How to switch from Mailchimp to MailerLite

Why creators switch from Mailchimp to MailerLite

If you switch from Mailchimp to MailerLite, you'll usually pay a bit less at the same list size and stop hitting Mailchimp's automation caps early. You'll give up some e-commerce reporting depth and a few third-party integrations along the way. MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12 a month against Mailchimp's $13 Essentials, and Power at $25 a month includes unlimited seats and unlimited automations, both of which Mailchimp reserves for pricier tiers.

Both tools use a free-plus-paid-tier structure, and right now their free plans land in almost the same place: 250 contacts, with a monthly send cap on each side. That similarity is exactly why this is a common swap. You're not relearning how email pricing works, you're paying less for the same shape of plan.

What the price difference looks like at your list size

Mailchimp's list prices are quoted at its lowest contact tier, and the real bill climbs as your list grows within the same plan, before you're ever pushed to the next tier. MailerLite works the same way: Comfort and Power prices also rise with subscriber count. So the fair comparison is tier to tier at the entry point, not just the sticker price on the homepage.

Both vendors quote these prices at the smallest contact tier, and both say the price rises as your list grows. If your Mailchimp list is already well above 500 contacts, pull your actual quote from the live Mailchimp pricing page before comparing, since the advertised number won't match your real bill.

The practical gap shows up in automation and seats, not just price. Mailchimp caps automation at 4 steps on Essentials and gates predictive segmentation behind Standard. MailerLite's Comfort plan already ships 50 visual automations and an AI writing assistant, and Power removes the seat and automation caps entirely instead of forcing you up to a $350-a-month Premium plan the way Mailchimp does at scale.

What actually migrates when you switch

MailerLite runs a one-click importer built for Mailchimp accounts specifically. According to MailerLite's own integration page, it pulls in your full subscriber list, and Mailchimp tags convert into MailerLite groups, so your subscriber organization carries over rather than dumping everyone into one flat list. Custom fields get automatic detection and mapping, and segments built on static fields get recreated automatically on the MailerLite side. You connect through an API key, get a chance to manually adjust field mapping, and the importer generates a report showing what was added, updated, or skipped, and you can re-sync later without redoing the setup.

What that importer does not cover: automation workflows, email templates, and campaign history. Those live entirely inside Mailchimp's system and don't have a documented transfer path. Plan on rebuilding your automations and templates by hand in MailerLite's editor rather than expecting them to appear after import.

What you give up moving off Mailchimp

Mailchimp bundles in broad e-commerce integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix, with built-in revenue tracking tied to each. It also ships a Claude and ChatGPT connector on Standard and Premium so you can build campaigns from either assistant, plus predictive segmentation on those same tiers. MailerLite's own integration list covers Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Zapier, and Stripe, which handles most small-store needs but has less native revenue tracking depth than Mailchimp offers.

If your Mailchimp setup leans on its Salesforce integration, Meta Custom Audiences sync, or the newer AI campaign connectors, check that a MailerLite equivalent exists before you commit, since those aren't things a subscriber import can substitute for.

Support is the other tradeoff worth checking before you commit. Mailchimp gives 24/7 email and chat support starting at Essentials, and phone support with a dedicated onboarding specialist on Premium. MailerLite's Comfort plan includes 24/7 email support, and Power adds 24/7 live chat on top of that. Neither vendor publishes phone support below their top tier, so if you've been calling Mailchimp for help, confirm MailerLite's chat coverage fits before you switch.

What you gain beyond the price

The swap isn't only about paying less. MailerLite bundles unlimited monthly sends into both Comfort and Power once you're on them, so a busy sender doesn't hit a monthly send cap the way Mailchimp's plans define one relative to contact count. MailerLite also includes an AI writing assistant and an AI-assisted custom HTML editor on paid plans, a website builder alongside its landing pages, and a preference center so subscribers can manage their own frequency and topics instead of just unsubscribing outright. Verified nonprofits get 30% off any paid plan, a discount Mailchimp doesn't list on its own pricing page.

Who should stay on Mailchimp

Stay put if you're under 500 contacts and already depend on Mailchimp's Shopify or Wix tracking and its included AI campaign tools. The free and Essentials plans keep that setup cheap at a small list size, and rebuilding your e-commerce tracking and AI workflows elsewhere usually costs more than the switch saves. The same logic holds if you need Salesforce sync or Meta Custom Audiences today; MailerLite's integration list doesn't list either.

Switch if your list sits in the low thousands, you're paying for Standard or close to it mainly for the automation step limit, and you don't rely on the e-commerce or AI extras above. That's the segment where MailerLite's lower entry price and unlimited automation on Power actually change your bill.

How to run the migration

1. Sign up for a MailerLite account and grab your Mailchimp API key from your Mailchimp account settings.
2. In MailerLite, use the Mailchimp importer and paste in that API key to connect the two accounts.
3. Review the automatic field mapping, adjust anything the AI mapping got wrong, and set your duplicate handling preference.
4. Run the import and check the report for subscribers added, updated, or skipped.
5. Rebuild your automations and email templates manually in MailerLite, since those don't come over with the subscriber import.
6. Keep both accounts live in parallel for a send cycle or two before you cancel Mailchimp, so you can confirm deliverability and automation logic work as expected on the new platform.

Budget more time for step 5 than the rest of the checklist combined. Most people underestimate how long it takes to rebuild a welcome sequence or an abandoned-cart flow from scratch, and rushing it is the most common reason a migration feels worse than the old setup for the first few weeks. Write down what each Mailchimp automation actually does, trigger by trigger, before you start rebuilding it in MailerLite's editor, so nothing gets dropped in the move.

Once the import finishes and your automations are rebuilt, send yourself a full test cycle of every sequence before your subscribers see it. That catches broken merge tags or missing steps while the stakes are still zero.

For the fuller field of Mailchimp alternatives beyond MailerLite, including options for e-commerce brands and high-volume senders, see our Mailchimp alternatives guide.