ConvertKit vs AWeber vs MailChimp

• Pricing Comparison Chart: ConvertKit  vs Mailchimp vs AWeber
• Tips for Choosing the Best Email Marketing Tool
• ConvertKit Analysis, Feature Breakdown, and Comparison

I have utilized all three email marketing tools for bloggers on my website throughout the years. These three email marketing solutions are not the only options available. However, when choosing the best email marketing tool for bloggers, only a few take the top spot, and I've tested plenty of alternatives myself. Ultimately, we're left with a choice between my favorites: ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp. And the best part? These three tools offer free plans to get you started with up to 1,000 subscribers.

To help you navigate this comparison guide, I've put together a hyperlinked menu where you can click on the relevant section you'd like to jump to. Now that we've got that out of the way, I want to start this guide by clearly stating that I'm using ConvertKit as my email marketing tool today (as a blogger ). I firmly believe that this is the best email marketing tool for bloggers today. If you want to try them risk-free, you can use their free plan today to try it out.

I'll be the first to tell you that no email marketing tool will be perfect for everyone. And it might make sense for you to start with a different tool, depending on your blogging goals. Before we go any further, it's essential to understand where I'm at in my blogging journey (so I can explain why ConvertKit is the best email marketing tool for bloggers where I am right now ). 

Don't worry; I'll explain how to choose the best email marketing solution for your current needs. Today, my blog averages over 400,000 monthly readers, and I have 113,000+ subscribers who receive my weekly blogger guides and podcast episodes straight to their inboxes. 

While these stats look pretty exciting at first glance, it's essential to understand that as your traffic increases and your blog grows, you'll also collect more email subscribers. This means that the costs of simply maintaining your email list naturally increase over time - but it also assumes that you're learning how to monetize your blog simultaneously.

How much does it cost to keep an email list for your blog? When you first start blogging, your email marketing tools should be inexpensive (or even free). Now, let's look at the actual prices of these email marketing solutions.

Pricing Comparison Chart: ConvertKit  vs Mailchimp vs AWeber

Here's a chart that shows how ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp compare in 2025:

Campaign Subscribers ConvertKit AWeber Mailchimp

As you can see, all three of these tools offer free plans for up to 1,000 subscribers (Mailchimp has up to 2,000 subscribers but with limited features). After that, the prices of these email marketing tools remained relatively low for the first few thousand subscribers. A few notable price changes for these email marketing tools in 2025:

• ConvertKit and AWeber now offer a free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers).
• ConvertKit and Mailchimp prices have increased significantly for plans with more subscribers
• AWeber is the most budget-friendly option among these three tools in almost all respects.

Only when you start getting above 5,000 subscribers will the cost of any of these tools increase significantly. And for good reason... With that many subscribers, you should monetize your blog to the point where it more than covers your expenses.

How Must You Select the Right Email Marketing Tool

Where I am today in my blogging journey is probably different from where you are right now (and that's okay). At the time, my monthly ConvertKit bill was $739 for 113,000 members. Paying annually provides a discount, lowering the monthly cost to $616.00.

But before your jaw hits the floor, let's talk about how much ConvertKit has made me over the last couple of months — because that's why it's one of the bills I'm most excited to pay each month. That's the fundamental equation that matters most when choosing between ConvertKit, AWeber, and Mailchimp for email marketing. In just two months (June and July 2019), the automated email sequences I set up in ConvertKit — read more about why only ConvertKit can create a sequence like mine — have helped me generate over $94,572 in passive income from my blog. Most of my blog's revenue comes from Bluehost affiliate commissions and purchases of my advanced blogging course, Built to Blog, primarily due to my ability to deliver high-converting automated email sequences.

 Without ConvertKit, I couldn't implement these computerized email sequences as quickly or in a clean, functional manner. I'm willing to pay for a more premium email marketing solution with additional functionality, such as ConvertKit, because it allows me to produce more cash than I would otherwise.

But I (obviously) didn't start my blog and get these results right away... It took me three years to reach the point where I finally made six figures (annually) from my blog.

 Here's what my progress looked like in terms of the email marketing tools I've used over the years:

• Months 1–6: I utilized Mailchimp for approximately 1,000 subscribers, as it is free for less than 2,000 subscribers.
• AWeber's functionality and user-friendliness in 2014 facilitated my buying of about 10,000 members over months 6 to 18.
• Years 2–8 (present): I transitioned to ConvertKit to utilize advanced functionalities, including automation.

