Choosing the right software is crucial for effectively communicating with customers, driving sales, and growing your business over time. In this in-depth Drip vs ConvertKit comparison, we evaluate the two email marketing platforms across several key criteria to help you determine the best platform for your needs.
We will analyze and compare features and functionality, ease of use, customization, blogging capabilities, e-commerce features, third-party integrations, analytics, reliability, customer support, pricing, and reviews and reputation.
By evaluating these software solutions side-by-side, you’ll get a clear picture of their respective strengths and weaknesses so you can select the best platform to achieve your business goals with email marketing and automation.
1. Understanding the Basics
Drip was founded in 2013 by co-founders Rob Walling and Mike Perham as a simpler alternative to complex email service providers. Its focus is on small businesses and solopreneurs. Drip has over 25,000 customers but less name recognition than some competitors.
ConvertKit was launched in 2013 and was founded by Nathan Barry. It has over 100,000 customers across 100+ countries. ConvertKit is considered one of the most popular email marketing and automation tools for digital creatives, bloggers, course creators, and other small online business owners.
While both platforms have been around for nearly a decade, ConvertKit has faster growth and greater adoption—likely due to its specialization for bloggers and digital info products.
It also seems to foster more of a community, with engagement in its active Facebook group. However, Drip maintains steady popularity with small businesses seeking simplicity and ease of use.
2. Features and Functionality
Automation
Drip
Drip offers robust email automation with its sequences, which allow you to send timed and targeted emails based on subscriber actions or inaction. You can create sequences for welcoming new subscribers, engaging inactive users, prompting reviews, driving webinar signups, and more. These multi-email flows can include plain text emails or templates from Drip’s template library.
With Drip’s if/then conditional logic and automation rules, you can segment contacts and customize sequences and broadcasts to provide tailored, relevant messaging. For example, if a contact clicks a certain link or visits specific pages on your site, you can trigger specific automated emails. Drip also offers tags and custom fields for easy subscriber segmentation.
While Drip doesn’t have a visual workflow builder, you control sequence triggers and timing using its simple sequence editor. You can schedule delays between emails or trigger them immediately based on behaviors like opening previous emails or visiting URLs. Overall, Drip focuses on core email automation features done well.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is packed with automation features, including sequences, funnels, forms, landing pages, and tags—all easily built using its intuitive visual workflow editor. Simply drag and drop different elements to set up multi-step automation with conditional logic and triggers.
For example, when someone signs up for a free offer, you can direct them through sequences and funnels based on tags assigned after submission. Then, create follow-up sequences to re-engage cold leads. You can also build sales funnels with special offer sequences to nurture subscribers toward a product launch or webinar.
ConvertKit’s automation feels more robust than Drip’s, with additional elements like forms and landing pages and more flexibility with multi-branched sequences. However, for simpler email-focused automation, Drip provides a solid foundation of workflows. In the end, ConvertKit wins for advanced functionality and intuitive automation building.
Winner: ConvertKit
With its visual workflow builder and advanced features like forms and landing pages, ConvertKit pulls ahead of Drip for easier, more flexible creation of email and conversion funnels. This email marketing solution’s conditional logic and segmentation also empower small businesses to send ultra-targeted, personalized messaging that nurtures subscribers effectively.
Email Templates
Drip
Drip provides professionally designed email templates covering essential business scenarios like welcome campaigns, product launches, newsletters, opt-in forms, and more. You can browse and preview templates and then customize colors, fonts, content blocks, images, buttons, and links as needed.
While Drip has beautiful, mobile-optimized templates created by professional designers, its selection is fairly limited with around 50-60 options. However, you can save customized templates for reuse to accelerate future email creation.
Overall, Drip focuses more on core email marketing functionality over expansive template libraries. For most small businesses, its curated template selection will cover the basics, with the ability to customize further.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit offers hundreds of professionally designed email templates for welcome sequences, broadcasts, post notifications, and more. Like Drip, you can browse templates by category, customize them, and then save them for later reuse when creating emails.
