Who this move suits
Kit suits a Substack writer who wants email automation, tagging and products alongside the newsletter, and who is willing to rebuild the reading archive by hand. Kit's pricing page lists a Free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, Creator at $33 a month or $390 billed yearly for 1,000 subscribers, and Pro at a first-year price of $50 a month; sequences and Visual Automations are on the paid plans, and paid newsletters are listed on all three. [6]
If your publication earns most of its income from paid subscriptions, plan this move around that first. Kit's own guide warns that paid subscriptions do not come across with payment details, so every paid reader has to take an action to keep paying. [1]
Subscribers: two files and one tag
Kit's Substack guide asks for two exports from Substack: all subscribers as one CSV, and paid subscribers as a separate CSV. Overlap between them is fine because Kit merges duplicates. [1]
In Kit, go to Subscribers, Add Subscribers, Import a CSV, and upload the full file. Then create a tag such as Paid subscribers and import the paid file into that tag before clicking Start Import. You can now filter Broadcasts by that tag. [1] When mapping, columns you do not map are not imported, blank cells overwrite existing data, and existing tags are kept. [7]
Before either import, check your Kit automations. Kit says adding subscribers to tags or forms can activate Visual Automations or Rules that use them, adding them to an active sequence starts it, and importing into a double opt-in form confirms them automatically. Import into a plain tag that no automation listens to. [7] [5]
Paid subscribers: the options
Kit's guide is direct: there is no convenient method of migrating paid subscribers' subscriptions, with payment details, to Kit. Its suggested route is to cancel the Substack subscriptions and ask paid readers to re-subscribe in Kit, informing them in advance and planning for refund requests. [1]
To sell in Kit you set up payments first: Kit uses Stripe through a separate Kit-managed Stripe Express account, even if you already have Stripe, and products stay in draft until setup is complete. [4] Then create a product with the Subscription type, choose monthly, quarterly or yearly pricing, set fulfillment to A newsletter, and filter paid Broadcasts by Subscribed to, products. Kit says that filter only reaches people actively paying at send time. [3]
| Approach | What happens to paid readers | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Kit's suggested route: cancel on Substack, re-subscribe in Kit [1] | Each reader starts a new Kit subscription and enters card details again | Clean single platform; expect some readers not to re-subscribe |
| Staggered: move free readers first, paid readers at a set date | Paid readers keep their current subscription until your announced switch date | Two platforms to run for a while; more to explain to readers |
| Re-subscribe at a discount | Kit supports discounts on recurring products for a set number of months [3] | Softens the ask; lowers revenue during the discount period |
Rebuild the archive in Kit
Kit describes manual recreation rather than an import. Set up your newsletter site, build an email template that matches your design, and create one Broadcast per past issue. On the publish page, enable Add to your newsletter site and leave Send email off. After publishing, open the Broadcast, click Edit, set the Published Date to the original date and save. Kit says migrated issues appear on the site in chronological order, and for former paid posts you enable Only display for paying subscribers. [2]
Budget for it. As our own planning estimate, not a vendor figure: at five minutes an issue, 100 issues is a little over eight hours and 300 issues is about a working week. Rebuild your most-read and most-linked issues first and decide whether the rest are worth carrying over.
Old substack.com links
Kit's guide does not cover redirects; it only says to replace links to your Substack newsletter with your Kit profile. [1] What you can do depends on who controls the address readers and search engines already know.
If the publication ran on a domain you own, you control its DNS and can point it at your new home once the archive is rebuilt. If it ran on a substack.com address, that address belongs to Substack, so plan to update the links you control: your site, social profiles, author bios, podcast show notes and the welcome email in Kit. A final post on Substack pointing readers to the new address is the most direct signal you can send.
Cutover checklist
- Export all subscribers and paid subscribers as two CSV files.
- Set up the newsletter site, an email template and payments in Kit before announcing anything.
- Re-point or disable automations that listen to the tags or forms you will import into.
- Import all subscribers, then import the paid file into a Paid subscribers tag.
- Create the Subscription product and test checkout with a 100% discount code, as Kit suggests. [3]
- Announce the change to paid readers in advance, with the date their Substack subscription ends and a link to re-subscribe.
- Rebuild key archive issues as web-only Broadcasts with original dates.
- Update every link you control, and publish a final pointer post on Substack.
Questions before you decide
Can Kit move my Substack paid subscribers without them re-entering card details?
Kit's Substack guide says there is no convenient method of migrating paid subscriptions with payment details to Kit. It suggests cancelling the Substack subscriptions and asking paid readers to re-subscribe, with advance notice and a plan for refunds.
Can I import my Substack posts into Kit automatically?
Kit's guides describe no automatic post import. Each past issue is recreated as a Broadcast, published to your newsletter site without sending email, and given its original publish date, after which Kit lists posts chronologically.
Do I need my own Stripe account for Kit paid newsletters?
Kit says payments run through Stripe and that you set up a separate Kit-managed Stripe Express account even if you already have Stripe. Products stay in draft until payments setup is complete.
Will importing my Substack list trigger Kit automations?
It can. Kit's import FAQ says adding subscribers to tags or forms can start Visual Automations or Automation Rules that use them, so re-point or disable those before importing.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Kit Help: Migrating from Substack to Kit Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: How to migrate your newsletter archive to your Kit creator profile Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Creating a paid newsletter Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Setting up payments Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Importing subscribers into Kit, what to know (FAQs) Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: How to import a subscriber list Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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