I built an email following for the first six months of blogging using Mailchimp's free plan. My blog was a side project at the time, and I had a limited budget. I had no idea I could build anything real here, so using a free tool helped me establish my business without throwing many financial resources into the pot. 

If you are a beginner blogger, understand that you are not solitary when contemplating initiating an email marketing instrument, particularly when selecting between ConvertKit, AWeber, and Mailchimp. I get variations of this question almost every week from readers:

What did my response to Vlado's email say? "I advise always using free tools for as long as possible. Stick with MailChimp until you get to 1-2k subscribers and are forced to upgrade to their paid plan – that's when I'd recommend upgrading to ConvertKit. Another way to think about it is that once your blog makes the $29/mo that a ConvertKit subscription would cost, you can start to justify the cost.

 ConvertKit is a much better product with much more functionality to help you generate more revenue from your email list, but you're paying for that feature. And it's not worth paying for unless it makes sense. So it depends a little on what you're trying to achieve with your blog, but ultimately, I'd recommend sticking with the free option until your blog can comfortably afford to add a more advanced email marketing tool." So there you have it. This is my take on how best to choose between ConvertKit vs, AWeber vs Mailchimp, especially in 2025. 

If you're starting among the 31 million bloggers in the world and your blog isn't making enough money yet to justify using a paid email marketing tool…

Utilize an entirely free email marketing tool until you expand. Fortunately, ConvertKit, the preeminent option in this domain, provides a free plan allowing users to initiate and explore their exceptional array of email marketing solutions for up to 1,000 subscribers. Let's analyze each email marketing tool to compare ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp.

ConvertKit Analysis, Feature Breakdown, and Comparison

Who is ConvertKit best suited for?

ConvertKit promotes itself as the greatest email marketing solution for blogs and producers. It makes perfect sense when you get down to the nuts and bolts of what their suite of tools offers and its focus. ConvertKit is tailored to the specific demands of bloggers, influencers, YouTubers, and other digital creators. – as you grow your blog into a real business today and in the future. 

ConvertKit is also subscriber-centric, meaning you have a single email subscriber list, with different tags and segments applied to individual subscribers to specify their behavior and determine how to engage with them. This is a significant feature of their product that shouldn't be underestimated.

 Many email marketing systems, such as AWeber and Mailchimp, are list-centric, which means that when your list grows, you'll have a lot of different lists in your account. Some subscribers may be members of multiple lists, sometimes leading to confusion and even duplicate emails. This was one of the main factors influencing my choice to use ConvertKit.

What features does ConvertKit have?

In my opinion, ConvertKit's biggest benefits are its advanced visual automation and its ability to tag and segment your subscribers.

Visual Automation in ConvertKit Here's a snapshot of some of the visual automation I run on my ConvertKit account.

Some visual automation is designed to keep my email list active and engaged, while others deliver content to subscribers from free and paid courses. Email automation can be set to perform various tasks, including integrating and transferring data among various blogging tools such as Teachable, Stripe, Gravity Forms, Unbounce, Sumo, and others.

Tagging and Segmenting in ConvertKit: If a subscriber signs up for an email list asking for updates on new podcast episodes, you'll want only to send them those specific emails. Note: If you're starting a podcast, sign up for the best podcast hosting service you can get. 

On the other hand, if you have engaged fans who've signed up for an email list through a more general "send me all your new stuff" form, you can send them everything you publish. You can easily control email campaign delivery by using tags and segments for each new campaign. (instead of sending a separate campaign to lists #1, #4, and #5).

Honestly, it's hard to describe how unique and effective this feature is unless you've tried a list-based email marketing tool before. Because it's subscriber-based, ConvertKit makes it much easier to intelligently send emails to your subscribers using filter groups.

This kind of detailed tagging and segmentation is one of ConvertKit's greatest strengths, so if you're nodding your head furiously right now, this is the most effective email marketing technique for you. Try it for free today. ConvertKit also enables A/B testing of email subject lines.