ConvertKit provides strong foundation templates focused on essential marketing scenarios. But what sets it apart is its Template Marketplace offering hundreds of additional, premium templates at reasonable prices from just $5. For example, you can choose from fitness templates, real estate templates, online course templates, and many more tailored to specific niches and verticals.
So between its free templates and paid marketplace selections, ConvertKit simply provides way more email design choices covering both basics and niche use cases. This gives digital small businesses excellent flexibility when branding emails.
Winner: ConvertKit
With its vast template marketplace of premium niche templates on top of over 100 free templates focused on core scenarios, ConvertKit offers far greater email design choices for small businesses. The templates easily allow for professional, customized, and branded emails tailored specifically to your audience.
Segmentation
Drip
Drip enables segmentation with tags, custom fields, and behavioral properties like email opens, clicks, and page visits. You can create unlimited tags and custom fields to capture subscriber attributes, interests, and behaviors. Then, target groups dynamically with tags using Drip’s broadcast and sequence editors.
For example, you may tag customers by plan type, use frequency, or other properties, then send special promotions only to less engaged segments. Or create custom fields to track customer lifetime value and target your highest CLV subscribers. Drip’s segmentation feels simple yet powerful.
While it lacks complex Boolean-based segmentation logic, Drip provides the essential tagging and custom fields to personalize your messaging based on static or dynamic subscriber criteria. For most small business cases like customer lifecycle and behavioral targeting, Drip has you covered.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit also offers tag-based subscriber segmentation, with the ability to track customer behaviors like email/page clicks, purchases, and webinar views. You can then leverage these tags dynamically across sequences, email broadcasts, and landing pages using ConvertKit’s visual workflow builder.
Going beyond tags, ConvertKit has custom fields for capturing additional subscriber data. You can also assign subscriber scores to quantify engagement levels like recency, frequency, and monetary value—then segment scoring bands.
Compared to Drip, ConvertKit also lets you create customer Groups with complex Boolean logic combining tags, scores, and custom fields under AND/OR relationships. This caters to more advanced subscriber segmentation scenarios. However, both platforms provide excellent static+dynamic segmentation capabilities critical for targeting and personalization.
Winner: Tie
Drip and ConvertKit offer simple yet powerful subscriber segmentation for personalization, with tag-based approaches complemented by custom fields and scoring. While ConvertKit has more advanced Boolean segmentation, both platforms deliver the core tagging capabilities needed for most small business use cases. For this reason, we declare this category a tie.
Analytics
Drip
Drip provides solid email analytics to help you understand subscriber behaviors and optimize your marketing. Its dashboard reveals top-level engagement metrics like email opens, clicks, and unsubscribes over custom time ranges. You can also view real-time subscriber activity as it happens.
Drilling down, Drip’s Email Stats reveal performance stats for each campaign like open, click-through, and conversion rates. The Email Activity tab shows detailed subscriber-level interaction highlighting who opened, clicked on links, subscribed, and more.
While Drip lacks A/B testing capabilities, its built-in analytics features and Google Analytics integration deliver aggregated performance metrics plus individual subscriber profiling critical for honing your email approach.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit also offers email engagement analytics with campaign-based reporting and contact history insights. Dashboards quickly show clicks, opens, landing page visits, form submissions, and sales data. You can filter reports by date ranges, email types, and tags to analyze campaign and segment performance.
Compared to Drip, ConvertKit provides more visual data representations with charts and graphs instead of just tables and numbers. This caters to visual learners. ConvertKit also includes multivariate A/B email testing to experiment with subject lines, content, designs, and send times to boost conversions.
For subscriber-level analysis, ConvertKit shows detailed timelines of each contact’s journey—from initial form submission through sequences, downloads, content views, purchases, and beyond. This simplifies creating targeted re-engagement campaigns based on user behaviors.
