You've narrowed your list down to two names. Now you need an answer, not another spec sheet.
Every creator hits this fork in the road. You need an email platform that sends newsletters, builds automations, and helps you sell something without draining your bank account. AWeber and Kit (the platform formerly known as ConvertKit) both promise that. They deliver it in very different ways.
This guide breaks down pricing, automation, templates, deliverability, and support for both platforms as they stand in 2026. No fluff. No recycled marketing copy. Just what you're actually getting for your money.
The Quick Answer
If you want the short version before diving in:
- Choose AWeber if you want lower costs at small list sizes, a genuinely free plan, and a platform built around simplicity and reliability. You can try AWeber's easy email tools here and see the interface for yourself before committing.
- Choose Kit if you're a content creator selling digital products, courses, or paid newsletters, and you want built-in monetization tools baked into the platform.
Neither answer is universally right. Your list size, your budget, and what you're selling all change the math. Keep reading, because the details matter more than the headline.
What Is AWeber, Exactly?
AWeber has been around since 1998. That's not a typo. It's one of the oldest email marketing tools still standing, and it survived by doing one thing well: making email marketing approachable for people who aren't marketers.
Small business owners, coaches, local shops, and solo consultants make up a huge chunk of AWeber's user base. The platform isn't chasing the "creator economy" buzzword. It's built for people who need reliable email delivery, straightforward automation, and a support team that answers the phone.
Here's what stands out about AWeber right now:
- A genuinely free plan that doesn't expire
- An AI-powered writing assistant built into the editor
- Over 700 customizable email templates
- Web push notifications alongside email
- Landing pages and sign-up forms included at every paid tier
If you've felt overwhelmed by platforms packed with features you'll never touch, AWeber's simplicity is the selling point. You can explore what AWeber includes at every plan level and get a feel for how quickly you could launch your first campaign.
What Is Kit (Formerly ConvertKit)?
Kit rebranded from ConvertKit in October 2024. The product underneath stayed the same. The name, the domain, and the positioning shifted to appeal to a broader range of online creators, not just writers and bloggers.
Nathan Barry founded ConvertKit in 2013 with one audience in mind: creators who wanted to build an email list and eventually make money from it. That focus never really left, even after the rebrand.
Kit's core strength is monetization. It's not just an email tool. It's a platform where you can:
- Sell digital products directly through email
- Run a paid newsletter with subscription tiers
- Tag and segment subscribers based on behavior
- Build visual automation workflows without code
- Access a built-in creator network for cross-promotion
If your business model revolves around selling something to your list, whether that's a course, an ebook, or a subscription newsletter, Kit was built with that exact use case in mind.
AWeber vs Kit Pricing: The Real 2026 Numbers
Pricing is where this comparison gets interesting, and it's also where a lot of outdated blog posts get it wrong. Both platforms changed their pricing structures significantly over the past two years. Let's look at what you'd actually pay today.
AWeber Pricing in 2026
AWeber restructured its plans and, frankly, raised prices. But the entry point remains genuinely accessible.
Free Plan
- Up to 500 subscribers
- Core email sending
- Limited templates and automation
- No credit card required
Lite Plan
- Starts around $12.50 to $15/month (annual billing) for 500 subscribers
- Core automation, landing pages, sign-up forms
- Built-in AI Writing Assistant
- Scales up with your list: roughly $30/month at 2,500 subscribers, $50/month at 5,000
Plus Plan
- Starts around $20/month for 500 subscribers (annual billing brings it closer to $19.99)
- Split automation paths and behavioral triggers
- A/B testing and advanced analytics
- Removes AWeber branding
- Unlimited automations at higher tiers
Done For You
- A one-time setup service where AWeber's team builds your entire system for you
- Promotional pricing has appeared as low as $79 (regularly $599)
- Ideal if you'd rather bake bread than configure a welcome sequence
The honest caveat here: AWeber's pricing climbs steeply at higher subscriber counts. At 150,000 subscribers on the Plus plan, you could be looking at over $1,000/month. But most creators reading this aren't managing six-figure lists yet. For anyone under 10,000 subscribers, AWeber's plans stay genuinely competitive, especially with annual billing discounts of 17% to 33% depending on the tier.
One more thing worth flagging: if you sell products directly through AWeber, expect transaction fees of around 1% on Lite and 0.6% on Plus.
