From account setup to your first automation · Verified June 2026 · 15 min read

Affiliate Disclosure: PassiveKit earns g commission on Kit referrals. Every step in this guide works on the free plan unless stated otherwise.

How to Use Kit (ConvertKit) in 2026:

What Is Kit (ConvertKit) and What Can You Do With It?

Kit – formerly known as ConvertKit – is an email marketing platform built for creators. It is used by over 600,000 bloggers, newsletter writers, podcasters, course creators, and solopreneurs to build and monetize email lists.

The free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited sends, unlimited forms and landing pages, and one visual automation. That is enough to build a real audience before spending anything.

The four things Kit does better than most alternatives:

• Visual automation builder – drag-and-drop workflow editor that lets you send the right email to the right subscriber at the right time
• Tags and segments – subscriber-centric system that replaces multiple separate lists with one clean database
• Landing pages and forms – built-in without needing a separate tool
• Creator Network – cross-promotion system that recommends your newsletter to subscribers of other Kit creators (Creator plan and above)

This guide covers every step from opening your account to publishing your first automated email sequence.

Step 1: Create Your Kit Account

Go to kit.com and click Start for free. Enter your email address, create a password, and fill in your account name – this becomes your sender name in emails.

Kit asks three questions during onboarding:

1. What type of creator are you? (blogger, podcaster, course creator, etc.) – choose the closest match
2. How many email subscribers do you currently have? – select your current list size honestly
3. What are you planning to create? – describes your content focus

These answers personalise your dashboard and template suggestions. They do not lock you into anything – you can update them later in Settings.

Pro tip: Use a custom sender email address from the start if possible (e.g. hello@yourdomain.com). Go to Settings → Email → From address. Emails from a custom domain have better deliverability than Gmail or Hotmail addresses.

Step 2: Understand the Kit Dashboard

Kit’s navigation has six main sections. Learn these before doing anything else – they map directly to your workflow:

Section	What it covers
Grow	Forms, landing pages, Creator Network, subscriber management
Send	Broadcasts (one-off emails), Sequences (automated series)
Automate	Visual Automation builder – full workflow editor
Earn	Digital products, paid subscriptions, sponsorships
Reports	Open rates, click rates, subscriber growth, revenue
Settings	Account, billing, integrations, custom domains

Start in Grow to build your first form. Everything else connects from there.

Step 3: Create Your First Signup Form

A form is how subscribers join your list. Kit forms can be embedded on your website or linked to directly. You can also turn a form into a standalone landing page.

How to create a form:

• Go to Grow → Landing Pages & Forms
• Click Create new → Form
• Choose a display type: Inline (embeds in your page), Modal (pop-up), Slide-in (appears from the corner), or Sticky bar (fixed at top or bottom)
• Choose a template – Kit provides several minimal options. Pick one close to your brand.
• Edit the headline, description, button text, and success message in the right sidebar
• Click Publish when done

Pro tip: Keep your form headline benefit-focused. ‘Get my free guide to writing better emails’ converts better than ‘Subscribe to my newsletter’. Tell people exactly what they get.

Embed your form on your website:

After publishing, click Embed to see three options: HTML embed code, WordPress plugin shortcode, or a direct link. For WordPress sites using Rank Math, the HTML embed code works in any Custom HTML block.

Watch out: Do not skip the success message. After someone subscribes, they need to know what happens next – especially if you are using double opt-in. The default message is generic – personalise it to tell subscribers when to expect their first email.

Step 4: Build a Landing Page for Your Lead Magnet

A landing page is a standalone page hosted by Kit with no other navigation – designed purely to convert visitors into subscribers. You do not need your own website to use Kit landing pages.

How to create a landing page:

1. Go to Grow → Landing Pages & Forms
2. Click Create new → Landing Page
3. Choose a template – Kit has templates for lead magnets, free courses, waitlists, and newsletters
4. Edit the headline, sub-headline, bullet points, and button text in the right panel
5. Add your lead magnet under Incentive – upload a PDF or paste a link to your downloadable
6. Set a custom URL if you want a clean link (e.g. yourname.kit.com/guide)
7. Click Publish

Pro tip: Add a profile photo to your landing page. Pages with a photo convert significantly better than those without – people want to know who they are subscribing to before handing over their email address.

