Our verdict: three emails first, five when you have the material
A welcome sequence has one job: turn a new sign-up into a reader who knows what you send and why it is worth opening. Three emails over about five days is enough to deliver what you promised, show your best work and make one clear ask. A longer sequence only helps if each extra email carries something new.
The tool decision is mostly about plan limits. MailerLite's Free plan can run a three-email series inside its step limit [1]. Kit's free plan does not include sequences [5], so Kit makes sense when you are ready to pay for Creator. Moosend has no permanent free plan on its pricing page, but its 30-day trial includes automations, with a limit of 1 published workflow [7].
Who this fits: a small business, creator or consultant setting up the first automation after a sign-up form. Who should skip it: stores that need purchase-triggered flows first; see our abandoned cart guide instead.
Which plan can run a multi-step welcome series
Limits read on each vendor's official pricing and help pages on 2026-10-29. Prices are in USD and change with list size.
| Tool and plan | Welcome series supported? | Published limits that matter | Entry price we could verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite Free | Yes, short series | 3 active automations, 5 automation steps [1]; up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month [3] | $0 [3] |
| MailerLite Comfort | Yes | 50 active automations, 100 steps [1] | Starting $12/month [3] |
| MailerLite Power | Yes | Unlimited automations, 100 steps [1] | Starting $25/month [3] |
| Kit Free | No | Email sequences and visual automations need a paid plan [5] | $0, up to 10,000 subscribers [5] |
| Kit Creator | Yes | Unlimited visual automations and email sequences [6] [10] | $39/month [6], or $33/month billed $390/year [10], up to 1,000 subscribers |
| Moosend trial | Yes, for 30 days | 1 published automation workflow; unlimited sends up to 1,000 contacts; no card required [7] | $0 for 30 days [7] |
| Moosend Pro | Yes | Multi-step automation workflows; priced by contact tier from 500 contacts [7] | Tier price not shown in the page text we read [7] |
A 3-email welcome sequence you can copy
These timings are our editorial starting point, not a benchmark. Adjust them to how often you normally publish.
| Send | Job | Example content | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Deliver | Immediately after sign-up | Confirm what they get and deliver any promised download | Link to the freebie, what you send and how often, one sentence about who you are |
| 2. Best work | 2 days after email 1 | Show the value of staying subscribed | Your most useful guide, story or before-and-after, with one link |
| 3. Ask | 3 days after email 2 | One clear next step | Ask them to reply with their biggest problem, book a call, or see your main offer |
A 5-email version for when you have more to say
- Total span: about 8 days from sign-up to the last email.
- If you also send a weekly newsletter, decide whether new subscribers get both during the welcome window, or exclude them until the sequence ends.
- Write every email so it still makes sense if the reader skipped the previous one.
| Send | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deliver | Immediately | Deliver the promise and set expectations |
| 2. Quick win | 1 day later | One small action the reader can finish today |
| 3. Best work | 2 days later | Your strongest piece of content |
| 4. Proof or story | 2 days later | A case, a lesson learned or a behind-the-scenes note; no invented testimonials |
| 5. Offer or ask | 3 days later | The paid offer, a consult or a reply request, with a plain way to ignore it |
Worked example: counting steps before you pick a plan
MailerLite's help center lists both actions, such as Email, and rules, such as Delay and Condition, as automation steps [2]. A three-email series is Email, Delay, Email, Delay, Email: 5 steps, which matches the Free plan's 5-step limit [1]. A five-email series is 5 emails plus 4 delays: 9 steps, which exceeds Free and points to Comfort at its 100-step limit [1].
In Kit, timing works differently. The first email can go out as soon as possible or after a delay from when the subscriber joins; every later delay counts from when the previous email was sent [4]. So the 3-email plan above becomes: email 1 as soon as possible, email 2 after 2 days, email 3 after 3 days. Kit says it checks for sequence emails with hour-based delays every 15 minutes, so they can go out a little before or after the exact hour [4]. Day-based delays only send on the days ticked in the sequence's schedule [4].
In MailerLite, delays can be set in minutes, hours, weeks or months, or until a specific time or day [2]. Put a delay before any condition that depends on whether someone clicked a previous email, because MailerLite checks conditions immediately [2].
Setup checklist
- Connect the sign-up form to the group, tag or list that starts the automation, then sign up with a spare address to test.
- In Kit, publish each sequence email and activate the sequence; Kit says an unpublished email won't send [4].
- In MailerLite, turn the workflow off before editing it; its automations FAQ says a workflow must be turned off to edit, and while it is off no new subscribers are added and no emails are sent [9]. Edit right after a send, not during a sign-up spike.
- In Moosend, check whether the automation templates include a starting point for your case; its automation page lists recipes such as User Onboarding, Cart Abandonment and Thank You Email [8]. On the trial only 1 workflow can be published [7], so build the welcome series first.
- Decide what happens after the last email: move readers into your regular newsletter group, or tag them for a later offer.
- Review results after a few weeks using clicks and replies rather than opens; see our Apple Mail Privacy guide for why.
Questions before you decide
Is there a correct number of welcome emails?
No official rule exists, and none of the vendors we checked publish one. We suggest three because it fits MailerLite's free step limit and is easy to write well. Add emails only when each has a distinct job, such as a resource, a story or an offer.
Can I build a five-email welcome series on MailerLite Free?
Probably not as one automation. MailerLite lists 5 automation steps on Free, and a five-email series needs 9 steps when you add a delay between each email. Its Comfort plan lists 100 steps and starts at $12 a month.
How does Kit count the delay between emails?
Kit's help center says the first email's delay runs from when the subscriber joins the sequence, and every later delay runs from when the previous sequence email was sent. Delays can be set in hours or days.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- MailerLite: Email automation features Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: How to use automation steps (Rules and Actions) Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Creating and sending an Email Sequence in Kit Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: The Kit Free plan Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit Help: Creator vs Pro, choose the right plan Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Moosend pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Moosend: Marketing automation Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MailerLite Help: Automations FAQ Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Kit pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.