Kit Pricing in 2026
Kit's pricing structure changed dramatically in September 2025, and the shift caught a lot of long-time users off guard.
Newsletter Plan (Free)
- Up to 10,000 subscribers at zero cost
- Unlimited landing pages, forms, and broadcasts
- Audience tagging and segmentation included
- Ability to sell digital products
- One automation only, no A/B testing
Creator Plan
- Now starts at $39/month for 1,000 subscribers ($33/month billed annually)
- Before the September 2025 increase, this same tier started at $15/month
- Scales quickly: $59/month at 3,000 subscribers, $89/month at 5,000, roughly $119 at 10,000
- Full visual automation builder
- Free migration from other platforms
Creator Pro Plan
- Starts at $79/month ($66/month annual)
- Advanced deliverability tools
- Newsletter referral system
- Facebook custom audiences
- Waives the 3.5% + $0.30 transaction fee on Commerce sales
That price increase is the elephant in the room. Kit's Creator plan more than doubled overnight for many users. If you were paying $15/month in 2024, you're likely paying somewhere between $33 and $39/month now for the same list size. That's a real budget consideration, especially for creators just starting out.
The silver lining is Kit's free tier. A 10,000-subscriber cap on a free plan is unusually generous. Most competitors cap free plans at 500 to 2,000 contacts.
The Pricing Verdict
Here's the pattern that emerges when you line the numbers up side by side:
- Under 500 subscribers: AWeber's free plan and Lite tier win on cost
- 500 to 10,000 subscribers: Kit's free plan is hard to beat if you don't need automation yet
- Once you need automation and you're under 10,000 subscribers: AWeber tends to cost less
- Above 25,000 subscribers: both platforms get expensive, and it's worth comparing against MailerLite or Moosend too
If pure cost efficiency at a small-to-mid list size matters most to you, AWeber's pricing structure is worth a serious look before you commit to Kit's higher-priced automation tier.
Ease of Use: Which Platform Gets You Sending Faster?
Nobody wants to spend their Saturday afternoon fighting with software instead of writing to their audience.
AWeber leans hard into simplicity. The drag-and-drop email builder feels familiar within minutes. Templates come pre-designed, so you're editing rather than starting from a blank canvas. The AI Writing Assistant can draft subject lines and body copy when you're stuck staring at a cursor.
Kit takes a slightly different approach. The interface is clean and minimal, almost stripped down compared to AWeber. Some creators love this. Others find it limiting when they want more visual design control. Kit's email editor is intentionally plain text-forward, which mirrors the personal, newsletter-style tone many creators want.
Neither platform is genuinely hard to learn. But here's the practical difference:
- AWeber suits people who want visual, template-driven design out of the box
- Kit suits people who want a distraction-free writing experience that reads like a personal email
If you're coming from a background outside marketing software entirely, AWeber's guided setup and phone support tend to shorten the learning curve.
Automation: Where the Real Work Happens
Automation is where you stop manually sending every email and start letting the system work while you sleep.
AWeber's automation covers the essentials well:
- Tag-based triggers when someone clicks or opens
- Behavioral automation on the Plus plan
- Split automation paths for testing different journeys
- Pre-built automation templates for common use cases like welcome sequences
Kit's automation is arguably more visual and flexible:
- A true drag-and-drop visual automation builder
- Conditional logic based on subscriber behavior, purchases, and tags
- Sequences that can branch based on how someone interacts with your content
- Integration with Kit Commerce for automated post-purchase flows
If your business depends on complex, multi-path funnels, Kit's automation builder gives you more room to get creative. If you want dependable automation without a steep learning curve, AWeber gets the job done without overwhelming you with options you'll never use.
Templates and Design Flexibility
This is one of the sharpest differences between the two platforms.
AWeber ships with over 700 templates. That's not a small number. Whatever industry you're in, there's likely a starting point that fits. The templates are fully customizable, drag-and-drop, and mobile-responsive by default.
Kit takes the opposite philosophy. Templates are minimal, almost plain by design. The thinking behind this is that plain-text-style emails feel more personal and tend to land better in inboxes, avoiding the "obvious newsletter" look that can trigger spam filters or reader fatigue.
