What a trigger is and why the list matters
A trigger is the event that enrolls a subscriber in a workflow. Everything after it, emails, delays and branches, is built from much the same parts on every platform. The trigger list is where platforms really differ, and it decides whether a workflow can run natively or needs a second tool.
Before choosing a platform for an automation-heavy plan, list the events your business produces, such as signup, purchase, cancellation, birthday or webinar date, and check each against the table below.
Trigger availability across four platforms
Each cell names the trigger as the vendor labels it. A dash means the trigger does not appear in the vendor's documentation cited here.
| Event | MailerLite | Kit | beehiiv | Moosend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joins a list, group or tag | Joins a group [1] | When a tag is added; Rule: Tag added [2] [3] | Signed up [4] | Subscribes to your list (onboarding recipe) [5] |
| Form submitted | Completes a form [1] | Rule: Subscribes to a form [3] | Email submitted, Survey submitted [4] | — |
| Field updated | Updated field [1] | When a custom field changes [2] | — | Change in custom fields recipe [5] |
| Date or anniversary | Event anniversary, Exact date [1] | When a date occurs (a calendar date you set) [2] | — | Anniversary, birthday and custom date field recipes [5] |
| Link clicked | Clicks a link (exact URL) [1] | Rule: Clicks a link [3] | Link clicked (Pro, Enterprise) [6] | Clicks any link (re-engagement recipe) [5] |
| Purchase | Buys any product, specific product, from category, purchase frequency [1] | When a product is purchased [2] | Product purchased, Upgraded, Downgraded [4] | Purchase and new customer recipes [5] |
| Abandoned cart | Abandoned cart, Abandoned checkout [1] | — | — | Cart abandoned for one hour (recipe) [5] |
| Joins a segment | Joins a segment(s) [1] | — | Segment action [4] | — |
| Added by API | — | — | Added by API [4] | — |
| Web page visit | — | — | — | Page-visit recipes [5] |
| Unengaged | — | — | Unengaged [4] | — |
| Other | — | Rule: Completes an email sequence [3] | Referral action, Poll submitted, Podcast episode published, Manual [4] | — |
Which plan each trigger needs
MailerLite: the Free plan allows up to 3 automations, 3 forms, 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. [7] Multiple triggers on one automation, up to three, need the Power plan, listed from $25 a month; Comfort starts at $12 a month. [8] [1] E-commerce triggers need a store integration or the e-commerce API. [1]
Kit: the Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers but excludes the visual automation builder and sequences. Creator is listed at $33 a month, $390 billed yearly, for 1,000 subscribers. [9] Kit's events article lists every event under Creator or Creator Pro. [2]
beehiiv: automations are not on the Free plan. Lite, from $59 a month or $49 a month billed annually, allows up to 10 live automations. Pro, from $109 a month or $95 a month annually, removes that cap and adds click-triggered automations. [10] [4]
Moosend: the pricing page offers a 30-day free trial with unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts and no credit card. Its plan comparison does not clearly show automation limits per plan, so confirm inside the trial before you build. [11]
| Platform | Cheapest plan with automations | Trigger limits worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Free (up to 3 automations) | Up to 3 triggers per automation on Power; re-entry at most once every 24 hours on group and segment triggers |
| Kit | Creator | Events only move subscribers forward; past dates skip ahead immediately |
| beehiiv | Lite (10 live automations) | Up to 3 triggers, combined as OR, set at the start and not added later |
| Moosend | 30-day trial, then a paid plan | Workflow builder lets you add multiple triggers [12] |
Details that change how triggers behave
A trigger can exist and still not fire the way you expect. These notes come from the vendors' trigger documentation.
