10 Best GetResponse Alternatives for Cost-Effective Emails

It’s estimated that 149,513 emails are sent every minute. That’s over 215 million emails a day and 1.5 billion a week. Get where we’re going with this?

It’s no wonder every entrepreneur and small business is looking to optimize their chances of achieving email marketing success. If you, too, are looking to optimize your chances of email success, we’ve got you covered.

If you’re here, reading about email marketing tools, you likely know who GetResponse is and what it does. If you don’t, that’s fine too—we’ll bring you up to speed.

GetResponse is an online marketing platform with over 350,000 customers in 183 countries. It was founded in 1998, so the platform is obviously doing something right. It offers multiple pricing options for its email marketing service that vary with the number of users:

All of these are billed monthly, however, if you opt to pay 12 months upfront you’ll get an 18% discount. You’ll get 30% off if you pay 24 months in advance. Non-profits also get access to the platform at a 50% discounted rate.

While GetResponse is applauded for the easy-to-use drag and drop tool and automation, it comes under fire for poor customer service and unexpected fees. The solutions the platform offers—such as email marketing, website builder and marketing automation—are beneficial to businesses big and small. However, there are plenty of other options that deliver all the features and the same benefits while avoiding these unfortunate downfalls. 

We’ve put together ten of the best alternatives to GetResponse to ensure you’re getting the best from your emails. But first, let’s dive deeper into GetResponse and its features.

GetResponse is a complete online marketing solution. It offers over 30 tools in one easy-to-use platform so that you can hit all your marketing goals in one place. However, when it comes to emails there are a couple of places that GetResponse isn’t hitting the mark.

The negative reviews of GetResponse consistently mention poor experiences with customer support. While initial onboarding and support are praised, bigger issues aren’t as easily resolved. 

Users report “delays and unanswered tickets” when trying to receive support as well as issues when receiving the support needed. Some users even report never having had their account activated after initial subscription to the platform. Here’s what one G2 review had to say:

“Customer service is so bad that I’m quitting. Technical support is not fast and not even good. I couldn’t solve my problem and had to work an entire day to find a workaround. But the worst part is the billing support; it is a nightmare. They were completely uninterested in helping me, and they were pretending to be right without listening for any reason.”

GetResponse offers a list-based email marketing solution, meaning pricing depends on the number of emails on your mailing lists. Users report incurring unexpected fees without consultation or communication and, as you’d imagine, it’s not a crowd-pleaser. Here’s what one review reported:

“Be careful, they cheat you when they can. The platform malfunctions, emails get spammed, funnels are not configured properly and they charge you for having canceled the account. Nothing recommended, and very EXPENSIVE, they also change plans without warning you. We were charged €160 to pass the 25,000 subscribers, without warning.”

Another frequent issue GetResponse users report is rejected mailing lists and unrecoverable wipes. Users claim to face severe issues when trying to upload existing mailing lists, with some addresses being permanently wiped without the option to reupload. Here’s what one user reported experiencing:

“After spending hours getting everything moved over to Getresponse from Mailchimp, I tried uploading my subscriber list of 90,000+ subscribers to GetResponse and had my list rejected! I also paid and upgraded to the 2-year basic plan and was billed over $7,000! I even went back and scrubbed my list and tried uploading 50,000 subscribers, but it was still rejected!”

GetResponse also has issues with ensuring emails reach their destination, with one user claiming 40-50% of the emails they sent through the platform were never delivered. This is a major issue for an email marketing tool.

Overall, the drawbacks to GetResponse are, well, dealbreakers. Users report being initially excited to use the platform, only to be sorely disappointed by the reality. So, here are our 10 alternatives to GetResponse for cost-effective emails.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the best alternatives to GetResponse, and we’ve also pointed out what they do best. That way, you can assess which email marketing tool best meets your specific emailing needs. 

Flodesk is the fastest-growing email marketing platform on the market, helping small business owners design emails people love to get. It’s simple pricing plan is refreshingly affordable and the Flodesk team provides impeccable customer support to all clients.