Choosing the correct subject line (and blog title, for that matter) might be the difference between a subscriber opening your email and not, so it's worth experimenting. With ConvertKit, you can try two variations randomly delivered to 30% of your subscribers… 15% get each subject line variation. Whichever one performs better is the one that gets used for the remaining 70%.

What are the disadvantages of ConvertKit?

The main disadvantage of ConvertKit is that their email templates are not very customizable (unless you're ready to do some coding). According to founder Nathan Barry, plain text emails work best with most audiences, which I generally agree with. 

This isn't a huge downside, as my emails to subscribers rarely contain images or styling. If you're a blogger, this is true for you, too. Your target audience wants a personal connection with you as if you're speaking directly to them – and a simple, approachable look and feel to your email will achieve that much more than a slick, heavily styled email.

 Ideal for larger companies, e-commerce brands, or those that prefer visually appealing emails, you probably won't like ConvertKit until you've designed a few custom email templates. It is important to note that you can hack their templates to make them look how you want, but you must know HTML to create a large design email.

How much will ConvertKit cost in 2025?

Free Trial: 14 days

Free Plan: No

ConvertKit Pricing Breakdown:

• 0 - 1,000 subscribers: Free - $29/month
• 1,001 - 2,000 subscribers: $49/mo
• 2,001 - 3,000 subscribers: $49/mo
• 3,001 - 5,000 subscribers: $79/month
• 5,001 - 10,000 subscribers: $99 - $119/mo.
• 10,001 - 15,000 subscribers: $149/mo.
• 15,001 - 25,000 subscribers: $179 - $199/mo.
• 25,001 - 50,000 subscribers: $259 - $379/month
• 50,001 - 100,000 subscribers: $379 - $679/month

As we've covered, ConvertKit has a per-subscriber pricing plan, which means you don't get charged twice for subscribers as you do with other email marketing tools (where subscribers can technically be on multiple lists at once). 

For 100,000+ subscribers on ConvertKit, you can use their calculator to determine your costs. The best thing about ConvertKit's pricing structure is that you get unlimited emails at any price level (and all of their features are the same across all) – another plus in their column when choosing between ConvertKit and AWeber and Mailchimp. 

They're also up there with the marketing game and strongly encourage bloggers to switch from the email marketing tool they already use… As a result, they offer a free transition from your current email marketing tool. You can join their free plan (limited to 1000 people) or begin a free 14-day trial to discover for yourself.

AWeber Analysis, Feature Breakdown, and Comparison

AWeber is one of the oldest companies in the industry, having been in the email marketing space for over 20 years and boasting over 100,000 customers. They claim to have invented the autoresponder (an automated email delivered to welcome new subscribers to your list). Who will most likely get good results and experience from this email marketing tool? How do they compete with newcomers like ConvertKit?

Who is AWeber best for?

AWeber is the best email marketing tool if you:

1. A beginner blogger who wants a fully functional, simple, free (up to 1000 subscribers and then low cost) tool to start collecting subscribers and sending them emails.
2. The small business owner who relies on simple autoresponder-style emails but doesn't need a tool with everything a serious blogger needs

AWeber's features are practical and easy to use, without much difficulty in mastering the product.

What features does AWeber offer?

First, we must address the autoresponder—the time-based email sequence they've built for over two decades.

Setting up an autoresponder campaign in AWeber is quick, simple, and easy, and you can customize it quite a bit in terms of the content of your emails. However, there's nothing fancy about it. It's something to consider when comparing ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp. You can set up an autoresponder that will be sent when someone signs up for a form on your blog or when a label is applied to a subscriber.

 They take this simple but effective approach, and unless you need the more advanced email automation customizations that you can do with a tool like ConvertKit, you're not missing out on anything. AWeber also offers an impressive number of visually appealing email templates out of the box, and they've made sure they're responsive.

You never know if your subscriber will open your email on a phone, tablet, desktop (or brain chip implant), so you want to ensure it looks right no matter what device it's viewed on. When it comes to email templates, AWeber wins if you're looking for something that uses graphics or heavily designed layouts. Creating responsive templates is also a must these days. 

Their templates are also very user-friendly. You can choose a pre-made template to customize, create your own, or combine them using drag-and-drop tools. AWeber's key selling point is its user-friendly customer service, and it's one of the most common reviews about the company.

