In short
- Nathan Barry published his revenue, churn, and profit sharing numbers for a decade. That transparency wasn't a side project — it was the growth engine. Creators who value openness became customers, then affiliates, then community members at Craft + Commerce. The blog didn't just attract traffic; it attracted the right kind of customer who would stay for years.
- Going freemium in 2020 flipped the conversion funnel from 'switch from Mailchimp' to 'start here and never leave.' The free plan removed the pricing objection that was sending beginners to Mailchimp first. By 2024, the free tier expanded to 10,000 subscribers with automations included — a deliberate Figma-style strategy to make Kit the obvious default.
- The 2018 rebrand failure taught them to involve creators in every big decision. When the 'Seva' rebrand collapsed, Barry learned not to build in secret. The 2024 Kit rebrand was done in public over 6 months with a documentary series, community feedback, and creator involvement — and organic search recovered to 108% of baseline.
- The App Store, Sponsor Network, and Kit Studios make Kit sticky in ways competitors can't replicate overnight. After 11 years, Kit stopped being just an email tool and became a platform. The ecosystem — third-party apps, a sponsorship marketplace, physical creator studios — creates switching costs that a cheaper alternative can't overcome.
The mechanism
Kit's growth didn't come from a single channel — it came from a founder who treated his company's financials as public content for over a decade, building trust with the exact audience that buys email marketing tools. That trust funded a freemium model that removed the 'start on Mailchimp first' behavior, then an ecosystem strategy (App Store, Sponsor Network, Studios) that made leaving Kit more expensive than staying. Each layer compounds on the previous one: the transparency blog attracts the right customers, the free plan converts them, and the ecosystem retains them.
Open metrics and founder storytelling build trust with the exact audience that pays for email tools
Nathan Barry published a real-time Baremetrics dashboard with revenue, churn, and growth data — and wrote detailed annual reviews with exact financial numbers for over a decade [S1][S2][S6][S7]. This wasn't content marketing in the traditional sense; it was a deliberate signal to creators (his target customers) that Kit is run by someone who values transparency. The audience that responds to this — creators who want to build their own businesses — is the same audience that pays $29/month for email marketing. The trust created by a decade of open books converts to word-of-mouth, affiliate recommendations, and long customer lifetimes.
When we crossed $1m in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) ConvertKit's open metrics dashboard received a wave of attention.
Freemium removes the 'start on Mailchimp, switch later' friction that was costing Kit beginners
Before 2020, ConvertKit was premium-only at $29/month. The most common cancellation reasons were 'not ready' and 'too expensive,' and the base plan had 12% monthly churn [S3]. The free plan launched in March 2020 with a Dropbox-style referral mechanic — invite a friend to unlock subscriber management — which turned every new user into a potential growth vector. By 2024, the free plan expanded 10x (1,000 to 10,000 subscribers) and added automations, making it genuinely competitive with free tiers from Mailchimp and Substack while keeping the paid plan at the same $29/month price it had held for nearly 10 years [S3][S6].
Our mission is to help creators earn a living and we believe that by adding a free entry-point we are removing a large roadblock for beginner creators towards earning a living online.
An ecosystem of apps, sponsorships, and physical space creates switching costs that pricing alone can't match
By 2024, Kit had evolved from an email tool into a platform: the Kit App Store with 15+ third-party apps (KitBoard, Transistor, Mighty Networks, SavvyCal), the Sponsor Network connecting creators with brands (booked $520k in its first partial year), and Kit Studios — a physical space in Boise with 5 production studios for creators [S6][S7]. Each of these layers makes Kit harder to leave: a creator who integrates their CRM, podcast host, and calendar through the App Store, earns sponsorship revenue through the network, and uses the physical studio isn't going to switch to a cheaper email tool for a few dollars a month.
I've always admired Figma's strategy of great engineering, combined with a widely open free product, and thriving ecosystem. For the last few years, I've been copying that same strategy into Kit.
How it went
Side project to sustainable SaaS
2013-03 → 2016-01ConvertKit launched in March 2013 as a simple landing page and email sequence tool — Nathan Barry built it for his own use after frustration with existing tools. The early years were slow: the app didn't even have a logo until October 2014, nearly two years after launch. Barry experimented with a coaching program ('ConvertKit Academy') that failed, and iterated through forms, tags, and automations as the product evolved. By January 2016, the company crossed $100,000/month in revenue — a milestone that took nearly three years of quiet, unglamorous work before any of the transparency-driven growth kicked in.
