GetResponse is an excellent email marketing tool with pro automation features, a conversion funnel, a website builder, and ecommerce marketing. In addition to the features, the company serves around 350k customers in more than 180 countries.
But, a deeper dive led me to find that it doesn't perform well regarding deliverability, and even the pricing seems higher.
So, in this GetResponse review article, I will discuss its pros and cons, key features, and alternatives to consider based on my analysis of the tool and its customers' feedback.
Table of contents
What is GetResponse?
GetResponse is an email marketing software that helps you create and grow your email list. It also helps you capture & nurture leads, send different types of emails, and automate workflows.
GetResponse was founded in 1998, and its initial focus was to become one of the leading newsletter tools. But, over the years, the company has become a complete ecommerce and online marketing solution. It offers features like ecommerce marketing, conversion funnels, a website and landing page creator, chat features, and more.
What are GetResponse's core features?
GetResponse has some amazing features to help you scale your marketing campaigns. Check these out:
1. Email template editor
There are two email editors available: Classic and AI-powered editors. The AI-based editor custom creates an email based on the answer to the following prompts:
What is your email about?
What kind of business do you have?
Who is this email for?
What kind of email is it?
How do you want your email to sound?
Pick a layout and color theme.
I tried its AI-based editor and found that it's easy to get a basic structure for your email, but in the end, you need to work on the copy and design to make it relevant to your brand. This feature is available to all users. But, if you're on its free plan, you can create only 3 AI-generated email templates.
Its classic drag-and-drop editor is easy to use and has 182 responsive templates, which are easy to customize. You get up to 2GB of image space. GetResponse integrates with Giphy and Shutterstock and gives you access to thousands of images in-product.
You can preview and send unlimited text emails during this testing. The tool also analyzes your emails for potential spam issues.
2. Website builder
The website builder has 130 premade templates across multiple industries, including ecommerce, education, fintech, and nonprofit. The website templates are amazing and among the most effective on the market.
The website builder is drag-and-drop; you can add advanced elements such as image carousels, sign-up forms, pop-ups, event registration forms, and more. The tool has 20+ pre-made sign-up form templates.
By integrating with ecommerce apps such as Shopify, Magneto, Bigcommerce, and Prestashop, you can add product boxes to sell different types of products.
Interestingly, you can host your website on a free GetResponse domain or connect your custom domain for free. If you want a custom site address, you need to buy one of its paid plans.
3. Landing page builder
The landing page builder is also user-friendly and has the right navigation panel containing all the elements to add to your page. You get access to 240+ premade templates divided into different use cases. Similiar to Getresponse website builder, you can add sign-up forms, e-commerce products, and event registration CTAs.
GetResponse offers multi-variate testing on its landing pages. To do this, create another version of the landing page and change the variables you want to test. You can remove unnecessary variants at any time by clicking on the toggle button above.
One cool feature is GetResponse's chatbots. You can add live chatbots to your landing page without paying extra.
There is an option to optimize your page for search engines, such as adding an SEO title and description. But if you don't want your pages indexed, you can disable this feature. You can track conversion rates and other metrics on landing pages by entering your Google Analytics ID.
4. Conversion funnel
GetResponse allows you to collect leads, sell digital products, and increase your subscriber list with its conversion funnel feature. You get 30 pre-made conversion-oriented scenarios to customize to meet your goals.
Within the conversion funnel, you can access premade lead magnets or add your own offers to anyone who fills out the opt-in form. Currently, there are 17 lead magnet options to choose from. This is a great option if you don't have a ready-made lead magnet. But, if you do, it's imperative to customize it for your brand.
This is an exceptional feature of GetResponse, and you can access it even if you're on its free plan. But, to build a complete sales funnel, you need to buy their Marketing Automation or higher plan.
5. Email automation builder
There are 50+ premade workflows for various use cases - welcome email series, win-back email series, recover lost sales, and more.
The drag-and-drop journey builder is easy to use and has 17 conditions covering basic fields, tags, and e-commerce-related fields. You can add 9 actions, such as sending a message, moving to a specific list, or removing a contact.
They also offer interactive workflow demos and tutorial videos if you need help. Once you have created the workflow, you can save and make it live, save and export, save and exit, or just save.
GetResponse pricing details
GetResponse has a forever free plan that you can use for up to 500 subscribers and send 2500 emails/mo. Besides the free plan, you can access all its features with GetResponse's 30-day free trial.
| Number of contacts | Email marketing | Marketing automation | Ecommerce marketing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1k | $19/mo | $59/mo | $119/mo |
| 2.5k | $29/mo | $69/mo | $139/mo |
| 5k | $54/mo | $95/mo | $169/mo |
| 10k | $79/mo | $114/mo | $199/mo |
| 25k | $174/mo | $215/mo | $299/mo |
| 50k | $299/mo | $359/mo | $444/mo |
| 100k | $539/mo | $599/mo | $699/mo |
Get a complete analysis of GetResponses' pricing plans.
