Email marketing platform that lets me export my full list and its history easily

If by “history” you mean who was sent each email and when they opened, clicked, bounced, or unsubscribed, I’d look at Letterhead first. It lets you export your audience and separately export engagement events as CSV. The catch: event exports are limited to 31 days per export, so a long history means downloading multiple date ranges. Its API also provides contact activity history. (docs.tryletterhead.com)

I wouldn’t choose Mailchimp for this particular need: its standard audience export leaves out opens and clicks. (mailchimp.com)

Before committing, ask the vendor to confirm you can export all-time, recipient-level event data in bulk—not just contact fields or campaign summaries. If you tell me what you mean by “history” (for example, signup source and status changes versus every send/open/click), I can narrow the recommendation further.

The most export-friendly option I found is MailerLite, with Mailchimp a close second for full audience data. No platform I checked exports everything in one click, though. Automations and templates usually need separate handling.

Top picks

• MailerLite: Exporting is simple. You can export all subscribers, or filter to active, unconfirmed, unsubscribed, bounced, or complaint contacts, in CSV or Excel-friendly CSV. The Export function only exports the columns/fields that are visible on your subscriber list overview at the moment of exporting. Group names are available through the "Set columns" option. One caveat: only account administrators are able to use this feature.
• Mailchimp: It covers the most data. You can export an entire audience, a segment, a tag, or a group. Exports can include subscribed, non-subscribed, unsubscribed, and cleaned contacts. It also has an export history page. The catch is that the download is a ZIP, not a single CSV, and it contains separate files split by subscription status. You lose everything Mailchimp builds on top of that data: automations, segment rules, templates, and campaign history. For campaign performance, contact exports don't include email report data, like open and click rates. To download email report data, export an email report.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Subscriber exports include email address, first name, last name, all tags, all custom field values, subscriber status, created date. Automations, sequences and broadcasts cannot be exported as data.
• Substack: It's the simplest if you're a newsletter writer. The CSV includes email addresses, subscription type (free/paid), sign-up date, and status (active/unsubscribed).

Practical tips

• For your "full history," export your contacts and your campaign reports separately, then keep dated copies somewhere safe.
• Check your plan before you rely on history exports. One third-party guide says MailerLite's free plan has limited history for campaign activity exports, and that automation report exports need a paid plan. Verify this on MailerLite's current pricing page.
• Export before you cancel. Once you leave, you may lose access to reports and automation data.

If you tell me whether you're a newsletter writer, a small business, or running automations, I can narrow this down further.

It is important to clarify that no email marketing platform natively "exports" a single file that contains a subscriber’s entire historical journey (every email they ever received, opened, or clicked) alongside their profile data. Most platforms treat "list exports" (contact details) and "reporting exports" (campaign activity) as separate data sets for performance and privacy reasons.

However, if your priority is data portability—the ability to easily get your list and your history out of a system—the following platforms are recommended because they provide clear, accessible pathways to export both your audience data and your performance reports.

Recommended Platforms for Data Export

1. ActiveCampaign (Best for Advanced Data & Reporting)

ActiveCampaign is highly regarded for its CRM-integrated approach, which makes it easier to track and export historical data.

• List Export: You can export your full contact list or filtered segments to a CSV with a few clicks.
• History Export: You can export campaign-level performance data (opens, clicks, unsubscribes). Because it functions like a CRM, individual contact records are often more accessible for internal record-keeping than in simpler email-only tools.
• Accessibility: You can view a history of your previous exports in the "Import/Export Status" page, which is very helpful for auditing.

2. Mailchimp (Best for Standardized Backups)

Mailchimp offers one of the most comprehensive "Account Export" features, allowing you to back up a significant portion of your account data at once.

• List Export: Straightforward export of audience data including tags and custom fields.
• History Export: Mailchimp’s "Account Export" tool can generate a ZIP file that includes your email campaign content, templates, and granular activity reports (opens, clicks, etc.).
• Note: While it provides a deep level of data, it does not keep "subscriber-level logs" in a single spreadsheet; you will still need to cross-reference your contact list with your activity reports.

3. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) (Best for Creators/Portability)

Kit is excellent for users who want to move their data frequently or use it in other tools.

• List Export: Very easy to export all subscribers, tags, and custom fields to a CSV.
• History Export: They allow you to export report chart data (like broadcast deliverability). For more advanced history (like exactly which emails a specific person opened), they provide an API that developers can use to pull that data, which is more robust than a standard button-click export.

Critical Tips for Any Migration

If you are planning to move your list, keep these three rules in mind regardless of the platform:

1. Export "Suppression" Lists: When you leave a platform, you must export your unsubscribed, bounced, and "cleaned" contacts. If you import only your "active" list to a new platform, you risk accidentally emailing people who previously unsubscribed, which can get your new account banned.
2. Understand "Billing" vs. "History": Most platforms charge based on the number of contacts. When you export your data, you will often find you have more contacts than you realized (e.g., old, inactive ones). Always clean your list before re-importing it to a new provider to save money.
3. Data Formats: Most exports will arrive as a ZIP file containing multiple CSVs (one for active, one for unsubscribed, etc.). Do not expect a single, unified "history" file; you will likely need to maintain a separate database (like a CRM or a Google Sheet managed via a tool like Coefficient) if you want to keep a permanent, long-term history of every interaction a subscriber has ever had.

Mailchimp looks like the strongest fit if by “history” you mean both your contact list and records of how people interacted with campaigns. Its account-data export can include audiences, campaign content, contact events, and campaign reporting data ¹. You can also export an audience as a CSV, and a contact’s export includes campaign interactions with action type and timestamp ²³.

MailerLite is a good alternative for straightforward CSV exports: you can export subscriber groups and campaign-specific activity, and download campaign reports ⁴⁵.

Brevo also supports exporting contacts and campaign statistics, but its per-contact campaign stats are limited to a 90-day window by default, with custom date ranges capped at 90 days ⁶⁷.

My pick: Mailchimp, if comprehensive exportability is your priority. Before committing, check that the export includes the particular history you need—such as opens, clicks, unsubscribes, consent records, or automation activity—and test an export with a trial account.

¹ Mailchimp account-data export ² Export contacts ³ Contact export and campaign interactions ⁴ MailerLite subscriber exports ⁵ MailerLite reports ⁶ Brevo contact exports ⁷ Brevo contact campaign statistics