First, a name change to clear up: ConvertKit is now called Kit. Same company, same product, new name since 2024. If you’ve seen both names and wondered whether you missed something — you didn’t. It’s the same tool.
Now, the comparison. And I’m not neutral here, so I’ll be upfront: I used AWeber for years, and then I switched to Kit. I’ll tell you exactly why, and — just as importantly — when you’d be better off ignoring me and sticking with AWeber.
My history with both
I recommended AWeber for the best part of a decade. It’s a solid, dependable email tool, and it served me well. No complaints.
But email marketing moved on, and AWeber was slow to follow. I wanted to do things it couldn’t do easily — proper automated sequences, tagging people based on what they clicked, sending different emails to different segments without building five separate lists. Eventually the friction added up, and I went looking for something built for the way I actually work now. That something was Kit.
That’s the short version. Here’s the detail.
What each one is actually for
This is the bit most comparisons skip, and it’s the only bit that matters.
AWeber is built for straightforward email marketing. You write a broadcast, you send it to your list, job done. It organises people into lists, it’s refreshingly simple, and it has been doing this longer than almost anyone. If your needs are “collect emails, send newsletters,” it’s hard to fault.
Kit is built for people growing an audience — creators, bloggers, newsletter writers. Instead of juggling lists, you have one subscriber database and you attach tags to people: clicked this, bought that, joined via this freebie. Then you build visual automations that send the right email to the right person automatically. It’s a different way of thinking, and once it clicks, going back to lists feels like going back to a paper diary.
The honest one-liner: AWeber is simpler, Kit is smarter. Which one wins depends entirely on which of those words you need more.
What they cost
Both have a genuine free tier, which is unusual and welcome.
- Kit is free up to 1,000 subscribers.
- AWeber is free up to 500 subscribers.
So Kit gives you twice the runway before you pay anything — a real advantage when you’re starting out and your list is small. After that, both scale up on subscriber count, and the prices are broadly comparable until you get into serious numbers.
For most people reading this, the practical takeaway is simple: you can start on either for free, and you can start on Kit for free for longer.
Where AWeber genuinely wins
I switched away from it, but I won’t pretend it lost on every count.
AWeber’s support is excellent — properly excellent, award-winning, with real humans who answer quickly. Kit outsources its support, and you feel the difference. AWeber also has more integrations with other tools, and its sheer simplicity means there’s almost nothing to learn. If you find software intimidating, AWeber is the gentler door.
If you want plain, reliable newsletters and first-class help when you’re stuck, AWeber is a perfectly good answer, and I’d not argue with anyone who chose it.
Where Kit wins — and why I moved
Automation and segmentation. That’s it, and it’s enough.
Kit’s visual automation builder lets you map out a whole subscriber journey — sign up here, get this welcome sequence, click that link, get tagged, drop into this other sequence — and then it just runs. The tagging system means you stop thinking in lists and start thinking in people. For anyone building an audience rather than just emailing one, that’s the difference between email being a chore and email being a machine that works while you sleep.
That’s why I made the switch, and why I’ve stayed.
So which should you pick?
Here’s the plain version.
Pick AWeber if you want simple newsletters, you value hand-holding support, and automation isn’t a priority. It’s the safe, friendly choice for small businesses and total beginners.
Pick Kit if you’re building an audience — a blog, a newsletter, a creator business — and you want automation and tagging that grow with you. It’s the better long-term home for most people reading a site like this, and the free tier up to 1,000 subscribers means you can prove that to yourself before paying a penny.
Start with Kit free (up to 1,000 subscribers)
My honest take, after sitting on both sides of this fence: AWeber is the tool I was happy with. Kit is the tool I stopped looking for alternatives to.
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