MailerLite vs GetResponse 2026: Which Is Best for Your List?
Every MailerLite vs GetResponse comparison starts by putting $12 next to $19 and calling MailerLite the cheaper one.
That comparison is wrong, and not by a little. The tier most people actually end up on costs $12 with MailerLite and $59 with GetResponse, because GetResponse puts its automation engine two plans up.
Which doesn’t mean GetResponse is bad value. It means you’re comparing two different products, and the price only makes sense once you know which one you’re buying.
Table of contents
MailerLite vs GetResponse: the short verdict
Choose MailerLite if you send newsletters and campaigns to a list, want automation without paying a premium for it, and value an interface you can use without training.
Choose GetResponse if you need webinars, courses or paid ad management alongside email, or your automation involves conditions and branching that a simple builder can’t express.
For most small businesses and creators, MailerLite. GetResponse earns its price when you’re using the parts that aren’t email.
Some links below are affiliate links. It doesn’t change what you pay, and it doesn’t decide what we recommend. We’re in both programmes, so this comparison pays either way. How we make money.
| MailerLite | GetResponse | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | 500 contacts |
| Entry paid plan | $12/mo (Comfort) | $19/mo (Starter) |
| Automation included from | $12/mo | $59/mo (Marketer) |
| At 10,000 contacts | ~$73/mo | $79/mo (Starter) |
| Email sends | Unlimited on paid | Unlimited on all |
| Webinars | No | Yes, Creator plan |
| Courses | No | Yes, up to 500 students |
| Refunds | Standard policy | None |
Prices verified 1 September 2026, monthly billing at the smallest published tier. Annual billing saves roughly 10% with MailerLite and 18% with GetResponse.
How we assessed this MailerLite vs GetResponse comparison: we’ve set up and used MailerLite directly. GetResponse is researched rather than run in production, meaning documentation, pricing pages and user reviews at volume. See how we test software.
The entry-tier trap
Here’s the mechanic that makes headline prices useless in any MailerLite vs GetResponse write-up, including the ones ranking above this page.
MailerLite Comfort at $12 includes the automation builder. Multi-step sequences, triggers, conditions. The thing you signed up to do. Confirm it yourself on the MailerLite pricing page.
GetResponse Starter at $19 includes basic automation only. Unlimited workflows, event-based triggers, advanced segmentation and abandoned cart recovery all live on Marketer at $59, as their own pricing page sets out.
So the real comparison, for anyone who wants a welcome sequence and a couple of behavioural triggers, is $12 against $59. Nearly five times the price for the same job.
GetResponse users mostly land on Marketer. That’s the tier the platform is designed around, and the $19 figure functions more as a doorway than a destination.
MailerLite vs GetResponse pricing at real list sizes
Both price by contact count, so the entry number tells you almost nothing. Here’s how it moves.
| List size | MailerLite Comfort | GetResponse Starter | GetResponse Marketer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $12 | $19 | $59 |
| 2,500 | ~$33 | $29 | — |
| 10,000 | ~$73 | $79 | ~$114 |
| 25,000 | — | $174 | $215 |
Monthly billing, verified 1 September 2026. Gaps are tiers we couldn’t confirm to our own standard rather than plans that don’t exist.
Notice what happens around 2,500 contacts. GetResponse Starter at $29 undercuts MailerLite Comfort at roughly $33, which is the opposite of the headline story. If all you need is sending and basic segmentation, GetResponse is genuinely the cheaper option in that band.
Add automation and it inverts again, hard.
One thing both do better than Mailchimp: neither charges you for unsubscribed contacts. GetResponse bills only active subscribers and drops bounces and unsubscribes off the meter. If you’ve come from Mailchimp, that alone can move you down a tier.
GetResponse does have one billing quirk worth knowing. It treats each list as separate, so a contact who’s on two of your lists counts twice. If you segment by keeping parallel lists rather than using tags, you’re paying for the overlap.
Automation: two different philosophies
MailerLite’s builder is deliberately simple. Trigger, wait, condition, send. You’ll build a welcome sequence in fifteen minutes without opening documentation, and for the overwhelming majority of small businesses that’s the whole requirement.
The ceiling is real though. Multi-branch logic, scoring, and automations that respond to site behaviour rather than email behaviour are where it runs out.
GetResponse on Marketer does all of that. Event-based triggers, unlimited workflows, cart abandonment recovery, web push notifications, segmentation that combines behavioural and demographic conditions.
The MailerLite vs GetResponse question here isn’t which is more capable. It’s whether you’ll use the capability, and most people who buy it don’t. If you’ve never hit a wall with a simple builder, paying $47 a month extra to remove a wall you haven’t reached is a strange purchase.