Open metrics and the transparency flywheel
2016-01 → 2020-03As ConvertKit grew past $100K MRR, Nathan Barry doubled down on transparency: the Baremetrics open dashboard went live, and annual reviews with detailed financial breakdowns became a fixture. The company hit $1M MRR by December 2018 with 20,812 paying customers, ARPU of $57, and 2.2% net revenue churn. In 2019, ConvertKit hit $15M annual revenue and had paid over $1M in profit sharing to the team. But 2018 also brought the failed Seva rebrand — announced in secret at Craft + Commerce, immediately rolled back after community backlash. The lesson ('work in public, not in secret') would shape the next decade.
Freemium, pandemic, and the product expands
2020-03 → 2023-12In March 2020 — just as the pandemic hit — ConvertKit launched its free plan with a referral mechanic ('invite a friend to unlock'). The base plan churn of 12% per month drove the decision: too many beginners were canceling because they weren't ready. By 2022, ARR grew to $33.5M (15% growth) with 44,939 paying customers, churn had improved (user churn 4.7%, revenue churn 4.3%), and the company hit 100% net dollar retention for the first time. New products launched: paid newsletters (Feb 2022), ConvertKit Commerce (GMV grew from $3.7M to $8.27M), and the Sponsor Network (booked $520k in its first partial year). Craft + Commerce returned after the pandemic hiatus.
Rebrand to Kit, ecosystem lock-in, and the platform bet
2024-01 → 2025-012024 was the year everything Barry had been building toward came together. After acquiring the Kit.com domain (a 3-letter .com, price undisclosed), the company rebranded from ConvertKit to Kit — this time in public, with a 6-month collaborative process involving the creator community, a documentary series, and careful SEO migration. The result: organic search traffic dropped 20% initially, then recovered to 108% of baseline. At the same time, Kit launched an App Store with 15+ apps, expanded the free plan 10x (1,000 to 10,000 subscribers with automations), and opened Kit Studios — a physical space in Boise with 5 production studios. By year-end, Kit had reached $45M ARR, 60,000+ paying creators, and 500,000+ free users.
Milestones
- 2013-03Launch as ConvertKit — landing pages and email sequences
- 2016-01100000Crossed $100K MRR, team growing, open metrics dashboard live
- 2018-121188580Crossed $1M MRR. ARPU $57. Net revenue churn 2.2%. Quick ratio 1.47.
- 2019-021250000$15M annual revenue. 60% profit sharing distributed. $1M+ paid to team.
- 2020-031250000Launched free plan with referral mechanic. Pandemic begins.
- 2021-122428333$29.14M ARR. 12.8% growth. Commerce GMV $3.7M.
- 2022-022500000Launched paid newsletters feature
- 2022-112791667$33.5M ARR. 15% growth. Commerce GMV $8.27M. 100% net dollar retention. Sponsor Network $520k booked.
- 2024-023000000Kit.com domain acquired. Team retreat announcement.
- 2024-063200000Rebrand to Kit announced at Craft + Commerce. Public rebrand process begins.
- 2024-103500000Kit rebrand launched. Free plan expanded to 10K. App Store launched. Kit Studios opened.
- 2024-123750000$45M ARR. 60,000+ paying, 500,000+ free. SEO recovered to 108% of baseline.
- 2025-023750000$9.8M paid in profit sharing over 10 years. 52% of profits to team.
Whether it fits you
Kit's playbook depends on a founder willing to be public about financials for years, and a product category where ecosystem lock-in is possible. Run it if these hold; the transparency-and-ecosystem approach has costs that are easy to underestimate.
What it needs
A founder who is willing — and genuinely enjoys — publishing financials for years
Nathan Barry has been writing annual reviews with exact revenue, churn, and growth numbers since ~2013. This isn't a tactic you can fake for a quarter — it requires comfort with public scrutiny, a decade-plus commitment, and the personality to write about failures (like the 2018 Seva rebrand collapse) as openly as successes.
A product category where trust and transparency are genuine differentiators
Email marketing tools handle creators' subscriber lists — their most valuable business asset. Creators are rightfully skeptical of platforms that might exploit their data, raise prices arbitrarily, or disappear. Kit's open metrics directly address this fear: if you can see the company's churn rate and revenue in real time, you trust them with your list.
