Email list migration and data handoffs: move data without losing it
Export, clean, map and import subscriber and spreadsheet data when you switch email platforms or connect a sheet to your list.
Before moving any data, decide what has to survive the move: subscriber status and consent records, tags or groups, custom fields, signup dates and, for paid newsletters, paying members. Anything you cannot export in a usable form will have to be rebuilt by hand, so that list sets the real size of the job.
Read the export guide first and take a full backup from the old platform before you change plans or cancel. Next, clean the list and plan custom field mapping so identifiers and dates come through intact; the CSV comparison tool lets you check an export against the original file. Then read the platform-specific migration guide for your route, which covers what transfers and what must be rebuilt.
If you are not migrating but feeding data in continuously, start with the Google Sheets to email list guide and the Airtable versus Sheets backend comparison, then move to the Automation hub for the workflow side.
Compare a Make scenario, a Pabbly Connect workflow and a manual CSV import for moving Google Sheets rows into MailerLite, including how to handle edited rows and what each costs per month.
Record and cell limits, API quotas and pricing from Airtable's and Google's own pages, plus how each one behaves as an instant trigger source in a Make scenario.
beehiiv's documented import steps for posts, free and paid subscribers, what happens to Stripe billing, what does not transfer, and a cutover order that avoids double sends and double charges.
A mapping table from Kit tags, sequences and custom fields to MailerLite groups, automations and fields, the export and import steps from both help centers, and a cutover checklist.
What Kit and beehiiv exports actually contain, how long the download links last, which subscriber statuses and consent fields to keep, and a checklist to finish before you cancel.
What Kit, beehiiv and MailerLite document about imports, Google's sender rules on purchased lists and bounces, and a spreadsheet routine to clean a list before it touches a new platform.
A field-by-field mapping worksheet for text, number, date and tag data between Kit, MailerLite and beehiiv, with each platform's documented field types and limits and a small test import routine.
A migration walkthrough: inventory your Zaps, map Paths, Formatter and Storage to Make routers, functions and data stores, convert tasks to credits per run, run both tools in parallel, and cut over webhook URLs in an order that avoids duplicate emails.
A concept-by-concept mapping from Zapier to Pabbly Connect, a check of 34 common apps against Pabbly's integration directory, a webhook fallback for apps that are missing, and a cutover order that stops the same record from running twice.
Which Mailchimp export files to upload and which to leave out, how beehiiv's import review, consent check and on-hold rule work, how campaigns come across through beehiiv's Mailchimp content import, and what you rebuild by hand.
Kit's Mailchimp importer versus a CSV import, how Mailchimp audiences, groups and tags become Kit tags, what Kit's included migration service covers at each list size, the rebuild inventory, and how to keep imported readers out of your welcome sequence.
Kit's documented path off Substack: two subscriber files, a paid-subscriber tag, why paid subscriptions do not transfer with payment details, rebuilding the archive as backdated web Broadcasts, and what to do about old Substack links.
Export confirmed subscribers from Kit with tags and custom fields, import them into beehiiv with the right overwrite setting, turn Kit tags into beehiiv tags and segments, rebuild sequences as automations, and check the paid-subscriber path before you announce anything.
Export Brevo contacts with the attributes you need, map Brevo attribute types onto MailerLite's text, number and date fields, decide what to do with blocklisted contacts, get through MailerLite's account approval, and rebuild automations and transactional email in a safe order.
Export the full beehiiv subscriber file with custom fields, import it into MailerLite groups without triggering automations, choose what happens to your beehiiv web archive, handle redirects that MailerLite does not set up for you, and pass MailerLite's account approval.
No email platform imports another vendor's automations. An inventory worksheet for every workflow, a trigger-equivalents table for MailerLite, Kit, Moosend and beehiiv, and a staged go-live order that keeps existing readers from restarting your welcome series.
Which platforms import past posts (beehiiv's Substack, Ghost and Mailchimp importers) and which leave you to recreate them (MailerLite, Kit), what each importer drops, how to keep old URLs working, and a redirect map template.
How beehiiv's Stripe migration keeps paid subscribers on their current price and renewal date, why Kit's documented route is cancel-and-resubscribe instead, what happens to comped readers, and a cutover checklist so nobody is charged twice.
What a Make blueprint file contains and what it leaves behind (connections, webhook setup, data store records), how to import one, when cloning is the better tool, and a backup routine before big edits.
A cross-vendor table from privacy policies, DPAs and help docs: what MailerLite, Kit, beehiiv, Moosend, Make and Pabbly say about data after a downgrade, a cancellation or a deletion request, plus what to export from each before you cancel.
A table of documented hosting locations, EU or US region choice, DPAs, subprocessor lists and transfer mechanisms for Make, MailerLite, Moosend, beehiiv and Kit, plus what an EU-based small business should check before choosing.
A step-by-step merge: normalize addresses, decide whose field values win, carry suppression from both lists, and check how MailerLite treats already-unsubscribed contacts on import. Includes a worked example with two CSVs and a count reconciliation table.