Winner: ConvertKit
While both platforms offer email and subscriber analytics, ConvertKit’s visual charts and timelines provide greater insight for optimization. The addition of A/B testing also makes fine-tuning email content and delivery easy. For these reasons, ConvertKit emerges as the winner here.
Unique Features
Drip
One of Drip’s standout features is its extensive suite of integrations and APIs allowing deep connections with other platforms. It offers native integration with leading services like Zapier, Shopify, and Zoho along with an open API for building custom solutions.
For example, sync your Shopify customer purchase data into Drip for segmented promotions. Or leverage Zapier to connect Drip with webinar, membership, and landing page tools like Demio, MemberVault, and Unbounce—passing subscriber data between them automatically.
Drip also provides a Chrome extension that allows you to add contacts on the fly from anywhere on the web, accelerating subscriber capture. And its Zapier integration means you can pass that data to over 2,000 other apps.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit also offers Zapier and API integration for connecting with popular marketing, CRM, webinar, membership, and e-commerce platforms. Its Chrome extension likewise enables quick contact capture from around the web.
What sets ConvertKit apart is its built-in landing page and form creator for growing your subscriber lists. Instead of needing Leadpages, Unbounce, or another tool, you can build unlimited landing pages and multi-field signup forms right within ConvertKit—with drag-and-drop ease.
Having forms, landing pages, email, and automation all in one platform streamlines website conversion and subscriber data flows with no complexity syncing separate tools. This keeps your tech stack lean while capturing more leads and sales.
Winner: ConvertKit
With its integrated landing page and form builder eliminating the need for extra tools, ConvertKit stands out for simplifying the conversion process—helping you capture more subscribers with less configuration. The unified data flow also enables tighter, automated sequences and workflows.
3. Ease of Use
Drip
Drip prides itself on simplicity and ease of use, with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface focused only on core email functionality like broadcasts, sequences, and automation. The clean dashboard highlights key metrics and campaign details without complexity.
Everything is designed for simplicity – from Drip’s sequence builder for automation to its minimalist email and template editors. Beginners can dive right in to create broadcasts and flow with little ramp-up time. Navigation and workflows feel logical and focused.
While sometimes too basic for advanced users, Drip’s stripped-down UI and emphasis on essential features cater to entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking straightforward email marketing. Just don’t expect extras like landing pages, forms, or sophisticated analytics.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit balances power with simplicity, giving users robust functionality via clean, understandable interfaces. The platform uses intuitive drag-and-drop workflow builders for automation, landing pages, and forms instead of complex configuration.
While more features mean a bit more learning initially, ConvertKit’s excellent getting-started resources, videos, and help docs combined with the logical UI flatten the curve effectively. Many customers highlight ease of use compared to alternatives.
Ultimately, ConvertKit wins with entrepreneurs seeking to deeply integrate email with landing pages, lead capture, and sales automation in an uncomplicated way. The breadth of features may add marginal complexity but the usability never suffers.
Winner: ConvertKit
Both platforms focus on simplicity in email marketing. However, ConvertKit adds more robust functionality through workflows, forms, and landing pages without sacrificing usability via its intuitive interface. For these reasons, ConvertKit prevails in balancing simplicity and power.
4. Email Deliverability
Drip
Drip leverages deliverability features like dedicated IP addresses, domain authentication, inbox placement testing, spam testing, and more to maximize email delivery. It also lets you track critical metrics like spam complaints, reputation monitoring, and blacklisting status.
Drip’s Deliverability Guides provide best practice explainers on list hygiene, segmentation, email frequency, subject line optimization, and other factors under your control to fine-tune for delivery.
While lacking deep analytics and insights into some ESPs, Drip’s clean email reputation and focus on inbox placement cover fundamentals for small business needs.
ConvertKit
Similarly, ConvertKit incorporates deliverability capabilities including dedicated IPs, compliance with CAN-SPAM/GDPR, and sender testing/certification with major ISPs like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
For new accounts, ConvertKit checks subscriber permission and spam traps to optimize early deliverability. The platform also offers a Health Score metric gauging your overall deliverability based on engagement, complaints, and spam test results.
