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Visual Automations give you a bird’s-eye view of your entire subscriber journey on a single canvas. Where basic automation rules handle one trigger and one or more actions, Visual Automations let you chain together events, waits, conditions, and actions into complex workflows — all mapped visually so you can see exactly what happens to a subscriber from the moment they enter to the moment they exit.
Start with a simple 3-step automation before building complex branching journeys. Master the basics — entry point → action → exit — then add conditions and branches. A working simple automation beats a half-finished complex one every time.

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When to Use Visual Automations vs. Basic Rules

ScenarioUse Basic RulesUse Visual Automations
Single trigger, one or two actions✅
Multi-step journey with delays✅
Branching logic (if/else conditions)✅
Want to visualise the full journey✅
Quick setup for a single event✅
Visual Automations are available on all Kit plans. However, branching conditions (if/else logic) require the Creator plan or higher. On the free plan, you can build linear automations — entry point, actions, and wait steps — but you cannot add conditional branches.

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The Building Blocks

Every Visual Automation is assembled from four types of blocks:

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Events (Entry Points)

Events are where subscribers enter the automation. Only one event can start each automation:
  • Form subscribe — A subscriber opts in via a specific form
  • Tag applied — A specific tag is added to a subscriber’s profile
  • Link click — A subscriber clicks a tracked link in a Kit email
  • Product purchase — A subscriber completes a Kit Commerce purchase

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Actions

Actions are things Kit does to or for the subscriber:
  • Add tag / Remove tag — Apply or strip a label
  • Subscribe to sequence / Unsubscribe from sequence — Enrol or remove from an email series
  • Send email — Deliver a one-off email at this point in the journey
  • Wait — Pause the subscriber’s progress for a set number of days before the next step

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Conditions

Conditions create branches in the journey. Kit evaluates the condition and sends the subscriber down the ‘Yes’ path or the ‘No’ path:
  • Does subscriber have tag X?
  • Has subscriber purchased a specific product?
  • Was the last email opened?
  • Does a custom field equal a specific value?

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Wait Steps

Wait steps are standalone delays between actions. Unlike sequence delays (which are set per email), a wait step in a Visual Automation pauses the entire workflow — useful when you want several actions to happen, then a pause, then several more.

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Example Automation Journeys

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1. Lead Magnet Funnel

This is the most common Visual Automation for content creators: Form subscribe → Deliver lead magnet email → Wait 3 days → Condition: Did they open the delivery email? → If Yes: Send upsell offer → If No: Send re-engagement email with a different subject line

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2. Product Launch Campaign

Run a structured launch to a segmented list: Tag applied: ‘launch-list’ → Send launch email 1 → Wait 2 days → Send launch email 2 → Wait 1 day → Condition: Has subscriber purchased? → If Yes: Remove from sequence + add ‘customer’ tag → If No: Send final urgency email

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3. Course Onboarding After Purchase

Deliver a smooth onboarding experience to new students: Product purchase → Send welcome email → Wait 1 day → Subscribe to onboarding sequence → Add tag ‘course-active’ → Wait 7 days → Send check-in email

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Building a Basic Lead Magnet Delivery Automation

1

Open Visual Automations

In your Kit dashboard, navigate to Automations in the left sidebar. Click the Visual Automations tab, then click New Visual Automation.
2

Set your entry event

A blank canvas opens with an empty start block. Click it and select Form Subscribe. Choose the specific opt-in form you’re using for your lead magnet. Every subscriber who completes this form will enter the automation here.
3

Add a 'Send Email' action

Click the + button below your entry event and add a Send Email action. Write your lead magnet delivery email — include the download link or the content itself in the email body. Set the delay to 0 (send immediately).
4

Add a Wait step

Click + below the send email block and add a Wait step. Set it to 3 days. This gives the subscriber time to engage with the lead magnet before your next touchpoint.
5

Add a condition (Creator plan)

Click + below the wait step and add a Condition. Select Email was opened and choose your lead magnet delivery email. Kit will split the path into two branches: Yes (opened) and No (not opened).
6

Add actions on each branch

On the Yes branch, add a Subscribe to Sequence action and select your welcome or nurture sequence. On the No branch, add a Send Email action with a re-engagement message using a different subject line to get their attention.
7

Activate the automation

Click Save, then toggle the automation to Active. Subscribers who complete your form from this point forward will enter the journey automatically.

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Monitoring Performance

Once your Visual Automation is live, Kit overlays subscriber counts directly on the canvas. Each block shows how many subscribers are currently at that step and how many have passed through it in total. Use this to identify:
  • Drop-off points — Where subscribers stall or exit unexpectedly
  • Conversion rates — How many subscribers move from ‘interested’ to ‘purchased’
  • Bottlenecks — Long wait steps where large numbers of subscribers are queued

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Editing Live Automations

You have three options when you need to change a live automation:
  • Edit directly — You can edit individual blocks while the automation is running. New subscribers will see the updated version; subscribers already past that step are unaffected.
  • Pause — Pausing stops all new subscribers from entering. Subscribers currently in the automation remain at their current step until you resume.
  • Archive — Archiving removes the automation from your active list. Subscribers in progress are stopped immediately. Use this only when you’re retiring an automation entirely.
Always pause rather than archive if you plan to make changes and reactivate — archiving is permanent.