Why every automation has to be rebuilt
Subscribers move between platforms as CSV files. Automations do not. MailerLite's guide for people leaving Kit lists forms, landing pages, templates and automations as things you recreate, and gives steps to start a new automation rather than an importer. [3] beehiiv's Mailchimp migration guide imports subscribers from a CSV and posts through Content Import, and says automation workflows can be recreated using beehiiv's Automations feature. [9] Kit's guide for people leaving beehiiv says to recreate the beehiiv triggers as Visual Automation entry points and then add matching steps. [11]
That makes the old account the only complete record of how your automations work. Once you cancel it, the delays, branch rules and the tags each step adds are gone. Do the inventory below while you still have access, even for workflows you plan to simplify.
The inventory worksheet: one row per workflow
Copy the table into a spreadsheet and fill one row per automation. The last two columns matter most, because they are what other automations, segments and integrations depend on. If a welcome series adds a tag that a sales sequence later checks, rebuilding the welcome series without that tag silently breaks the second workflow.
| Column | What to record | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name and purpose | What the workflow is for and whether it is still needed | Welcome series for the free guide |
| Status | Active, paused or draft; how many people are in it now | Active, 41 people mid-sequence |
| Trigger | Exact trigger type and its target (form, tag, group, link, date, purchase) | Joins form "Free guide" |
| Entry rules | Can people re-enter? Are existing subscribers excluded? | Once only |
| Steps in order | Each email, delay and condition with its setting | Email 1, wait 2 days, Email 2, wait 3 days, condition: clicked link in Email 2 |
| Branch rules | The exact test inside every condition | Yes: tag "buyer" present |
| Email content | Subject, preview text, body export or copy, links | Saved as HTML and plain text |
| Tags or fields written | Every tag, group or field the workflow adds, removes or changes | Adds tag "guide-complete" |
| Downstream dependencies | Segments, other automations or integrations that read those values | Sales sequence starts on "guide-complete" |
Trigger equivalents across MailerLite, Kit, Moosend and beehiiv
Names differ, but most triggers have a counterpart. MailerLite lists seven default triggers: joins a group, completes a form, clicks a link, updated field, event anniversary, exact date and joins a segment, plus six e-commerce triggers that need a store integration or its e-commerce API. [1] Kit's entry points are a subscriber joining a form or landing page, a tag being added, a custom field changing, and a product purchase; dates are handled as Events inside the workflow rather than as entry points. [4] [5] Moosend's components page lists 27 triggers, including list subscribe and unsubscribe, form submission, link clicks, custom field changes, a specific date, page browsing, cart adds and purchases. [7] beehiiv's automations page names signups, clicks and purchases as starting actions, along with custom events, and says automations are on Lite plans and above. [8]
Where a cell says "not named", the page we read does not list that trigger. That does not prove it is missing; check in the app before you design around it.
| Old trigger | MailerLite | Kit | Moosend | beehiiv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joins a list, group or tag | Joins a group [1] | Tag is added (entry point) [4] | When someone subscribes to a specific list [7] | Signup [8] |
| Submits a form | Completes a form [1] | Joins a form or landing page [4] | When someone submits a specific form [7] | Not named [8] |
| Clicks a link | Clicks a link [1] | Link trigger adds a tag, then tag entry point [5] | When someone clicks on any link in a specific campaign [7] | Clicks [8] |
| Field changes | Updated field [1] | Custom field value changes [4] | When a specific custom field value is changed [7] | Not named [8] |
| Specific date or anniversary | Exact date; Event anniversary [1] | When a date occurs (Event step, not entry) [5] | When a specific date is reached [7] | Not named [8] |
| Purchase | Buys specific product, needs store integration [1] | Purchases a specific product [4] | When someone purchases a specific product [7] | Purchases [8] |
| Joins a segment | Joins a segment(s), one segment per trigger [1] | Not an entry point [4] | Not named [7] | Not named [8] |
| Triggers per workflow | Up to three on Power plan [1] | Up to five entry points [4] | Not stated [7] | Not stated [8] |
Steps, delays and conditions: what to check when you rebuild
MailerLite's rules are Delay, Condition and A/B split testing, and its actions are Send email, Webhook, Send internal notification, Move to step, Update custom field, Copy to groups, Move to groups, Remove from groups and Unsubscribe. A Condition step allows up to five rules, and a workflow must be paused before you change its steps. [2] Kit splits the same jobs into Email Sequences, Actions (tags, custom fields, moving people between automations, delays), Conditions and Events. Kit notes that sequences do not send on their own; they must sit inside an automation. [4]
Watch re-entry. MailerLite has an Allow subscribers re-enter automation checkbox; left unchecked, people complete the workflow once and never trigger it again, and group triggers fire at most once every 24 hours per subscriber. [1] Date logic also differs. MailerLite checks date triggers daily at 4:00 AM UTC and expects dates as YYYY-MM-DD. [1] Kit events only pull people forward, and if a date event is already in the past, entrants jump straight to it and skip earlier steps. [5]
- Rebuild each delay in the same unit (days, hours) and note whether it waits until a time of day.