Which is better depends entirely on your brand:
- Choose AWeber's template library if you want polished, branded, visually rich emails
- Choose Kit's minimal style if you want your emails to feel like a personal note from a friend
Neither approach is wrong. But if visual branding matters to your business, AWeber gives you far more to work with straight out of the gate.
Landing Pages and Sign-Up Forms
Growing your list matters just as much as emailing it.
Both platforms include landing pages and forms at every paid tier, and both offer unlimited landing pages on their base plans. The difference shows up in the design flexibility.
AWeber's landing page builder benefits from the same 700+ template library used for emails, giving you a wide starting selection. Kit's landing pages lean minimal again, prioritizing conversion-focused, distraction-free design over visual flourish.
For split testing sign-up pages, AWeber's A/B testing lives on the Plus plan. Kit offers similar testing capability, though it's more tightly integrated with its Creator Pro automations.
Deliverability: Getting Into the Inbox, Not the Spam Folder
None of this matters if your emails never reach anyone.
AWeber's decades in the industry translate into a strong deliverability reputation. Long-standing relationships with major inbox providers, consistent monitoring, and a support team that helps troubleshoot deliverability issues all contribute to solid inbox placement.
Kit has invested heavily in deliverability too, particularly with the advanced deliverability tools bundled into Creator Pro. The plain-text email style Kit encourages can also help avoid spam triggers that heavily designed HTML emails sometimes hit.
Realistically, both platforms perform well here. Deliverability issues are more often caused by list hygiene, sending practices, and content quality than by the platform itself. That said, AWeber's longer track record gives it a slight edge in trust among email service providers.
E-Commerce and Monetization Tools
This is where the two platforms genuinely diverge in philosophy.
Kit was built for monetization. Selling digital products, running paid newsletters, and building a creator business are baked into the core product:
- Kit Commerce lets you sell digital products directly through email
- Paid newsletter subscriptions with tiered access
- Creator Network for cross-promotion with other Kit users
- Automated delivery of digital products after purchase
AWeber added ecommerce features but isn't built around them the same way:
- Sell products through integrations and landing pages
- Lower transaction fees than some competitors (1% on Lite, 0.6% on Plus)
- Works well alongside Shopify, WooCommerce, and other ecommerce platforms
If your entire business model is "email list that sells digital products," Kit's tighter integration saves you from stitching together third-party tools. If you're running a broader business where email is one channel among several, AWeber's flexibility to integrate with your existing ecommerce stack might serve you better without locking you into one ecosystem.
Customer Support: Who Actually Picks Up the Phone?
This one surprises people.
AWeber offers phone support on paid plans, along with live chat and email support. For a small business owner who wants to talk to a human when something breaks, this matters more than any feature comparison chart.
Kit's support runs primarily through email and live chat. There's no phone line. Response times are generally solid, but if you're the type of person who wants to talk through a problem out loud, this could be a friction point.
Quick comparison:
- AWeber: phone, live chat, email, extensive help documentation
- Kit: live chat, email, community forums, help documentation
If direct human support matters to your buying decision, AWeber's support structure is a genuine differentiator, not just a marketing checkbox.
Integrations: Playing Well With Your Other Tools
Your email platform doesn't operate in isolation. It needs to talk to your CRM, your ecommerce store, your website, and probably a dozen other tools.
AWeber integrates with:
- WordPress, Shopify, and WooCommerce
- Zapier for connecting to thousands of other apps
- PayPal and Stripe for payment processing
- Facebook and other social platforms for lead generation
Kit integrates with:
- Shopify and WooCommerce
- Zapier
- Teachable, Podia, and other course platforms
- Stripe for Commerce payments
- A wide range of creator-focused tools like Riverside and Descript
Both platforms cover the essentials well through Zapier alone. Kit leans slightly more toward creator-economy tools (podcasting, course platforms), while AWeber leans toward general small-business tools (ecommerce, CRM, social).