They offer quick support in various ways beyond email and phone calls — everything from webinars to podcasts to live chat — and their commitment to creating a positive customer experience is evident.

 Finally, as you'd expect from a company that's been in the email marketing tools business for a long time, they're also big on integrations. Drag and drop email pieces from several linked sites, including Etsy, Shopify, Facebook, and more. Their list of integrations is comparable to Mailchimp in variety and depth.

What are the disadvantages of AWeber?

They don't offer a wide range of features and capabilities, especially considering the complete comparison between ConvertKit and AWeber. However, AWeber being a reasonably simple email marketing tool doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't consider it a blogging newbie. Their product is still beautiful, easy to use, and effective in helping you send engaging emails to your subscribers. 

They also offer a free plan for 1,000 subscribers, which will make a big impression among all the free options. AWeber won't wow you as much as the more feature-rich ConvertKit, but it is cheaper on average (for most subscribers). If you're looking for an easy-to-use autoresponder that doesn't require spending a lot of time with an email marketing tool, then AWeber might be for you.

How much is AWeber worth in 2025?

Free plan: Yes ( up to 1,000 subscribers)

AWeber Pricing Breakdown:

• 0 - 1,000 subscribers: Free - $19/month
• 1,001 - 2,000 subscribers: $19 - $29/month.
• 2,001 - 3,000 subscribers: $29-49/month
• 3,001 - 5,000 subscribers: $49/mo
• 5,001 - 10,000 subscribers: $69/mo.
• 10,001 - 15,000 subscribers: $149/mo.
• 15,001 - 25,000 subscribers: $149/month
• 25,001 - 50,000 subscribers: Request a commercial offer
• 50,001 - 100,000 subscribers: Must request a proposal
• 
  

One of the main advantages of AWeber over Mailchimp is that AWeber offers access to every feature of the product available even on the free and lowest pricing tier, which is a solid bonus for the features you get for that price compared to Mailchimp's feature-limited free plan. 

AWeber's price is purely subscriber-based, scaling based on email list size (unlike Mailchimp, which requires specialized plans) — an essential factor when comparing ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp in pricing. You can check out all the features available in the free plan right here and try it out today.

MailChimp Analysis, Feature Breakdown, and Comparison

You've probably seen that cheeky monkey logo and heard that name before. MailChimp is one of the old boys in the email marketing space. Their brand marketing is excellent, and they're not afraid to spend a fortune on advertising. 

This has made them one of the most well-known email marketing tools. However, their email marketing tools range significantly in terms of functionality, pricing, and who is most suited to use the product, pricing, and who's best suited to use the product. So how do they stack up in a ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp comparison?

Who is Mailchimp best suited for?

Mailchimp is the ideal beginning email marketing solution for new bloggers because it is free (with restricted functionality).

Their more feature-rich paid plans are also a smart choice for those who need a lot of integrations in their emails, specifically if you're an eCommerce business. First, their forever free plan for 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails is hard to beat. 

If you're a beginner and want to get started on a really low budget, this is what you should consider first: making ConvertKit the winner in terms of cost between ConvertKit, AWeber, and Mailchimp. This forever-free plan is probably one of the reasons Mailchimp is so popular – you can get the basics for free, which is pretty hard to argue with (if you're that way). Second, because they are so popular, many companies work with them on integrations. 

They offer email templates, image hosting, and a variety of signup forms, making them ideal for e-commerce website builders. Let's take a closer look at what Mailchimp offers.

What features does Mailchimp offer?

As I mentioned, Mailchimp offers unparalleled smart integrations (over 200+). This is one area where they shine.

Their integration with tools like Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and Shopify will be critical for eCommerce businesses. Many CRM and analytics applications are popular among bloggers and entrepreneurs nowadays, like Salesforce and Google Analytics, will also find a home here.

This is one of Mailchimp's greatest strengths, as it integrates seamlessly with tools you're likely already using… or will be using in the future. Their email templates are also a significant benefit. They are visually oriented, beautiful, and have an easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder, which is nearly the polar opposite of ConvertKit's template approach. 

ECommerce businesses looking for well-designed, professional-looking email templates to showcase products will be in heaven. Finally, it's important to note that Mailchimp has recently expanded the breadth of marketing products available to its customers (not many of which will be particularly appealing to most bloggers, however), including:

• Easy Marketing CRM
• Search Address
• Delivery of postcards
• Demographic forecasting
• Landing pages
• Posting on social networks and creating ads
• Photo editing tools

What are the disadvantages of Mailchimp?