From stunning email templates to immersive forms, Flodesk makes it easy for beginners and experts alike to build their email lists, engage their audiences and convert subscribers into customers—all without a website.

Here are some of Flodesk’s key features:

Flodesk also offers a fresh take on pricing in the email marketing industry. Check out the variation of plans on offer, designed to help small businesses thrive and grow at their own pace:

That’s right, a flat fee that doesn’t penalize success. You can also receive 12 months for the price of 11 when you pay annually. 

All plans include a 30-day free trial so you can try before you buy. It’s a much more affordable and risk-free option when pinning it against other email tools on the market. 

Head over to Flodesk to start creating beautiful emails with no unexpected fees.

Mailchimp is one of the biggest names in email marketing. They dominate the industry with 72.97% of the market share but biggest doesn’t always mean best. They’ve been doing their thing since 2001 though, so they do have experience in the industry.

Mailchimp separates its features into four categories, within which there is a multitude of tools:

MailChimp, like GetResponse, uses a list-oriented pricing model. You pay more for your success as subscription fees depend on the number of people on your mailing lists. MailChimp offers a free plan to businesses that gives limited access to the platform and its features. If this isn’t the right fit for your business, check out some more affordable MailChimp alternatives.

Mailchimp’s paid subscriptions vary greatly depending on the number of contacts you need, with each plan being able to support more contacts than the last. Here’s a summary of their pricing per month, head over to their website for more information:

Squarespace is best known for its website-building capabilities, however, the NYC-based platform also offers email marketing software. According to this review, it’s a one-stop shop for launching and growing your business that also offers great support and a community of users with whom to discuss issues and their solutions. 

Users tend to criticize the inflexible templates that limit creative visions, with some layouts being more adaptive than others. Others complain that integrations are limited and that there’s room for improvement. Overall, however, the platform doesn’t dip below four out of five stars when it comes to reviews.

The Squarespace features are what we’d normally expect from an email marketing solution:

SquareSpace’s pricing for its email marketing solution depends on the number of email campaigns and individual emails you wish to send. Its biggest offering, the Max Plan, allows unlimited campaigns every month but limits emails to 250,000. 

Here’s more on Squarespace pricing and allowances:

The limits on emails per month make this alternative better for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Larger organizations may want to look elsewhere for a tool that doesn’t limit email volume per month.

ConvertKit is a marketing automation tool that’s made for creators. Its offerings revolve around creative designs that engage your audience and foster community. It’s about building your brand and staying connected with your followers.

While it’s considered to be an easy-to-use tool for creatives, customer service seems to be an issue. Alongside this, users report problems when trying to migrate from another platform. 

When it comes to features, ConvertKits offers the usual automation, analytics and design capabilities as many other email marketing solutions. It stands out for its impressive 98% email deliverability rate, meaning your emails are more likely to end up in your audience’s inbox.

To gain access to ConvertKit’s email marketing solution, you’ll need to choose between three plans. Each plan has limits to the number of subscribers you can manage, and you’ll need to upgrade if your subscribers start increasing. Anything over 500k subscribers requires you to get in touch for a custom solution.

Here’s the full pricing info for ConvertKit:

For more precise pricing, head over to the ConvertKit website.

ConvertKit is a great tool for beginner marketeers, but for larger-scale projects, you may want to consider alternatives.

Sendinblue aims to help you build stronger relationships with your audience. Its email marketing solution nicely complements its SMS marketing, chatbot and inbox management solutions. The digital marketing tools are ideal for businesses looking to engage existing subscribers and capture new ones through a multitude of channels.

Here’s a closer look at some of the features it offers:

It’s a popular, affordable, customer relationship management solution. It does, however, receive conflicting reviews when it comes to customer support. Some argue it’s untouchable, while others have been let down with the service. It’s a mixed bag when it comes to reviews and one thing we can agree on is an inconsistent customer experience.

Sendinblue is another platform that bases pricing on the number of emails a client wishes to send every month. Their free plan allows users to send 300 emails a day to unlimited contacts. Larger organizations will need one of Sendinblue’s paid options:

For more than 1,000,000 emails, organizations are encouraged to get in touch with the team for a custom solution.

