Downgrade, cancel and delete are different events
Most vendors separate three things that people often blur together. A downgrade or cancellation of a paid plan usually keeps your account and data on a free tier. An account deletion request removes the account, often after a grace period. And the vendor's own retention rules decide how long anything survives after that, including backups and billing records.
MailerLite shows the pattern clearly. Cancelling moves the account to the Free plan at the end of the billing cycle; subscribers, campaigns and reports stay, but the Free plan allows 250 active subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, up to 3 automations and no custom domains. [3] Deleting the account is a separate flow with a 25-day grace period, and the privacy policy says data is fully deleted or anonymized within 30 days of an eligible request. [2] [1]
The cross-vendor table
Each cell comes from the vendor's own pages. "Not stated" means the pages we read give no period, not that data is kept forever or deleted immediately. Moosend's row relies on its Trust Center page, which gives no retention or deletion periods. [9]
| Vendor | After cancelling a paid plan | After a deletion request | Backups and other records |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Moves to Free plan; data kept, 250 active subscriber cap [3] | 25-day grace period [2]; deleted or anonymized within 30 days [1] | Inactive 3+ years may be deleted; billing records kept 7 years [1]; archived backups isolated, not deleted, on termination [17] |
| Kit | Not covered in the pages we read | Account deleted within 24 to 48 hours [5]; personal info deleted within 30 days [4] | 15 days of backups [6] |
| beehiiv | Not covered in the pages we read | Personal data destroyed within 30 days of termination (DPA) [8] | Backups may be kept longer than the original data [7] |
| Moosend | Not stated [9] | Not stated [9] | Encrypted backups stored off-site [9] |
| Make | Moves to Free plan, 1,000 credits a month; unused credits lost [12] | Organization deletion is permanent [11]; scenarios in Trash 30 days [10] | No numeric retention periods in privacy notice [13] |
| Pabbly | Customer data kept 15 days after termination, then deleted [14] | Account deletion is permanent, no recovery [14] | Pabbly Connect workflow history older than 15 days removed [14] |
Vendor notes worth reading before you act
MailerLite: the account deletion flow cancels the paid subscription as part of the process, and if you then cancel the deletion request, the subscription is not restored automatically. [2] Separately, the privacy policy says an account inactive for three years or more may be permanently deleted, with a 60-day window to request a manual export. [1]
Kit: only the account owner can delete the account, you are logged out immediately, and accounts Kit created elsewhere, such as the Kit-managed Stripe Express account and the SparkLoop account for Recommendations, are not deleted with it. [5] Kit keeps 15 days of backups but describes them as snapshots of the whole system that may not include something like a deleted tag or email, and recommends keeping your own backups of your list. [6]
beehiiv: the privacy policy gives no fixed retention period, while the DPA commits to destroying personal data within 30 days after termination, subject to legal retention. [7] [8] Make: deleting an organization is permanent, the Free plan supports only one team, and a second cancelled organization becomes unlicensed so its scenarios cannot run. [11] [12] Pabbly: beyond the 15-day window, the privacy policy says it may retain information for archival purposes without a fixed period. [14]
What to export before you cancel
Export before you request deletion, and download immediately: Kit export links expire after five days and beehiiv's after 24 hours. [15] [16] Kit's deletion article tells you to export what you need first and to send refund requests to support before deleting. [5]
| Vendor | Export first | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Subscribers in every status, campaign reports, automation activity | Custom domains are removed on Free; disconnect before cancelling [3] |
| Kit | Subscribers with tags and custom fields, attribution data [15] | Stripe Express and SparkLoop accounts are separate [5] |
| beehiiv | Full subscriber export and all posts [16] | Links valid 24 hours [16] |
| Moosend | Lists and campaign reports | Retention not stated on the pages we read [9] |
| Make | Blueprints of every scenario, data store contents | Organization deletion cannot be undone [11] |
| Pabbly | Workflow definitions and any history you need | Workflow history older than 15 days is already gone [14] |
A safe order for leaving a vendor
The order below keeps you from losing data you did not know you needed. Downgrading first, where a free tier exists, keeps the account readable while you check the new platform.
- 1. Export everything in the table above and open each file to check it is complete.
- 2. Move live traffic (forms, webhooks, sending) to the new tool and watch it for a week or two.
- 3. Downgrade or cancel the paid plan rather than deleting, if the vendor has a free tier. [3] [12]
- 4. Request refunds before deletion where the vendor asks for that. [5]
- 5. Delete the account once you are sure, and note the grace or deletion window. [2] [5]
- 6. Keep the confirmation email and the date as your own record.
Questions before you decide
Does cancelling MailerLite delete my subscribers?
No. MailerLite says the account moves to the Free plan when the billing cycle ends and subscribers, campaigns and reports stay, but the Free plan allows 250 active subscribers and some automations may be disabled.
How quickly does Kit delete an account?
Kit's help article says the account is deleted within 24 to 48 hours of the request and cannot be restored after the 48-hour window. Its privacy policy says personal information related to a closed account is deleted within 30 days.
What does Make do with a deleted scenario?
Make moves it to Trash and stores it for 30 days before permanently deleting it; you can restore it before then. Deleting a whole organization is permanent and it cannot be retrieved.
Do backups keep my data after deletion?
Possibly for a while. beehiiv's privacy policy says backups may be retained longer than the original data, and Kit says it keeps 15 days of backups. MailerLite's DPA says customer data archived on backup systems is not deleted on termination but is securely isolated.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite: Privacy policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: How to delete my account Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: Cancel my subscription Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: Privacy policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: How to delete your Kit account Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: Kit data backups Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: Privacy policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: Data Protection Addendum Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Trust Center Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make Help Center: Delete a scenario Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make Help Center: Organizations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make Help Center: Cancel your subscription Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make: Privacy notice Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Pabbly: Privacy policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: How to export subscribers in Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: Exporting post content or subscriber data Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: Data Processing Agreement Accessed 30 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.