The biggest downside to Mailchimp is that its product isn't designed for bloggers. It is geared more toward small business owners or e-commerce brands that want stylish emails.

While their forever-free plan may be a good way to justify starting with them to build a following when you're just beginning as a blogger, you shouldn't be afraid to jump ship once you hit the 1,000 subscriber mark and start to understand how to monetize your blog audience on at least a small scale.

 Another downside to Mailchimp is that it only offers social media integrations with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For such a large company, it's surprising that they don't include integrations for all the major social media platforms.

 The final downside is how Mailchimp's pricing tiers work. A common complaint is that they charge you double if you have one subscriber on multiple lists. This is true if you don't set up your tags properly, but it happens nonetheless. Although, in all honesty, this is more of a design flaw than an intentional double charge… but again, it's something to consider when choosing between ConvertKit vs. AWeber vs. Mailchimp.

How much will Mailchimp cost in 2025?

Free Plan: Yes (limited features)

Free Trial: N/A

Mailchimp pricing breakdown (using the Standard plan):

• 0 - 1,000 subscribers: Free (limited capabilities)
• 1,001 - 2,000 subscribers: Free (limited features)
• 2,001 - 3,000 subscribers: $51/mo.
• 3,001 - 5,000 subscribers: $79/month
• 5,001 - 10,000 subscribers: $105/mo.
• 10,001 - 15,000 subscribers: $170/mo.
• 15,001 - 25,000 subscribers: $200 - $230/month.
• 25,001 - 50,000 subscribers: $270 - $320/month
• 50,001 - 100,000 subscribers: $430 - $540/mo.
• 
  

MailChimp's free plan is limited to 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails. For a new blogger who is still learning everything from how to use WordPress, generate blog post ideas, figure out your blog's SEO strategies, learning how to write blog posts, and whether or not to guest blog, MailChimp's free plan does more than you need at this point.

You probably won't be sending many emails while you're still trying your hand at this business and learning a lot about how your blog works. However, their free plan is limited to only the most basic features.

• Lack of individual branding
• No chat or email support
• No marking or segmentation
• No reports
• MailChimp ads are included at the bottom of your emails

A forever-free plan isn't a smart move for an existing eCommerce business or a growing blogger. You'll need to upgrade to a new plan to unlock more features, and once you start paying, you might want to consider ConvertKit vs. AWeber as an email marketing tool instead. 

Beyond the free plan, their pricing is a bit more subscriber-based and includes unlimited emails (though you'll still have to choose one of the plan tiers depending on the features you want to unlock).

So, what is the best email marketing tool for bloggers in 2025?

The honest answer is that it depends. I firmly believe that ConvertKit is the best email marketing tool for bloggers who are even slightly established , and the addition of a free plan makes it an unrivaled force in this space. Their array of tools complements any blogging approach you have in mind for growing your readership this year. For this reason, ConvertKit is the #1 email marketing tool I recommend today, even for new bloggers – thanks to their free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers). Remember what my promotion looked like?

• Months 1–6: I utilized Mailchimp for approximately 1,000 subscribers, which is free if you have less than 2,000 subscribers.
• Between months 6 and 18, AWeber's functionality and user-friendliness helped my collection of about 10,000 members In 2014.
• Years 2–8 (present): I transitioned to ConvertKit to utilize advanced functionalities, including automation.
• 
  

If you have a solid free tool (like ConvertKit and AWeber) to collect email addresses and send monthly updates, this is a great way to test the waters while figuring out how to start a blog and start laying the foundation for a real business. Note: Ensure your blog is hosted on one of the best blogger hosting services. 

Each email marketing platform has its advantages and may be appropriate for certain use cases – they all have different approaches to email marketing pricing. As I said at the beginning, no email marketing tool will be perfect for everyone, but I recommend going with ConvertKit vs AWeber if you want something full-featured. Look at your blogging business and where you plan to go in the next 6-12 months. 

This will help you decide between ConvertKit vs AWeber vs Mailchimp – and make the right choice on where to invest. That being said, don't forget that you can always change things up in the future.