GetResponse's key strengths and weaknesses
Based on GetResponse's customer reviews, we have highlighted the pros and cons of the tool:
GetResponse Pros
Conversion funnel: GetResponse offers a helpful lead generation feature to create landing pages to collect and nurture leads. You can select premade conversion funnels and optimize them by including different lead magnets, CTAs, and automated series.
Live chat for websites: When you build a landing page or website using GetResponse, you can include a live chatbot hosted on GetResponse's server. It means you don't need another live chat tool as it's already integrated into GetResponse.
Email list automation: With GetResponse's list segmentation feature, you can easily and quickly segment your contact list and send them relevant emails.
Google and social media ad features: You can easily track the performance of your Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads in GetResponse.
GetResponse Cons
Lower deliverability: Despite advanced features and dedicated support, GetResponse didn't perform well in email deliverability. It had an average rate of 82.1% in the last three tests conducted by EmailToolTester.
Basic automation on some plans: GetResponse's marketing automation builder is one of the finest, among other ESPs. You must be on its high-paid plans to access it. You get limited triggers and conditions to customize email journeys on free and lower-priced plans.
Is GetResponse the right tool for you?
Should you use GetResponse as your email service provider? We've jotted down key pointers to help you decide:
When it's recommended
- You want to build multi-step journeys: The automation workflow builder offers multiple trigger options and 15+ conditions to create targeted journeys. It also has 50+ pre-made workflows for various industries and use cases. So, if you want to build highly segmented email workflows, GetResponse is an excellent choice.
- You want to capture leads: GetResponse offers many features to collect and nurture leads.
For instance, you can add sign-up forms, create a landing page or website, and embed in-line forms and pop-ups to collect leads. Furthermore, you can trigger welcome and related email series by adding an opt-in form as an action in the workflow builder.
If you want to do the entire process in a more organized manner, use their conversion funnel feature. It gives you a visual representation of the steps involved in capturing and nurturing leads.
- You run an ecommerce business: GetResponse offers various e-commerce tools to scale your ecommerce business.
- You can add promo codes to e-commerce platforms to drive more sales.
- Trigger email series based on actions (abandoned cart, product browsing).
- Show product recommendations based on customers' search and purchase history.
- Integrate with Shopify and Magneto to access ecommerce tracking.
- You can add promo codes to e-commerce platforms to drive more sales.
- Trigger email series based on actions (abandoned cart, product browsing).
- Show product recommendations based on customers' search and purchase history.
- Integrate with Shopify and Magneto to access ecommerce tracking.
When it's not
- You need a solid deliverability rate: There is a lot of room for improvement regarding GetResponse's deliverability rate. So, you should look for other ESPs such as Mailmodo or ActiveCampaigns if you want to land your emails in the recipient's inbox.
- You want to send interactive emails: GetResponse doesn't support interactive AMP emails. If you want to create and send AMP emails without coding, check out Mailmodo. It offers 20+ AMP widgets to add to your emails and increase conversion rates.
- You want a more budget-friendly ESP: Given all the features GetResponse offers, it seems expensive compared to other ESPs such as Mailmodo which charges only $99/mo for upto 40k contacts offering you excellent email marketing plan with extensive features. GetResponse charges $299/mo for up to 50k contacts.
GetResponse alternatives
Check out these GetResponse alternatives that are much more affordable and might be the right choice.
Mailmodo
Mailmodo is one of the emerging and best email marketing platforms that help you create and send interactive AMP emails, build automated journeys, and create trigger campaigns. Apart from this, the tool is much cheaper than GetResponse and is also known for its excellent customer support, one of the major issues GetResponse users face.
💡Check out the comparison between Mailmodo and GetResponse
GetResponse vs. Mailmodo: Which one should you use?
| Criterion | Mailmodo | GetResponse |
|---|---|---|
| No-code email builder | For both AMP and HTML emails with 200+ premade templates to start with. | Only for HTML emails with 180+ premade templates to start with. |
| AMP email support | ✅ | ❌ |
| Transactional emails | Available on all plans | Available on all plans |
| Dedicated support | Email, chat, video & phone support for all users. | Email and 24/7 live chat support are available to all users. Phone support is only available for MAX2 plan users. You won't get any support if you're on GetResponse's free plan. |
| Email automation | 12 trigger options divided into 5 categories: Manual Trigger, Contacts, AMP activities, Custom events, External Platform. | 17 conditions covering basic fields, tags, and e-commerce-related fields. 9 actions are available, such as sending a message, moving to a specific list, or removing a contact. |
| Dynamic email & personalization | ✅ | ✅ |
| List Management | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reports and Analysis | ✅ | ✅ |
| Supported integrations | 20+ integrations | 100+ integrations |
| Pricing | For 40k contacts: - Lite - $199/mo For 100k contacts: - Pro - $459/mo | For 50k contacts: - Email marketing: $299/mo - Marketing automation: $359/mo - Ecommerce marketing: $444/mo For 100k contacts: - Email marketing: $539/mo - Marketing automation: $599/mo - Ecommerce marketing: $699/mo |
When should you choose Mailmodo over GetResponse?
