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REPLACE

Replace ConvertKit with SoloStack

ConvertKit (now Kit) charges you more as your audience grows — $9/mo for 300 subscribers, $100+/mo for 10k. SoloStack gives you unlimited subscribers for ~$3/mo using Resend, with email sequences powered by Claude Code.

ConvertKit $9–140+/mo
→
SoloStack ~$3/mo
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THE CONVERTKIT TAX

What you're actually paying for

ConvertKit's pricing scales with your subscriber count. The more your audience grows, the more you pay — even for subscribers you haven't emailed in months.

kit.com/pricing
Newsletter $0/mo
  • Up to 10,000 subscribers
  • Unlimited landing pages
  • Unlimited forms
  • No automations
  • No sequences
  • No integrations
  • Kit branding on emails
Creator $9/mo Up to 300 subscribers
  • Automations
  • Sequences
  • Third-party integrations
  • Remove Kit branding
  • No subscriber scoring
  • No advanced analytics
  • $100/mo at 10k subs
Creator Pro $25/mo Up to 300 subscribers
  • Everything in Creator
  • Subscriber scoring
  • Advanced analytics
  • Newsletter referral system
  • $140/mo at 10k subs
  • $340/mo at 55k subs
  • Scales with every subscriber
YOU'RE PAYING THIS
↓

SoloStack replaces all of this for ~$3/mo

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FEATURE MAP

ConvertKit feature → SoloStack equivalent

Every ConvertKit feature maps to an open, controllable component you own.

ConvertKit Feature SoloStack Equivalent ConvertKit Tier
Email SequencesNurture Designer + sequence engine (visual builder)Creator ($9/mo)
Subscriber Managementcontacts table (Neon Postgres — unlimited, queryable)All tiers
Landing PagesAstro pages (faster, fully customizable, SEO-optimized)Free
FormsNetlify Forms + netlify-form webhook (auto-create contacts)Free
AutomationsClaude Code agents (more powerful than visual automation)Creator ($9/mo)
TaggingJSONB tags on contacts table (flexible, SQL-queryable)All tiers
BroadcastsResend API + email templates (no subscriber limit pricing)All tiers
Analyticsevents table + PostHog (richer than ConvertKit analytics)Creator Pro ($25/mo)
Subscriber ScoringICP scoring system (Claude Code enrichment)Creator Pro ($25/mo)
HOW IT WORKS

The architecture

ConvertKit is a black box. SoloStack is a transparent system you control end-to-end.

Forms Netlify Forms
API REST / webhooks
Imports CSV / ConvertKit
Netlify Functions netlify-form · resend · product-signup · stripe
Serverless
Neon Postgres
contacts events sequences email_templates tags (JSONB)
Single source of truth
Sequence Engine Netlify scheduled cron
Automated
Resend Email delivery + tracking
Transactional
CLAUDE CODE
Manages the entire stack via plain English — no UI needed
YOUR EMAIL MARKETING IS A FOLDER

Email marketing lives as a department in your repo

No SaaS login. No vendor dashboard. Your email marketing is a folder in your monorepo — right next to your CRM, sales, and support.

solostack/
📂 departments/
📁 marketing/ SEO, content, social
📂 crm/ CONTACTS + SEQUENCES
📄 schema/ contacts, sequences, events
⚡ webhooks/ form, resend, stripe
📁 sales/ Outreach, LinkedIn
📂 tools/
📂 nurture-designer/ EMAIL BUILDER
📂 packages/
📁 db/ Neon Postgres migrations
📁 emails/ Resend templates
1

Unlimited subscribers in Postgres

Your contacts table has no row limit. 300 subscribers or 300,000 — same cost. Tags, custom fields, and scoring all live as queryable columns.

2

Nurture Designer builds sequences

A visual tool for designing email sequences. Emails are stored as templates in the database. The sequence engine (Netlify cron) sends them on schedule via Resend.

3

Claude Code is your automation layer

Instead of dragging blocks in ConvertKit's visual automation builder, you describe what you want. Claude reads the schema, builds the workflow, schedules it.