What only GetResponse does
Webinars. Built into the Creator plan at $69, hosted natively, with registration pages and follow-up sequences wired into your email automation. Running webinars separately through Zoom or a dedicated platform costs $40 to $100 a month on its own, so if webinars are part of how you sell, GetResponse’s price stops looking high.
Online courses. Creator hosts courses for up to 500 students with a mobile learning app. It won’t replace Thinkific for a serious course business, but for one course sold to your list it removes a whole vendor.
Paid ads management. Facebook and Google campaigns from inside the platform, with audiences built off your email segments.
Sales funnels. Multi-step funnels with checkout, which MailerLite doesn’t attempt.
Add those up and GetResponse Creator at $69 replaces an email tool, a webinar platform and a basic course host. Compared like that it’s cheap. Compared as an email tool alone it isn’t, and that’s the whole MailerLite vs GetResponse decision in one line.
What MailerLite does better
The editor. Cleaner, faster, less cluttered. This sounds like a soft benefit until you’ve built your fortieth campaign, at which point it’s the main one.
The free plan actually does things. 250 subscribers is tight, but you get the website builder and ten landing pages, which GetResponse doesn’t match at zero cost.
Automation at the entry price. The single biggest practical difference between the two.
Account quality control. MailerLite screens new accounts and rejects some of them. If you’re rejected it’s maddening. If you’re accepted, you’re sending from an IP pool that hasn’t been ruined by whoever bought a list last week.
Two things to know before you commit
GetResponse doesn’t do refunds. Not after a week, not after a day. Their trial runs 30 days without a card, so use it properly, because once you’ve paid the money is gone.
MailerLite renamed its plans in June 2026. Comfort and Power replaced Growing Business and Advanced. Any MailerLite vs GetResponse article still describing those tiers is out of date, which is worth remembering as you read comparisons.
One more on MailerLite: transactional email isn’t bundled. Order confirmations and password resets run through MailerSend on a separate plan. If your site sends those, budget for it.
Who each one is wrong for
Don’t pick MailerLite if you run webinars, sell courses, or your automation needs to branch on conditions that aren’t email opens. You’ll hit the ceiling and migrating a second time is worse than choosing correctly now.
Don’t pick GetResponse if you send a newsletter and nothing else. You’ll pay Marketer prices for a fraction of Marketer, and the interface carries complexity you’re not using.
Don’t pick either if your list is large and you email rarely. Both charge by contacts stored, so you’d be paying to warehouse people. A send-based tool fits that shape better.
Frequently asked questions
Is MailerLite cheaper than GetResponse?
At the same capability, yes, and by a wide margin. MailerLite includes automation at $12 where GetResponse puts it on the $59 Marketer plan. But at around 2,500 contacts with no automation, GetResponse Starter at $29 undercuts MailerLite Comfort at roughly $33.
Which has better automation?
GetResponse, clearly, on the Marketer plan and above. Event-based triggers, unlimited workflows and cart abandonment go well past MailerLite’s ceiling. Whether that’s worth $47 a month depends entirely on whether you’ve ever hit that ceiling.
Do both have free plans?
Yes. MailerLite gives 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails, plus the website builder and ten landing pages. GetResponse gives 500 contacts with basic email and a landing page. GetResponse also runs a 30-day trial of paid features without requiring a card.
Can I run webinars in MailerLite?
No. Webinars are GetResponse’s clearest advantage in any MailerLite vs GetResponse comparison, available on the Creator plan at $69 with registration and follow-up sequences connected to your email automation.
Which is better for deliverability?
Both are solid, and deliverability depends more on your authentication setup and list hygiene than on the platform. MailerLite’s strict account screening keeps its sending pools cleaner. GetResponse offers more built-in deliverability tooling. Neither will save a list you bought.
Can I switch between them later?
Contacts and tags export as CSV and import cleanly. Automations have to be rebuilt by hand in either direction, so screenshot your workflows before cancelling anything, and warm up sending gradually on the new platform.
MailerLite vs GetResponse: the decision
Count how many of these you’d use in the next six months: webinars, hosted courses, paid ad campaigns, multi-step sales funnels, automation that branches on site behaviour.
Two or more, GetResponse Creator at $69 is good value and you’re buying a marketing platform.
None or one, MailerLite at $12 does the job and the $47 difference every month buys something else.
Both have free tiers. Build a welcome sequence in each and see which one you finish faster. That answer settles MailerLite vs GetResponse more reliably than any feature table, including ours.
Try MailerLite free · Try GetResponse free
Pricing verified 1 September 2026. Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Read our full affiliate disclosure. Something out of date? hello@saasandstacks.com
