suspend your account.

There’s a very fine line between sharing affiliate links and partaking in affiliate marketing, and having your business put on a halt due to a suspended account is a risk that just isn’t worth it.

Mailchimp is not an option for affiliate marketers.

This is where things really get serious: By how much are these tools going to set you back?

Keep reading to find out!

You’ll notice that there’s no free plan offered here ― that’s because the Free plan maxes out at 1,000 subscribers.

The next thing you’ll notice is that as the numbers increase, the difference between the Creator and Creator Pro plans becomes less significant.

This is what the Creator Pro plan offers that the Creator plan lacks:

Access to subscriber engagement scoring could be a gamechanger for your strategy.

But if you’re not looking to go for the most expensive option, that’s understandable.

Let’s see what Mailchimp can do for you.

In this situation, there isn’t necessarily a winning tool.

It’s a matter of which tool fits better with what your business needs, and also what your business can afford.

You’re a creator wanting to build and connect with your audience but you’re predominantly focused on your craft.

ConvertKit is good for a bit of email marketing on the side.

You plan on building a business that solely relies on email marketing.

They don’t have the customization and flexibility to build your entire brand.

We recommend Mailchimp if you want options.

They’ve got more pricing options, more templates, and their free plan is more robust than ConvertKit.

You want to do lots of affiliate marketing.

It’s not worth risking your account being suspended.

We also don’t recommend Mailchimp if you’re looking to use the cheaper plans because audience insights are extremely important when putting your strategy together.

With systeme.io you can put together email campaigns that convert with our proven templates and easy-to-use features.

And when your business grows and you need more than just email marketing tools, our plans also include:

Now you know all there is to know about ConvertKit and Mailchimp.

ConvertKit is a good option for creators whereas Mailchimp can fulfill some of your email marketing needs ― unless you’re into affiliate marketing that is.

But they’re both pretty expensive, and you’ll likely end up having to pay for additional tools to cover all your bases.

We’ve ended on an all-in-one solution that packs loads of value into affordable packages (including a free one).

If you’re ready for an email marketing tool that seriously delivers, head over to systeme.io to sign up for your free account today.