Migrate / Mailchimp to Kit
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Migrate from Mailchimp to Kit
Pick a Mailchimp list and a Kit list. OpenContact reads the contacts from Mailchimp, keeps a copy, and writes them to Kit. No export file, no upload.
What gets copied
- Subscribed contacts are copied into the Kit list.
- Unsubscribed, bounced, complained or suppressed contacts are not added to the list. They stay excluded.
- Custom fields: Mailchimp merge fields become Kit text fields. Fields that already exist are reused, matched by name, and values are converted to the field type.
- Tags: Tags travel with each contact and are added as tags in Kit. Missing tags are created.
- Saved segments are not copied. Rebuild them in Kit from the tags or fields they use.
Check first, then move
- Connect Mailchimp (API key) and Kit (API v4 key).
- Choose the source list and the destination list.
- Check what will happen. The preview copies nothing. It shows the source count, how many of the first 100 contacts would be copied, excluded or skipped, which custom fields will be created, and how tags arrive.
- Confirm that your Kit plan can take the contacts, then start. Follow fetched, pushed and failed totals as it runs. Pause and resume at any time.
Good to know
Moving from Mailchimp
- Contacts who never confirmed consent, such as pending (unconfirmed double opt-in) and transactional members, are skipped.
- Address merge fields are split into separate fields, such as
address_cityandaddress_country. - Tags and each group a member picked are read. Groups are written as "Group: Option".
Moving to Kit
- Custom fields are created as text fields.
After the move
Sync rules keep Mailchimp and Kit consistent from now on, and suppression stays honored in both. See suppression sync.
Questions
Will unsubscribed Mailchimp contacts be re-subscribed in Kit?
No. Unsubscribed, bounced, complained and suppressed contacts are not added to the list. They are excluded at the destination where the tool allows it, and their status is updated in OpenContact. A migration never makes someone mailable who was not mailable before.
What if some contacts fail to copy?
They do not stop the migration. Each failure is kept with its reason. When it finishes you can download the failed contacts as CSV or retry just those contacts, without reading Mailchimp again.
Can I move more than one list from Mailchimp?
Yes. Use Move a whole account: each list is matched to a Kit list with the same name, and the lists move one at a time.
Will my automations in Kit fire during the migration?
OpenContact does not run sync rules or verification during a migration. Check your own automations in Kit before you start.