Enough runway to let ecosystem layers compound over years, not months
Kit's App Store, Sponsor Network, and Studios didn't exist in the first eight years. The company survived on email marketing revenue alone while building each layer. The Sponsor Network launched in 2022 (year nine of the company), the App Store and Studios launched in 2024 (year eleven). A funded competitor with a shorter runway clock would struggle to justify this timeline.
What it costs
Open metrics means competitors see your churn, growth rate, and weaknesses in real time
Kit's Baremetrics dashboard shows live revenue, churn, and customer counts. When growth slowed to 12.8% in 2021 (down from prior years), that was public. When churn spiked, that was public. Competitors can read your numbers and target your weaknesses. Kit's bet is that the trust earned outweighs the intelligence given away.
A generous free plan caps how fast paid revenue can scale with the free user base
Kit's free plan expanded to 10,000 subscribers with automations included — meaning creators earning well over $10,000 on Kit are still on the free plan [S6]. Unlike volume-based pricing, freemium conversion depends entirely on feature demand, not usage growth. This caps paid revenue growth relative to the free user base, and the 12% monthly churn on the base plan [S3] shows how fragile the bottom of the funnel is.
Physical spaces and platform ecosystems are capital-intensive bets that don't always pay off
Kit Studios cost $4,300/month in rent alone [S6], plus buildout, staffing, and ongoing operations. The App Store requires ongoing developer relations and platform maintenance. These are bets that a simpler, leaner competitor doesn't have to make — and if they don't drive enough retention or revenue to justify their cost, they become expensive distractions from the core email product.
The numbers we could verify
- net revenue churn 2018
- 2.2% monthly (Dec 2018) [S1]
- quick ratio 2018
- 1.47 (Dec 2018) [S1]
- arpu 2018
- $57 per customer (Dec 2018) [S1]
- base plan monthly churn 2020
- 12% per month for $29/mo plan [S3]
- user churn 2022
- 4.7% monthly (improved from 5.3%) [S7]
- revenue churn 2022
- 4.3% monthly (improved from 4.5%) [S7]
- net dollar retention 2022
- 100% (Nov 2022, first time) [S7]
- profit sharing rate
- 52% of company profits to team, 8% exec bonus pool, 40% owners [S8]
- profit sharing cumulative
- $9.8M over 10 years (as of Feb 2025) [S8]
- seo recovery
- 20% drop → 108% of baseline by end of 2024 [S6]
Channels it actually used
- open metrics / transparency (Baremetrics dashboard)
- founder blog / annual reviews with detailed financials
- freemium conversion (referral mechanic)
- creator community / annual conference (Craft + Commerce)
- affiliate program
- SEO / organic search
- product ecosystem (App Store, Sponsor Network, Studios)
- word of mouth
Our read
The popular narrative around Kit's growth focuses on 'build in public' and 'transparency' as if they were marketing tactics. But the sourced mechanism shows something more specific: Nathan Barry didn't just publish blog posts — he published a live, real-time financial dashboard with churn, revenue, and customer counts that anyone could scrutinize. That's a fundamentally different signal than 'we wrote a blog post about our revenue.' It's the difference between saying you're trustworthy and letting someone watch your bank account in real time.
The 2018 Seva rebrand failure is the most instructive part of this story, and the part most growth narratives skip. Barry didn't just 'learn to involve the community' — he learned that the community will defend your decisions when they feel ownership over them. During the 2024 Kit rebrand, customers were correcting other customers' misconceptions in social media threads without being asked. That's not community management; that's what happens when you spend 6 months letting people watch you make decisions.
Kit's ecosystem play (App Store, Sponsor Network, Studios) looks like a diversification strategy, but it's really a retention strategy. Each layer — a CRM app, a podcast host integration, a sponsorship revenue stream — makes the cost of switching to Mailchimp or Substack higher. The question is whether these layers generate enough value to justify their cost and complexity, or whether they become the kind of feature bloat that eventually makes the core product worse.
Sources
- Understanding ConvertKit's open metrics2018-12-11
- 7 unconventional ways we run ConvertKit2019-02-13
- ConvertKit goes freemium2020-03-30
- The design of ConvertKit over the years2018-07-31
- There and back again: the story of renaming ConvertKit2024-11-25
- 2024 Review — The year my dreams came true2025-01-06
- 2022 Review — A year of growth and managing stress2023-01-11
- $9.8M Paid in Profit Sharing: How Kit's Compensation Model Works2025-02-24
- ConvertKit launches paid newsletters2022-02-08