Step 5: Set Up Your Tag System

Tags are how Kit knows which subscribers to put in which sequences. Unlike platforms that use multiple separate lists, Kit uses one subscriber database with tags applied to each person. A subscriber can have multiple tags simultaneously.

Set up your tags before building any sequences or automations. Fix the architecture first.

Recommended starter tag system:

Tag	When it is applied	Why it matters
Lead magnet tag	Added when subscriber downloads a specific freebie	Triggers the right welcome sequence automatically
Purchased: [product]	Added after a Kit Commerce sale	Stops them receiving sales emails for that product
Interested: [topic]	Added when subscriber clicks a topic link	Routes them into the right content sequence
Engaged 90 days	Added by automation if they open 3+ emails in 90 days	Segment for your best offers
Unengaged 90 days	Added if no opens in 90 days	Target for re-engagement or list cleaning
Newsletter subscriber	Added at signup	Base tag – everyone who opts in via your newsletter form

How to create a tag:

1. Go to Grow → Subscribers
2. Click the Tags tab
3. Click Create a Tag
4. Name it clearly – use a consistent naming convention from the start

Watch out: Do not create too many tags too early. Five well-defined tags used consistently are more powerful than 30 tags that overlap and confuse your automations. Start simple and add complexity as your list grows.

Step 6: Write Your First Email Sequence

A sequence in Kit is a series of automated emails sent in order with delays between them. The most important sequence for any creator is a welcome sequence – the emails new subscribers receive after joining your list.

Common sequence types:

Sequence type	What it does	When to use it
Welcome sequence	Emails 1–5 sent over 7–10 days after signup	Introduce yourself, deliver lead magnet, build trust
Evergreen funnel	10–15 emails over 30–60 days	Nurture subscribers toward a paid offer
Product launch	5–7 emails over 7 days	Cart open, value emails, cart close, urgency
Onboarding	3–5 emails over 3–5 days	After a purchase – deliver product, set expectations
Re-engagement	3 emails over 14 days	Win back unengaged subscribers before cleaning list

How to create a sequence:

• Go to Send → Sequences
• Click New Sequence and give it a descriptive name (e.g. ‘Welcome sequence – lead magnet subscribers’)
• Click Add Email to write your first email in the sequence
• Set the delay – how many days after the previous email this one sends. Email 1 is typically sent immediately (delay: 0 days). Email 2 might send 2 days later.
• Write your email in the editor. Kit supports plain text and simple HTML – keep it close to plain text for best deliverability.
• Set the subject line and preview text
• Repeat for each email in the sequence
• Set each email to Active when it is ready to send

Pro tip: Write your welcome sequence as if you are writing to one person. Use first-person, use their first name via the personalisation tag {{subscriber.first_name}}, and keep each email focused on one topic. A 5-email welcome sequence that feels like a real conversation converts better than 10 formal newsletters.

Step 7: Build Your First Visual Automation

A visual automation is a flowchart that tells Kit what to do when a subscriber takes a specific action. It connects triggers, actions, conditions, and sequences into one workflow. The free Newsletter plan includes one visual automation – which is enough to set up a complete welcome funnel.

How a visual automation works:

Every automation has three types of building blocks:

• Triggers – what starts the automation (subscriber joins a form, is added to a tag, makes a purchase)
• Actions – what Kit does (add to sequence, add a tag, remove a tag, send an email)
• Conditions – if/else branches based on subscriber behaviour (did they click this link? do they have this tag?)

How to build your first automation:

• Go to Automate → Visual Automations
• Click New Automation
• Name it clearly (e.g. ‘Welcome funnel – lead magnet opt-in’)
• Click the + button to add your first trigger – choose ‘Joins a form’ and select your signup form
• Add an Action – choose ‘Add to sequence’ and select your welcome sequence
• Optionally add a tag Action after the sequence – ‘Add tag: Lead magnet subscriber’
• Click Set Live when you are ready

Pro tip: Test your automation before going live. Kit has a preview mode but the most reliable test is subscribing with a secondary email address and watching the emails arrive in real time. Check timing, personalisation tags, and links.