Helpfully, if an IP address gets temporarily blocked by an ISP, ConvertKit will automatically switch your sending domain to a backup IP to minimize delivery issues. This added layer keeps your campaigns running smoothly.
Winner: Tie
Both Drip and ConvertKit bake key email deliverability elements into their platforms, including dedicated IPs, inbox and spam testing, ISP certification, and compliance. Each takes measures to maximize email reach while minimizing blocking. This category results in a clear tie.
5. Customer Support and Community
Drip
Drip provides email-based customer support with fairly quick 24-48 hour response times during weekdays. Support covers platform issues, bugs, and troubleshooting integrations or deliverability problems.
Beyond standard support, Drip lacks ConvertKit’s robust self-service help center, educational blog content, and expert development courses. But for basic technical, landing page integrations, Facebook custom audience, and troubleshooting needs, its focused email support delivers.
Drip doesn’t offer a user community of its own. However, some users discuss Drip issues in this general Facebook group for email marketing pros with 46,000+ members:
ConvertKit
ConvertKit shines with multi-channel customer support including email ticketing with <24 hour average response times, phone support, screen shares, emergency 24/7 support, and more. Users highlight reliable issue resolution.
Supplementing support, ConvertKit provides an extensive self-service knowledgebase searchable by tag and topic plus expert courses on email strategy inside its App platform. So both tech troubleshooting and strategic expertise develop your skills.
ConvertKit also fosters a thriving user community with its Customer Community Facebook group, document sharing, live events, and videos deepening connections between 29,000+ members:
Winner: ConvertKit
Both email marketing tools have much to offer. However, with multi-channel urgent support, help courses, and a bustling user community, ConvertKit simply offers incomparably better customer education and engagement for email subscribers. Its strategic guidance and shared user learnings also provide growth marketing knowledge beyond pure platform troubleshooting.
6. Integrations
Drip
Drip connects with hundreds of tools via native integrations and Zapier. Native support includes leading services like Shopify, Zoho CRM, Calendly, and PieSync for syncing contact and customer data between systems.
The wider Zapier integration opens things further, with add-ons for webinar apps like Demio, survey tools, membership platforms, landing page builders, and more.
For coding custom solutions, Drip also provides developer APIs and webhooks covering automation, ecommerce business tracking for important metrics, RSS-to-email, and much more. So both no code and dev-friendly options exist.
Ultimately Drip makes it easy to integrate your tech stack for passing subscriber and customer data between tools for unified profiles and targeted messaging.
ConvertKit
Similarly, ConvertKit offers native integration with email services, webinar tools, membership platforms, Zapier, and 100+ other apps. This allows capturing subscriber data from forms and automating handoffs between your website, courses, and related systems.
APIs are also available for building custom integrations, with webhook support for subscriber management and e-commerce data syncing.
Compared to Drip, ConvertKit feels weaker on CRM and helpdesk application integrations. But there’s a ConvertKit WordPress plugin that comes in handy for bloggers. For connecting your core marketing stack around landing pages, email, and digital sales funnels, ConvertKit delivers flexibility.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms provide hundreds of integrations via native plug-ins and Zapier alongside developer APIs for custom coding solutions between email, associated SaaS tools, and your proprietary systems. Each offers robust connectivity options tailored to digital small business stacks. Hence we declare this category a tie.
7. Pricing
Drip
Drip has a simple pricing structure based on the number of contacts in your list. The lowest plan costs $39/month for up to 2,500 people. You can sign up for a free trial on the platform to test out the software before committing to a paid plan.
All plans include unlimited emails, and access to core features like automation, analytics, and integrations. Higher tiers offer more contacts, additional CRM and e-commerce integrations, and priority support.
Overall, Drip is competitively priced and its free tier provides excellent capabilities for early-stage businesses.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit has a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers, and three paid plans which are as follows:
- Creator Plan – $9/month with unlimited forms, landing pages, and broadcasts for up to 300 subscribers.
