Before you start#
You'll need:
- A MailerLite account with subscriber-export permission
- An AcelleMail installation up and running
- ~30 minutes for <100k subscribers
Export from MailerLite#
In MailerLite's left sidebar, click Subscribers → choose the group/list to export → Export in the toolbar.
MailerLite asks for format (CSV) and which fields to include — select all custom fields you've defined. The file prepares in the background; check Subscribers → Imports / Exports for the download link (usually <2 minutes).
Exported CSV includes: email, name, all custom fields, signup date, opt-in source, segments memberships.
Import into AcelleMail (the same 6 clicks for every source)#
Once you have the CSV exported from your previous platform, the import flow in AcelleMail is identical regardless of where the data came from.
1. Open your destination list#
In AcelleMail's sidebar, click Audience → choose the list that will receive the migrated subscribers (or create a new one — New list button top-right).
You'll see a per-list overview card with subscriber counts:
2. Click "Import" in the list toolbar#
The wizard entrypoint is on the list detail page:
3. Upload your CSV#
Drop the CSV file from the previous platform into the upload area:
AcelleMail parses the file and confirms detection:
4. Map the columns#
The wizard auto-detects standard columns (email, first_name, last_name) and shows green Mapped to EMAIL chips. Adjust manually for any non-standard column from the source:
5. Pick duplicate handling#
In the same screen, choose what AcelleMail does when a subscriber already exists in this list:
- Skip — keep the existing row, don't overwrite
- Update — overwrite name/tags/custom fields with values from the CSV
- Unsubscribe — mark existing rows as unsubscribed (rare; used when re-importing an opted-out list)
6. Run the import#
Click Start import. The job runs in the background — close the popup, work elsewhere, return to Audience → [list] → Import to see progress:
You'll see Pending → Running → Complete per import job, with rows-imported / rows-skipped / errors counts.
After the import#
- Verify list count matches your expected size (rows that failed validation appear in the Errors column with a downloadable error CSV).
- Re-tag if needed — for behavioural data that doesn't fit a CSV column (e.g. "opened campaign X"), you may need to re-create the tag via segmentation rules.
- Pause for warm-up — if the imported list is large (>10k) and your sending IP is new or recently rotated, run a short warm-up campaign to your most-engaged 10% before the full send. See IP warm-up best practices for the schedule.
Rebuilding MailerLite automations#
MailerLite's automation workflows map to AcelleMail's Automations. Equivalent triggers:
| MailerLite trigger |
AcelleMail trigger |
| Joins group |
Subscribed to list |
| Updates field |
Field value change |
| Anniversary of date |
Date relative |
| Completes a form |
Subscribed to list (form's target list) |
| Clicks a specific link |
Link clicked |
Merge-tag syntax differences#
| MailerLite |
AcelleMail |
{$name} |
{{ subscriber.first_name }} |
{$last_name} |
{{ subscriber.last_name }} |
{$email} |
{{ subscriber.email }} |
{$url_unsubscribe} |
{{ unsubscribe_url }} |
{$url_webversion} |
{{ web_view_url }} |
Advanced: API-driven migration with MailerLite's subscribers endpoint
For large MailerLite accounts or scheduled sync:
Export from MailerLite via API:
# MailerLite v2 API token from Integrations → API
curl -X GET "https://connect.mailerlite.com/api/subscribers?limit=100&page=1" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <MAILERLITE_API_TOKEN>" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-o mailerlite-subscribers.json
Paginate via page; MailerLite returns max 100/page.
Import into AcelleMail:
ACELLE_TOKEN="..."
ACELLE_LIST_UID="..."
jq -c '.data[] | {email: .email, first_name: .fields.name, last_name: .fields.last_name}' mailerlite-subscribers.json \
| while read sub; do
curl -X POST "https://acellemail.com/api/v1/subscribers" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACELLE_TOKEN" \
-d "{\"list_uid\":\"$ACELLE_LIST_UID\",\"subscriber\":$sub}"
done
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