NO MORE CLICKING

Manage your email marketing with plain English

Instead of navigating ConvertKit's automation builder, you type what you want. Watch.

claude — solostack/departments/crm
you: | 
Created nurture sequence "Welcome Series":

  Email 1 (Day 0): "Welcome — here's what to expect"
  Email 2 (Day 1): "The #1 mistake creators make with email"
  Email 3 (Day 3): "How Sarah grew to 10k subscribers in 90 days"
  Email 4 (Day 5): "Your free template pack is inside"
  Email 5 (Day 7): "Quick question about your goals"

→ Sequence saved to DB. Cron scheduled. Ready to enroll new signups.
you: | 
Broadcasting to 2,847 contacts tagged "newsletter-active":

  Subject: "We just launched something new"
  Template: product-announcement.tsx
  Preview sent to: you@company.com

  ✓ Sent to 2,847 recipients via Resend
  ✓ Opens: tracking via webhook
  ✓ Clicks: tracking via webhook

→ Broadcast logged in events table. Cost: ~$0.28
you: | 
Segment: contacts with tag 'course-interest' AND opened > 3 emails:

┌──────────────────────┬───────────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ Name                 │ Email         │ Opens    │ Tags     │
├──────────────────────┼───────────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ Sarah Chen           │ s@acme.io     │ 8 opens  │ course.. │
│ Marcus Johnson       │ m@bolt.io     │ 5 opens  │ course.. │
│ Priya Patel          │ p@scale.co    │ 12 opens │ course.. │
│ ... 143 more rows                                          │
└──────────────────────┴───────────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

→ 146 engaged subscribers ready for your course launch.
THE MATH

Cost comparison

Real numbers. ConvertKit Creator plan at 5,000 subscribers vs SoloStack.

ConvertKit Creator ConvertKit Pro SoloStack
Monthly cost (5k subs)$66$93~$3
Annual cost$792$1,116~$36
Subscribers5,000 (capped)5,000 (capped)Unlimited
SequencesYesYesYes
AutomationsYesYesYes (AI-powered)
Subscriber scoringNoYesYes (ICP scoring)
Advanced analyticsNoYesYes (SQL + PostHog)
Data ownershipConvertKitConvertKitYou
Per-subscriber pricingYesYesNone
Vendor lock-inYesYesNone
HONEST TAKE

When SoloStack isn't the right fit

ConvertKit is genuinely great for creators. Here's what you should know before switching.

ConvertKit's editor is beautiful

ConvertKit has one of the best email editors in the game — clean, minimal, creator-focused. SoloStack uses code-based templates via Resend. More powerful, but less visual. If a drag-and-drop email editor is your #1 priority, ConvertKit wins here.

No visual automation builder

ConvertKit lets you build automations with a visual flowchart. SoloStack automations are described in English and run as scheduled functions. More powerful and flexible, but not drag-and-drop.

ConvertKit wins for non-technical creators

If you want plug-and-play email marketing with zero terminal usage, ConvertKit is hard to beat. SoloStack is built for builders who want SQL-level control and hate per-subscriber pricing.

Comfort with Claude Code

You don't need to write code, but you need to be comfortable typing commands in a terminal. If opening a terminal sounds scary, ConvertKit's web interface is a better starting point.

FAQ

Common questions

ConvertKit charges based on subscriber count — the more subscribers you have, the more you pay (even if you never email them). SoloStack uses Resend, which charges per email sent. 3,000 emails/month are free, then it's ~$3/mo for most use cases. Your subscriber list lives in Neon Postgres with zero per-contact fees.
Yes. Export your subscribers as CSV from ConvertKit, then tell Claude Code to import them. It maps fields like name, email, tags, and custom fields to your Neon Postgres contacts table automatically. Tags become JSONB data you can query with SQL.
ConvertKit's landing pages are nice but limited. SoloStack uses Astro — the fastest static site framework — for landing pages, and Netlify Forms for data collection. Your pages load faster, rank better in SEO, and are fully customizable. Form submissions auto-create contacts via webhooks.
Instead of dragging blocks in a visual builder, you describe your automation in plain English to Claude Code. 'When someone signs up, wait 2 days, send the welcome series, then tag them as onboarded.' Claude builds the sequence in the database and schedules it via Netlify cron functions. More powerful, more flexible.
ConvertKit's email editor is excellent — we won't pretend otherwise. SoloStack uses the Nurture Designer for building sequences visually and Resend's React-based email templates. You get full control over HTML/CSS, but it requires more technical comfort. If you want a drag-and-drop email editor above all else, ConvertKit wins there.
SoloStack uses Resend, which runs on Amazon SES — the same infrastructure that sends billions of emails daily. You get proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup included. Deliverability is comparable to or better than ConvertKit's.
No. You talk to Claude Code in plain English. Say 'send a broadcast to everyone tagged as interested-in-ai' or 'create a 5-email welcome sequence' — Claude writes and runs the code for you. You guide the intent, AI handles the implementation.
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