Adding a condition – the purchase check:

One of the most useful automations is removing a subscriber from a sales sequence once they buy. Add a Condition block after the first sales email: ‘Has purchased [product]’ – if yes, remove them from the sequence. If no, continue. This stops buyers receiving emails trying to sell them something they already own.

Step 8: Send Your First Broadcast

A broadcast is a one-off email sent to your full list or a segment of it. Broadcasts are how you send your regular newsletter, announcements, and time-sensitive content. They are separate from sequences, which are automated.

How to send a broadcast:

• Go to Send → Broadcasts
• Click New Broadcast
• Write your subject line and preview text
• Write your email in the editor
• Choose your recipients – all subscribers, or filter by tag or segment
• Click Send or schedule it for a specific date and time

Pro tip: Send broadcasts on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday morning in your subscribers’ time zones – these days consistently outperform Monday and Friday for open rates. Use Kit’s send time optimisation on Creator plan and above to automate this.

Watch out: Always send to active subscribers only. Before any major broadcast, filter out subscribers who have not opened an email in 90+ days. Sending to unengaged subscribers hurts your deliverability score over time.

Step 9: Connect Kit to Your Other Tools

Kit integrates with over 70 tools natively and connects to thousands more via Zapier. The integrations most relevant to solopreneurs:

• WordPress – Kit plugin installs forms on your site and adds subscribers automatically
• Gumroad / Lemonsqueezy – tags subscribers as purchasers after a sale, triggering onboarding sequences
• Beehiiv – if migrating from or to Beehiiv, Kit has a direct subscriber export
• Stripe – connect for digital product sales through Kit Commerce
• Zapier – connects Kit to any tool that does not have a native integration

How to add an integration:

• Go to Settings → Integrations
• Find the tool you want to connect
• Click Connect and follow the authentication flow
• Map the triggers – e.g. ‘when someone buys on Gumroad, add tag Purchased: [product name] in Kit’

Pro tip: Set up your Gumroad or Lemonsqueezy integration before your first product launch. Getting the tag-on-purchase flow working in advance means you can trigger an automated onboarding sequence the moment someone buys – without manual work.

Step 10: Improve Your Email Deliverability

Deliverability is whether your emails land in the inbox or the spam folder. It is the most important metric most creators ignore until something goes wrong.

The four things that affect Kit deliverability most:

• Custom sender domain – authenticate your sending domain in Settings → Email. Kit provides step-by-step instructions. Without this, your emails are more likely to land in promotions or spam.
• List hygiene – remove or suppress subscribers who have not opened in 90+ days. Kit’s subscriber filters make this straightforward. A smaller, engaged list outperforms a large, unengaged one.
• Plain text emails – heavily designed HTML emails trigger more spam filters than simple, text-forward emails. Kit’s default templates are deliberately minimal for this reason.
• Consistent sending frequency – sporadic sending (nothing for 3 months, then 5 emails in a week) hurts your sender reputation. Aim for a consistent cadence your subscribers expect.

Watch out: If your open rates drop below 20%, do a list cleaning before your next broadcast. Kit’s Subscribers section lets you filter by ‘last open date’ – suppress anyone who has not opened in 90 days and re-engagement them with a dedicated sequence before removing them entirely.

Kit Plans Reference: Free vs Creator vs Creator Pro

Feature	Free (Newsletter)	Creator ($33/mo)	Creator Pro ($79/mo)
Free plan limit	Up to 10,000	Up to 10,000	Up to 10,000
Monthly price (annual)	Free	$33/month	$79/month
Visual automations	1	Unlimited	Unlimited
Sequences	1	Unlimited	Unlimited
Landing pages & forms	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Creator Network	No	Yes	Yes
Digital product sales	No	Yes	Yes
Newsletter referrals	No	Yes	Yes
Team members	1	1	2+
Subscriber scoring	No	No	Yes
Facebook custom audiences	No	No	Yes

Prices are annual billing rates. Monthly billing is approximately 25% higher. Verified June 2026 from kit.com/pricing.

The free plan is enough to follow every step in this guide. Upgrade to Creator when you want unlimited automations or access to the Creator Network for audience growth.

Kit FAQ