- Rewrite each condition from your inventory, not from memory; branch rules are the most common silent change.
- Recreate every tag, group or field the workflow writes before you turn it on, so downstream workflows still fire.
- Reformat date fields to the destination's format before import, then test one date-triggered subscriber.
Worked example: a Kit welcome series rebuilt in MailerLite
Say the Kit automation starts when someone joins the form Free guide, sends a three-email sequence two days apart, and adds the tag guide-complete at the end, which another automation uses to start a sales sequence. In MailerLite you would create a group such as Guide readers, connect the new form to it, and use Completes a form or Joins a group as the trigger. [1] The sequence becomes Send email, Delay 2 days, Send email, Delay 2 days, Send email. The final tag becomes a Copy to groups action into a group called guide-complete, so the original group membership is kept. [2]
The sales sequence then uses Joins a group on guide-complete. If you used Move to groups instead, readers would leave Guide readers, which could break a segment that counts them. That is why the inventory records what each workflow writes and who reads it.
| Kit element | MailerLite rebuild | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Entry point: joins form | Trigger: Completes a form [1] | Automation must be active when the form is submitted [1] |
| Email sequence, 3 emails | Send email steps with Delay steps [2] | Same delay length and send time |
| Action: add tag guide-complete | Copy to groups: guide-complete [2] | Group exists before activation |
| Second automation on tag | Trigger: Joins a group [1] | Re-entry setting matches the original [1] |
Staged go-live order
The risk at cutover is double sending: old workflows still running for people mid-sequence, and new workflows firing for everyone you import. Kit says adding subscribers to tags or forms during an import may activate Visual Automations or Rules, and recommends pausing or turning them off first. [6] MailerLite's import has a setting for whether new subscribers trigger automations associated with a group, and its Updated field trigger only fires from a CSV import if you tick the option to start the workflow. [10] [1]
Follow the order below. People who are halfway through a sequence on the old platform are best left to finish there before you cancel. MailerLite does not let you add someone manually to an automation they are already in or have completed, so plan any catch-up workflow before the main one runs. [1]
- 1. Finish the inventory and export email content while the old account is open.
- 2. Create groups, tags and custom fields in the new platform first.
- 3. Build every automation and leave it paused or inactive.
- 4. Import subscribers with automation triggering off, or with Kit automations paused. [10] [6]
- 5. Send yourself through each workflow using a test address and a test form submission.
- 6. Switch website forms to the new platform, then activate the new automations.
- 7. Stop new entries on the old platform, let in-progress subscribers finish, then export activity reports and cancel.
Questions before you decide
Can I import automations from another email platform?
Not in the documentation we read. MailerLite's Kit migration guide says to recreate automations in its Automation tab, beehiiv's Mailchimp guide says to recreate automation workflows with beehiiv's Automations feature, and Kit's beehiiv guide says to recreate triggers as Visual Automation entry points.
Will importing my list start everyone on my welcome automation again?
It can. Kit says adding subscribers to tags or forms during import may activate Visual Automations or Rules, so pause them first. MailerLite lets you choose at import whether new subscribers trigger automations tied to a group.
How many triggers can one automation have?
MailerLite says Power plan users can add up to three triggers to each automation. Kit says a Visual Automation can have up to five entry points. The Moosend and beehiiv pages we read do not state a number.
What happens to a date-based step if the date has already passed?
In Kit, if an event date has already passed, anyone entering the automation moves forward to that event step instantly, skipping the steps in between. Check date steps before importing older subscribers.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite: How to set up automation triggers Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: How to use automation steps Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: Migrate from Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: How to use Kit Visual Automations Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: Visual Automations events Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: How to import a subscriber list Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Marketing automation components Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: Automations feature page Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- beehiiv: How to migrate from Mailchimp to beehiiv Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- MailerLite: How to import subscribers Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit: Migrating from beehiiv to Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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