There are various reasons for choosing Mailmodo over GetResponse:
- Excellent 24/7 customer support matters to you.
Our customers have praised us for our reliable and excellent customer support. The CS team can readily resolve customers' queries and lead them in the right direction, even if you're on the free plan.
- If you want to send interactive AMP emails
AMP emails are the future of email marketing as they allow you to reduce friction and let your recipient act inside the email. Mailmodo is the only ESP that helps you create and send 20+ responsive and engaging AMP email widgets with its no-code email template builder. Some ways AMP emails can help include:
Send NPS surveys to collect customer feedback
Recover lost sales with shopping carts
Get higher registration with Add to Calendar widget
Engage users with gamified elements such as polls, spin the wheel, etc.
So, if you want to send engaging AMP and HTML emails, go for Mailmodo.
GetResponse's rating overview
| Feature | Ratings | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The tool is straightforward and has an intuitive user interface. All the options are mentioned in the left navigation, making it super accessible to jump from one dashboard to another. |
| Email template editor | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The drag-and-drop editor is user-friendly and offers various options to create visually pleasing and engaging emails. You can save blocks and reuse them in the future. Also, an AI-based editor will generate an email based on your prompts. This feature helps you get a basic structure but needs editing on your end. The option to send specific blocks/sections to different segments isn't available. |
| Premade templates | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | GetResponse offers 182 well-designed and responsive templates for different use cases. |
| Email automation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The automation workflow builder offers multiple triggers and conditions to create targeted series. This feature isn't available to free plan users. You must be on the GetResponse marketing automation plan to create and send workflows. One interesting option is to move subscribers from one list to another based on various actions. |
| List management | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | GetResponse shines with its list management feature. You can add a custom field during import and create segments. Using these segments, you can send emails and exclude contacts if required. They also encourage list hygiene by encouraging you to remove inactive and blocked contacts. |
| Sign-up form builder | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The form builder is easy to use and offers many well-designed templates. You can customize these templates or build forms from scratch. You can embed these forms on your site or host them on GetResponse. You can now add a reCAPTCHA verification feature to avoid unwanted bot attacks. |
| Landing page builder | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | A landing page builder is easy to use and has 180 premade templates. If you're on their paid plan, you can access unlimited premade templates. You can run A/B testing and add multiple forms (in-line, pop-up, etc.) to your landing page. |
| Email deliverability | ⭐⭐⭐ | GetResponse deliverability doesn't shine through as it performed below average with a score of 82.1%. It's on the lower side, and many other ESPs, such as ActiveCampaign, offer a much higher deliverability rate. |
| Reporting and analytics | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | GetResponse offers detailed reporting, including email clicks and opens, geo-tracking, and conversion/ecommerce tracking by integrating with Google Analytics and other ecommerce apps. Note that e-commerce and link tracking with GA is a paid feature. So, you won't be able to get access if you're on its free plan. There's even an option to compare different campaigns' performances; however, no heatmap is available. |
| Personalization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Personalization is available for the subject line and email copy with many contact field parameters. You can also specify If/Then/Else which are more complex rules. |
| Authentications | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are supported. |
| Own domain | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | You must be on their paid plan to add a custom site address. But you can connect your custom domain with a free account. |
| Spam and design testing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Spam testing is available for all users. Inbox testing (how your email will look among different clients) is only available for paid users. |
| Bounce management | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Hard bounces are removed immediately, and soft bounces are removed after four failed attempts. |
| Blocklist | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | All the bounced and blocked email addresses are added to an exclusion list. There is an option to create a suppression list too. You can import contacts from each list, but no export option is available. |
| Interactive elements | ❌ | Not supported. |
| Integrations | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 100+ integrations with CRM, analytics, and ecommerce apps, including Zapier, Paypal, Stripe, Magento, etc. |
| Languages | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Available in up to 27 languages. |
| Customer support | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Email and 24/7 chat support are available to all users. Phone support is only available for MAX2 plan users. You won't get any support if you're on GetResponse's free plan. They also have detailed articles in their knowledge base. |
| Overall ratings | - 4.3/5 (EmailToolTester) - 4.2/5 (G2) - 4.2/5 (Capterra) | GetResponse performed well in almost all aspects except deliverability. There is room for improvement. |
The verdict
GetResponse is truly an all-in-one email marketing service that offers pro email marketing features such as drag-and-drop editors, lead generation funnels, and website builders. It extends beyond email and can help you with many other marketing-related tasks. Some of these tasks include sending abandoned cart email series, showing AI-based product recommendations, adding live chat options to landing pages, and capturing and nurturing leads.
However, on the downside, it falls behind other ESPs such as Mailmodo and ActiveCampaign regarding deliverability rates - a defining factor while choosing an ESP.
In a nutshell, GetResponse is a versatile tool perfect for e-commerce and small and mid-size businesses. But, one key feature this tool lacks is the functionality to create and send interactive AMP emails. These emails redefine how recipients interact with email by providing a more engaging user experience that leads to better conversions. To create and send such emails, Mailmodo is the perfect ESP.