More features are unlocked with each tier, so make sure to head over to their site and check exactly which plan is right for your organization. 

ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform that offers solutions built to help you engage your audience. Its email marketing solution is accompanied by a powerful CRM, marketing automation tools and sales automation capabilities.

The platform offers some great features for email marketing, such as:

These features are super useful when creating and managing your emails. That being said, ActiveCampaign isn’t without its drawbacks. Negative reviews mainly revolve around the poor customer service users receive after signing up. 

Users report having been promised functionalities and capabilities that just weren’t available on the platform. Pricing, however, is consistently competitive when compared with other similar platforms. 

For your exact price point, head over to the ActiveCampaign pricing page. There you’ll also be able to see what features are included with each plan, as this varies from one to another.

Overall, the platform offers some exciting features that, if alongside improved customer support, could make it a great alternative to GetResponse.

Aweber is an email marketing solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to create engaging emails. The platform offers emails, landing pages, funnels, forms, push notifications, and so much more. 

You’ll have access to a vast library of stock images when creating your emails. The email builder is powered by Canva, so you can create templates using the design software without ever leaving Aweber. Other features include:

Negative reviews argue that the software is outdated and difficult to use, so be wary when considering this alternative.

Aweber offers two pricing plans for organizations. The free plan offers users a single email list with up to 500 subscribers. The pro plan is as follows:

For more than 25,000 subscribers, you’ll need to organize a custom plan with the Aweber team.

Klaviyo is a growth marketing platform built specifically for e-commerce businesses, working with organizations big and small across the globe. Their goal is to enable users to connect with their audience via email and SMS marketing. 

Users do report some bugs to be fixed and also comment on the set-up time. Overall, it’s considered to be a powerful automated marketing platform.

Some standout features are:

Pricing for Klaviyo is on the higher-end of the industry spectrum, so it’s maybe not as ideal for small businesses as it claims to be. The platform offers a free plan that includes up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. The plan also includes email support. 

The paid plan is where things begin to get pricey. Here are a couple of examples so you can compare them with the other alternatives. For more accurate business pricing, head over to their pricing estimation tool.

It’s not hard to see that this is expensive. This is also only for the email marketing solution. Those looking to add SMS marketing solutions will be looking at quite a bit more. If this is out of your budget right now, consider a more affordable alternative to Klaviyo.

MailerLite is an email marketing solution that prides itself on providing exceptional value to customers, 24/7 support and straightforward pricing for small businesses. Create custom landing pages, emails, pop-ups and forms with the easy-to-use drag and drop tool and keep contacts engaged with personalization and segmentation.

Alongside these features, MailerLite offers some different features:

While the platform receives many dazzling reviews that applaud its clean UI and ease of use, the negative reviews all point towards the same issue—shocking customer service. Issues go unanswered for days, with some even being abandoned entirely. Many customers are far from satisfied and they’re not afraid to share it.

MailerLite offers a free plan to organizations that allow 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails. Paid plans offer many different price points depending on the number of subscribers desired. Paid plans don’t limit the number of emails you can send, which is good. Here are some different price points to get an idea of what your business might need:

For more than 600,000 subscribers you’ll need to get in touch to organize a custom solution.

Constant Contact is an email marketing platform that also provides social media marketing and e-commerce solutions. They mainly cater to small businesses and provide great opportunities for growing a business through their various solutions.

Alongside your standard drag-and-drop builder and email automation capabilities, key features also include:

The platform is one of the lesser reviewed email marketing solutions, but that doesn’t mean they escaped all criticism. Mainly, users complain about the outdated and basic software. That being said, the overarching sentiment around Constant Contact is a positive one.

Constant Contact offers two price points to organizations, both of which include a month free of charge. Here’s what Constant Contact’s pricing looks like:

The two solutions offer different capabilities, so make sure to check out the website to find out exactly what comes with each.

That’s it for our 10 GetResponse alternatives. We hope you’re now in a better position to choose from the top email marketing software available and make the right decision for your business. 

Head over to Flodesk to design beautiful emails that people love to get. One flat price, always. Start free trial.