- MailerLite date triggers check once a day at 4:00 AM UTC, and dates must use YYYY-MM-DD. A birthday imported as 03/14/1990 will not match. [1]
- MailerLite field-update triggers fire on imports only if you tick the import option. [1]
- MailerLite link triggers need the exact URL, so copy and paste it. [1]
- With double opt-in across several forms, only the automation tied to the form where the subscriber confirms will fire; MailerLite recommends a group trigger instead. [1]
- beehiiv's Link clicked trigger runs every 5 minutes, enrolls each subscriber once, and ignores tracking parameters, so two links to the same page cannot be told apart. [6]
- Kit date events skip ahead immediately if the date has already passed when the subscriber arrives. [2]
Bridging a missing trigger with Make, Pabbly or the API
The pattern is the same everywhere: let the outside tool catch the event, then change something the email platform already watches. A group, a tag or a field is the usual target.
MailerLite has no webhook trigger in its list, but Make's MailerLite app has Create/Update a Subscriber and Add Subscriber to a Group actions. [13] A payment, booking or form event in another tool can therefore add the person to a group, and the Joins a group trigger does the rest. Pabbly Connect can play the same role if its MailerLite app has the action you need; check the module list before you buy.
beehiiv works the other way round as well. Make's beehiiv app watches for new subscribers, confirmations, post sends, pauses and survey submissions. [14] beehiiv's own webhooks, on paid plans, send events such as Subscription Confirmed and Post Sent. [15] Use these to push beehiiv events into a CRM or spreadsheet. Inbound, beehiiv's Added by API trigger starts an automation for anyone your integration creates. [4]
Kit's outbound webhooks are paid-only and created under Automation, Webhooks. Link-click and purchase events are not on that page; Kit says they need legacy webhooks created through the API. [16]
| Need | Native gap | Bridge |
|---|---|---|
| Start a MailerLite flow when a payment succeeds elsewhere | No webhook trigger | Make: Create/Update a Subscriber, then Add Subscriber to a Group |
| Per-subscriber anniversary in Kit | Date event is a calendar date you choose | Scheduled job that tags today's matches through Kit's API, then When a tag is added |
| Field change in beehiiv | No field-change trigger listed | Update the field and enroll by API, or use Segment action if a segment can express the rule |
| Click trigger on beehiiv Lite | Link clicked needs Pro | Upgrade, or send readers to a subscribe form or survey, whose submission is a Lite trigger |
| Send beehiiv signups to a CRM | Not a trigger problem | Make Watch for Subscribers, or a beehiiv webhook on a paid plan |
Worked example: a webinar reminder flow
Goal: send a confirmation at signup, a reminder the day before, and a replay link afterwards.
In MailerLite, a form adds registrants to a Webinar group; Joins a group starts the flow. For the reminder, store the webinar date in a date field and use the Exact date trigger, which MailerLite checks daily. [1] It fits on the Free plan if this is one of your 3 automations. [7] In Kit on Creator, the form is the entry point and a When a date occurs event holds everyone until the day before. [2] On beehiiv Lite, Signed up or a Segment action starts it, and a Wait until step handles timing. [4]
If registrations come from a separate webinar tool with no native integration, add one bridge step: the tool's webhook goes to Make, Make adds the person to the group or tag, and the native flow runs from there.
Questions before you decide
Can a MailerLite Free account use automations?
Yes, within limits. MailerLite's Free plan FAQ says Free users can have up to 3 automations and 3 forms. Multiple triggers on one automation, up to three, are a Power plan feature.
Which beehiiv plan includes the link clicked trigger?
beehiiv says the Link clicked trigger is available on Pro and Enterprise. Lite includes automations but caps you at 10 live automations across the workspace, and the Free plan has no automations.
Can Kit start a visual automation on the free plan?
No. Kit's pricing page lists the visual automation builder and automated email sequences as Creator and Pro features, and marks both as not included on Free.
Can MailerLite start an automation from a webhook?
MailerLite's trigger article does not list a webhook trigger. The usual bridge is to have Make create or update the subscriber and add them to a group, which fires the Joins a group trigger.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite Help: How to set up automation triggers Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Visual Automations, Events Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: How to create and manage automation rules in Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv Support: Automations overview, triggers, actions and builder features Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Automation recipes Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv Support: Using the Link clicked trigger in automations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: Free plan update FAQ Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Pricing and trial FAQ Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Automation workflow builder Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make: MailerLite integrations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make: beehiiv integrations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv Support: Using webhooks with your beehiiv account Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Create and manage webhooks in Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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