Note: If you're a Legacy (Classic) user, please log in to your account to access the dedicated Legacy (Classic) Help Center.
In just a few simple steps, you can bring your subscribers from Mailchimp to MailerLite using our Mailchimp import tool.
Importing Mailchimp subscribers to MailerLite
To bring your subscribers over from Mailchimp:
Navigate to the Subscribers page in your MailerLite account.
Click Add subscribers.
3. Locate the Import from Mailchimp tab. Here, you will see two options for migrating your information.
Log in using credentials: Connect to your Mailchimp account by logging in with your credentials.
Connect via API key: Use the API key associated with your Mailchimp account to integrate the two platforms.
4. If you choose to Log in using credentials, you will be taken to Mailchimp to log in to your account.
5. Click Allow to authorize MailerLite to access your account information.
6. Select subscriber lists. Next, choose the lists to bring over to Mailchimp by selecting the names that appear. Individual tags will be organized at a later step.
7. Click Next.
8. Select mapping option. In this step, you can choose how the information in subscriber fields is migrated.
📇 What is a subscriber field?
Subscriber fields store information about your contacts like a subscriber’s name, company, location, or any custom information you want to collect.
You can use this data to personalize emails, segment your audience, and create more targeted campaigns. Learn more
Map the fields for me: Our system will automatically detect, match, and create custom fields in MailerLite based on the information from your Mailchimp account.
Map the fields myself: Manually choose what information is migrated from Mailchimp, and where it should appear in MailerLite.
9. Click Next.
10. Select group setup option. Choose how your Mailchimp tags will be organized in MailerLite.
Create groups for each list and tag: We'll automatically create a Group in MailerLite for every list and tag you have in Mailchimp and add your subscribers to them. Duplicate subscribers across groups only count as one toward your plan.
Add all subscribers to one group: Ignore individual tags and add all subscribers from this import to one group.
💡Tags vs. Groups
If you’re used to working with Mailchimp, you might notice a difference in terminology:
Mailchimp uses “Tags”
MailerLite uses “Groups”
They work in essentially the same way — both are used to label and organize subscribers.
If you choose this option, choose a MailerLite group to add these subscribers to, or create a new group by typing the name into the field.
11. Click Next.
12. Select segment migration option. Choose how segments in your Mailchimp account will be migrated.
Keep in mind, historical/behavioral, e-commerce-based or advanced segments cannot be migrated automatically.
Why do some segments not migrate?
Mailchimp has two types of segments: basic segments and advanced segments. Only basic segments are accessible for MailerLite, while Advanced segments (such as behavioral, e-commerce, or activity-based conditions) are not, and therefore cannot be imported over.
👉 In short: Only simple, field-based segments can be recreated. More complex segment logic will need to be rebuilt manually in MailerLite.
Bring over all possible segments: Segments filtered by static fields will be recreated, while segments filtered by the above conditions will not.
Do not bring over any segments: No segments will be migrated from your Mailchimp account.
13. Select additional subscriber statuses. Next, decide if you would like to bring over subscribers that have the status Unsubscribed and/or Unconfirmed by selecting each option.
These subscribers will appear in the Subscribers area in their own separate category from Active subscribers, and cannot be sent newsletters.
14. Click Next.
15. Handle duplicate subscribers. Decide how MailerLite should handle duplicate subscribers from your import if they are already in your MailerLite account.
Update missing info only: Any empty fields will be updated with new information.
Overwrite all fields: Any new information that is imported will replace all existing data with the information. Note: Empty fields in your import will erase existing data.
16. Click Let’s import.
Match fields
If you chose to match subscriber fields manually, you can now match the fields from your Mailchimp export to the correct subscriber fields in your MailerLite account.
The Match fields step lets you review the fields in Mailchimp and decide where each piece of data should be stored in MailerLite.
Each row represents a field from the imported list, and the Belongs to dropdown lets you map that data to an existing MailerLite field or create a new one.
Email address → Email
This column contains the subscriber’s email address. It is automatically matched to the Email field in MailerLite since this is the primary identifier for each subscriber.
contact_id → Skip this column
This is a unique ID used internally by Mailchimp. Since it isn’t needed in MailerLite, you can safely choose Skip this column to ignore it during the import.
consents_to_one_to_one_messaging → Skip this column (or create Custom field)
This field relates to a specific consent setting used by Mailchimp. If you don’t need to store this data in MailerLite, you can skip it. Otherwise, create a new Custom field to store this information.
ip_opt → Opt-in IP address
This column contains the IP address used when the subscriber opted in. If you don’t need to store this data in MailerLite, you can skip it. Otherwise, create a new Custom field to store this information such as Opt-in IP address to retain proof of consent for compliance purposes.
Once all fields are correctly mapped, you can continue by clicking Finish import.
You will see a summary of the import including the total subscribers added, updated, and not added.
Re-sync account or subscribers
Subscriber information that is added to Mailchimp does not automatically update in MailerLite.
If you need to migrate any updated information:
Go to Subscribers.
Navigate to Import from Mailchimp.
Under Subscribers, click Sync again.
That’s it! You can find your imported subscribers in the Subscribers area, as well as any Groups and Segments that have been created from the Tags and Segments in your Mailchimp account.
If needed, you can also reconnect your Mailchimp account by clicking Reconnect and can connect a different Mailchimp account if needed.
Want to know more about how to use Groups in MailerLite? Check out our blog ➡️ Send ultra-relevant emails using groups (aka email tagging)