- Creator Pro Plan – $25/month for up to 300 subscribers. It comes with additional features to sell digital products and subscriptions, as well as audience tagging and segmentation tools.
Additional subscribers can be added for a per-subscriber rate. Features like landing pages, automation, and integrations are included at all plan levels.
ConvertKit pricing offers a generous free trial and transparent pricing without surprise fees. The platform is affordably priced for creators and small businesses, which simplifies the work of choosing email marketing software for your business.
Winner: ConvertKit
With landing pages, forms, and automation bundled together, ConvertKit offers more bang-for-buck upfront versus Drip’s pure-play email focus. If you have existing lead capture tools, Drip presents cost savings. But for simplicity and completeness, ConvertKit prevails in value.
8. Reviews and Reputation
Drip
Drip earns positive reviews for its simplicity, ease of use, automation capabilities, and affordability. Users highlight the clean, focused interface along with solid support and deliverability. Many entrepreneurs switching from overly complex ESPs found Drip perfect for their needs.
That said, some users did desire more advanced features over time like A/B testing or analytics. And a few ran into inconsistencies with email rendering. But overall, Drip wins fans with its straightforward, no-fuss approach to critical email marketing fundamentals.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit earns positive reviews for its power and customization for creators. Users praise the automation, integrations, and deliverability.
Common downsides mentioned include the learning curve and having features tailored more for online course creators versus general email marketing.
On review sites like G2 and Capterra, ConvertKit averages around 4 out of 5 stars. The platform enjoys a strong reputation, particularly with its target creator niche.
Winner: ConvertKit
Both platforms earn positive reviews, with Drip valued for simplicity and ConvertKit praised for flexibility plus strong bundled pricing. While each email marketing tool has happy customers and fills different user needs, the holistic marketing focus of ConvertKit appears to generate broader enthusiasm and loyalty amongst users.
9. ConvertKit vs Drip: FAQ’s
Drip FAQs
- What types of emails can I send with Drip?
Drip allows you to send automated emails like welcome sequences and shopping cart abandonment flows as well as one-time broadcast emails and RSS-triggered newsletters. - Does Drip have landing pages or forms?
No, Drip does not have a landing page builder as it focuses solely on email marketing automation. You would need to integrate or purchase those capabilities separately for your email marketing efforts. - Is Drip right for advanced email marketers?
Drip prioritizes simplicity and ease of use over advanced functionality. So experts may find it limiting unless a basic tool is precisely what they need.
ConvertKit FAQs
- Does ConvertKit have email automation?
Yes, ConvertKit enables you to set up multi-step email automation sequences based on triggers and user behaviors. - Can ConvertKit integrate with my e-commerce store?
ConvertKit provides native integration with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce or can connect via Zapier to most other solutions. - How does ConvertKit pricing compare?
ConvertKit is considered very fairly priced for everything included out of the box, especially compared to buying separate forms, landing pages, email, and SMS tools.
Final Thoughts
Choose Drip if…
…you want a streamlined email marketing platform purpose-built for simplicity. Drip cuts out the complexity focusing only on critical automation, campaigns, segmentation, and deliverability capabilities most small businesses need. For solopreneurs or side hustlers seeking straightforward email fundamentals without extra bells and whistles, Drip delivers tremendous value.
On the other hand, if you find that this platform doesn’t seem like a good fit for you, then one of the many Drip alternatives may be a better option.
Choose ConvertKit if…
…you desire both simplicity and greater functionality in one integrated platform. ConvertKit bundles landing pages, unlimited forms, automation, SMS, and analytics together into one streamlined system. For bloggers, info-product creators, and digital entrepreneurs who want to combine high-converting lead flows with targeted email marketing, ConvertKit is hard to beat.
Ultimately both platforms enable excellent email marketing and automation with some unique strengths. We urge you to consider your functional needs, anticipated complexity, and resources as you determine which solution best fits your small business goals right now.