AWeber Pros and Cons
What works in AWeber's favor:
- A genuinely free plan with no subscriber cap expiration
- Over 700 email templates for visual flexibility
- Phone support included on paid plans
- Lower cost at small-to-mid list sizes
- AI Writing Assistant built into the editor
- Decades of deliverability track record
Where AWeber falls short:
- Pricing climbs steeply at very large list sizes
- Some features feel dated compared to newer creator-focused platforms
- Less built-in monetization compared to Kit
- Recent price restructuring eliminated some grandfathered rates for long-time customers
Kit Pros and Cons
What works in Kit's favor:
- Generous free plan up to 10,000 subscribers
- Best-in-class built-in monetization tools
- Visual automation builder with strong flexibility
- Strong community and creator network
- Minimal design that feels personal, not "salesy"
Where Kit falls short:
- The September 2025 price hike more than doubled Creator plan costs
- No phone support
- Limited template variety for visually branded emails
- Pricing gets expensive quickly once you cross 5,000 subscribers on a paid tier
Who Should Choose AWeber
You'll likely be happiest with AWeber if:
- You're a small business owner, coach, or consultant rather than a full-time content creator
- You want lower costs while your list is under 10,000 subscribers
- You value phone support when something goes wrong
- You want a wide variety of visual templates
- You're not primarily selling digital products through email
- You want the option of a Done For You setup so you don't have to build anything yourself
If any of that sounds like you, it's worth spending ten minutes looking at what AWeber offers on its easy email platform before you make a final call. The free plan alone gives you enough room to test the waters without paying anything.
Who Should Choose Kit
Kit tends to be the better fit if:
- You're a content creator selling courses, ebooks, or paid newsletters
- You want monetization tools built directly into your email platform
- You're comfortable with a minimal, plain-text email aesthetic
- You need advanced, visual automation with branching logic
- You're under 10,000 subscribers and can take advantage of the generous free tier
A Real-World Way to Decide
Numbers and feature lists only get you so far. Try this instead.
Picture your business six months from now. Are you sending polished, branded newsletters to a growing customer list, occasionally launching a new product? Or are you building a personal brand around selling courses and digital downloads directly to a community that trusts you?
The first scenario points toward AWeber. The second points toward Kit.
Still not sure? Here's a practical test:
- Sign up for AWeber's free plan and Kit's free plan simultaneously
- Build one landing page and one welcome sequence on each
- Notice which interface you reach for without thinking twice
- Send a test campaign on both and compare how the process felt
Most people know within a week which platform fits their workflow. The one that fights you at every step isn't the right one, regardless of what a feature comparison chart says.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AWeber cheaper than Kit?
At small list sizes with automation needs, yes, AWeber is generally cheaper. Kit's free plan is more generous up to 10,000 subscribers, but once you need automation, Kit's Creator plan starting at $39/month is pricier than AWeber's comparable Lite or Plus tiers.
Did ConvertKit really change its name?
Yes. ConvertKit rebranded to Kit in October 2024. The underlying product, automation engine, and subscriber model stayed the same. Only the name, domain, and broader creator-focused positioning changed.
Which platform has better deliverability?
Both perform well. AWeber's longer operating history gives it a slight edge in established trust with inbox providers, though Kit's plain-text style and dedicated deliverability tools on Creator Pro help close that gap.
Can I sell digital products on both platforms?
Yes, though Kit's Commerce features are more deeply integrated into the core platform. AWeber supports selling through integrations with tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, and Stripe.
Does AWeber have a free plan? Yes, AWeber offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers with core sending features. You can review the details of AWeber's free and paid plans here.
Is Kit worth the price increase from 2025?
It depends on whether you use the monetization and automation features that justify the higher cost. If you're only using Kit for basic newsletter sending, the higher price is harder to justify, and a platform like AWeber may offer better value for that use case.
Which platform is easier for beginners?
AWeber's guided, template-driven setup and phone support tend to shorten the learning curve for people new to email marketing. Kit's minimal interface is simple too, but the visual automation builder has a steeper learning curve for true beginners.
Making the Final Call
There's no universally "best" platform here. There's only the platform that fits how you actually run your business.
If cost efficiency, phone support, and visual template flexibility matter most to you, especially while your list is still growing, AWeber deserves serious consideration. Its free plan removes the risk of testing it out, and the pricing structure stays reasonable well past the point where many competitors start charging significantly more.
If your business model centers on selling digital products or running a paid newsletter, and you're comfortable with a more minimal email aesthetic, Kit's built-in monetization tools are hard to replicate elsewhere without stitching together multiple platforms.
Test both. Trust your own experience using them over anyone else's opinion, including this one. The platform that gets out of your way and lets you focus on writing to your audience is the one that will actually grow your business in 2026.