7 email marketing platforms compared on the things that decide a switch from GetResponse: whether there is a real free plan, whether you pay by contacts or by emails sent, how deep the automation goes, and what the vendor's own pricing page said on 14 September 2026.
7 tools compared · Last reviewed
GetResponse is the automation suite of the mid-market email tools: visual workflows, funnels, webinars and course hosting in one subscription, from $19 a month for 1,000 subscribers per its pricing page on 14 September 2026. People leave it for three reasons: they never use the webinars and funnels they are paying for, they want a free plan, or they run a store and want automations written for carts rather than for campaigns.
Each tool below answers one of those. MailerLite and Kit are cheaper with real free plans. Omnisend is the store owner's tool. Constant Contact and AWeber are the simpler, older platforms for small businesses. Brevo prices by emails sent rather than contacts, which is a different economic model entirely. Mailchimp is the default everyone already knows.
Every figure is from the vendor's own pricing page on 14 September 2026, quoted with its billing term. Where a page could not be read, the entry says so rather than estimating.
GetResponse's higher tiers bundle webinars, funnels and courses. A newsletter or a store that only sends email is paying for a suite. MailerLite and Kit sell the email part alone, for less, with free tiers.
No free plan
GetResponse offers a trial. Kit is free to 10,000 subscribers, MailerLite and Mailchimp to 500, AWeber for small lists, Omnisend for 250 contacts, Brevo with a daily send cap.
Store automations are generic
Abandoned cart, browse abandonment and post-purchase flows are Omnisend's whole product, built on Shopify order data. GetResponse can do them; Omnisend ships them pre-built.
Contact-based pricing on a large, quiet list
If you hold 50,000 contacts and mail them monthly, paying per contact hurts. Brevo prices by emails sent, which turns that cost model inside out.
How we chose
We added the tools this search is really about — Kit, Omnisend and Constant Contact — to our directory alongside MailerLite, AWeber, GetResponse, Brevo and Mailchimp which were already listed, then read each vendor's pricing page on 14 September 2026. MailerLite's page renders client-side and was read through a rendering fetch; Constant Contact's was read once before its edge began refusing our checker; Brevo's returned no readable figures and its entry says so. ActiveCampaign, Drip and Moosend could not be read (blocked or slider-priced) and are not ranked. Promotional prices displayed that day (Omnisend's 30% offer, AWeber's setup-fee discount) are noted, not quoted as the rate.
Best for: Small lists that want the full feature set at the lowest paid price
Every paid plan gets everything; you pay more only for a bigger list. MailerLite's page renders client-side, and read through a rendering fetch on 14 September 2026 it listed Comfort from $12 a month billed monthly or $10.80 billed yearly and Power from $25 or $22.50 yearly at the smallest list size, with a free plan to 500 subscribers. It ranks with its own "free GetResponse alternative" page, which tells you who it thinks it is for.
Free tier: Yes — up to 500 subscribers.
Watch out: Prices scale with subscribers like every ESP here, and its page cannot be read without a browser. Automation is good but not GetResponse-deep.
Best for: Creators and newsletter writers, especially under 10,000 subscribers
The most generous free plan in mainstream email. Kit (ConvertKit renamed) is built for creators: visual automations, landing pages, paid newsletters and digital products, and a free tier its page describes as free to 10,000 subscribers. Creator was listed at $33 a month or $390 a year and Pro at $66 a month or $790 a year for 1,000 subscribers on 14 September 2026, with free migration.
Free tier: Yes — free for up to 10,000 subscribers per its pricing page.
Watch out: Per-subscriber pricing climbs past 10,000, store integrations are thinner than Omnisend's, and templates are deliberately plain.
Best for: Online stores that want abandoned-cart automations and SMS in one tool
The e-commerce pick. Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce automations, email plus SMS plus push in one workflow, and pricing by contacts: on 14 September 2026 its page showed Standard at a regular $16 a month for 500 contacts and Pro at $59 with unlimited emails and SMS credits, with a 30%-off first-three-months promotion displayed that day. Free migration.
Free tier: Yes — 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
Watch out: The promotional price on the page is easy to mistake for the regular one; the regular rate is the three-month total divided by three. Weaker for non-store senders.
Best for: Local businesses and nonprofits that want email, social and events together
The small-business incumbent: email, social posting, events, surveys and US SMS with phone support. Its page on 14 September 2026 listed Lite from $10.20, Standard from $29.75 and Premium from $68 a month billed annually by contact tier, with annual billing stated as 15% off monthly.
Free tier: No; a free trial.
Watch out: No free plan, monthly rates were not readable, and automation is shallower than the others here. The page began refusing our checker later that day, so it was read once.
Best for: Small lists that want a free plan and simple, reliable sending
One of the oldest ESPs and still one of the simplest. AWeber's page on 14 September 2026 listed Lite at $12.49 a month billed annually and Plus at $19.99 billed annually for up to 500 subscribers ($30 a month on monthly billing), rising by subscriber tier, with a 14-day trial and a free plan underneath.
Free tier: Yes — a branded free plan for small lists.
Watch out: Automation and segmentation are basic next to GetResponse or Kit, and the page pushes a paid setup service with a promotional fee.
Best for: Anyone who wants the most integrations and the most familiar interface
The default. Mailchimp has the largest integration catalogue and the most familiar editor, a free plan to 500 contacts, and Essentials from $13 a month for small lists per our listing. It is what most people compare everything else against.
Free tier: Yes — up to 500 contacts with Mailchimp branding.
Watch out: Contact-based pricing rises fast and counts unsubscribed contacts on some plans; the automation depth lags GetResponse and Kit for the price. See our Mailchimp alternatives page for the full comparison.
Best for: Senders who pay by email volume rather than by contacts
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) prices by emails sent rather than contacts stored, which suits a big list that mails rarely, and bundles transactional email, SMS, WhatsApp and a CRM. It is the structural opposite of the contact-priced tools above.
Free tier: Yes — a free plan with a daily send limit.
Watch out: We could not re-read Brevo's pricing page on 14 September 2026: it returned no readable figures even through a rendering fetch, so no current prices are quoted here and our listing's older figures should be confirmed on brevo.com before budgeting.
Yes. Kit is free to 10,000 subscribers per its page, MailerLite and Mailchimp to 500, AWeber for small lists, Omnisend for 250 contacts, and Brevo has a free plan with a daily send limit. GetResponse itself offers a trial only.
What is the cheapest GetResponse alternative?
Of the prices read on 14 September 2026: Constant Contact Lite from $10.20 a month billed annually, MailerLite Comfort from $10.80 billed yearly, AWeber Lite $12.49 billed annually, Omnisend Standard $16 monthly at 500 contacts. GetResponse's own entry point is $19 a month at 1,000 subscribers.
Which alternative is best for e-commerce?
Omnisend: Shopify-native automations, SMS and push in one workflow, pricing by contacts and a free plan. Mailchimp is the second choice for stores with many integrations.
Which has the deepest automation?
GetResponse and Kit. Kit's visual automations suit creators; GetResponse's workflows and funnels suit marketers. MailerLite is capable; Constant Contact and AWeber are basic.
What does GetResponse cost?
Its pricing page on 14 September 2026 states plans start at $19 a month for unlimited messages to 1,000 subscribers; our listing carries Starter $19, Marketer $59 and Creator $69 a month, with tiers rendered client-side, so confirm on getresponse.com.
Will my list and automations move?
Contacts export and import as CSV everywhere, and Kit, Omnisend and MailerLite offer free migrations. Automations do not transfer; rebuild them, and warm the new sending domain before mailing the whole list.
