Quick answer: Mailchimp is the better choice if you want to start free and only ever need to send email, because it has a genuinely free tier and its Essentials plan starts at $13/month. GetResponse is the better choice if you need landing pages, funnels or webinars, because those are built in rather than bought separately. Its entry plan is $19/month for unlimited messages to 1,000 subscribers. The decision is not really about email quality. It is about whether you want one tool or several.
These two get compared constantly, and most comparisons treat them as the same product at different prices. They are not. Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that has added things around the edges. GetResponse is a small marketing suite that happens to lead with email. Which one is cheaper depends entirely on what else you were going to buy.
Prices below were checked against each vendor’s own pricing page in August 2026.
The difference that actually decides it
Ask yourself one question: what else is in my stack?
- If the answer is “nothing yet”, Mailchimp is the safer start. You can run on the free tier while you build a list, and the first paid step is small.
- If the answer includes a landing page builder, a webinar tool or a funnel tool, price GetResponse against the total, not against Mailchimp alone. A separate landing page tool alone runs $20 to $50 a month, and GetResponse includes one.
That is the whole comparison in two lines. Everything below is detail.
Side by side
| GetResponse | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $19/mo, unlimited messages to 1,000 subscribers | Essentials from $13/mo; Standard from $20/mo |
| Free option | Free account, but every message carries a GetResponse badge | Genuinely free tier with a contact and send cap |
| Priced by | List size, messages unlimited in your bracket | Contacts, with send limits per tier |
| Landing pages | Included, with a 1,000 monthly visitor cap on free | Included on paid tiers, more limited |
| Webinars | Built in on higher tiers | Not offered |
| Funnels | Built in | Customer journeys, but not a funnel builder |
| Best for | Creators who want the whole funnel in one bill | Anyone who just wants to send good email |
Where Mailchimp wins
The free tier is real. This is the single biggest practical difference. Mailchimp lets you build and email a list without paying, and without stamping its logo across everything you send in the way GetResponse’s free account does. For someone whose list is still in the hundreds, that difference is worth more than any feature comparison.
The first paid step is smaller. Essentials starts at $13/month against GetResponse’s $19. On a small list that gap is not large in absolute terms, but it arrives at the moment you are least sure the spend is justified.
Templates and reporting are more polished. Mailchimp has been at this longer and it shows in the editor and the reports. If email is the entire job, the tool feels more finished.
Everyone integrates with it. Whatever else you use, it almost certainly has a Mailchimp integration. That is not a small thing when you are wiring a stack together.
Where GetResponse wins
You stop paying for other tools. Landing pages, forms, funnels and webinars are in the same subscription. If you were about to buy a landing page tool, the comparison stops being $19 against $13 and starts being $19 against $13 plus $29.
Unlimited sending inside your bracket. GetResponse charges for list size and then lets you email that list as often as you like. Mailchimp meters sends per tier. If you email frequently, GetResponse’s model is kinder.
Automation is stronger at the cheap end. The automation builder on GetResponse’s lower tiers does more than Mailchimp’s equivalent, which pushes serious automation up to Standard and above.
Webinars, if you need them. Nothing in Mailchimp does this. If webinars are part of how you sell, that alone settles it.
What to watch out for with both
- Both price on contacts, and contacts accumulate. Your bill grows with a list that is not being cleaned. Prune unengaged subscribers before you upgrade a tier, not after.
- The advertised price is the smallest bracket. Every headline figure here is the entry tier. Price your actual list before comparing anything.
- GetResponse’s free account is branded. A GetResponse badge is added to every message you send on it, and removing it means paying. It is not the same kind of free as Mailchimp’s.
- Mailchimp’s free tier has moved before. Its limits have been reduced more than once over the years. Do not build a business on the assumption that today’s free tier is permanent.
- Migrating later is real work. Contacts export cleanly; automations, templates and forms do not. Pick for where you will be in a year.
So which one
- Pick Mailchimp if: you are starting out, your list is small, you want a free tier you can live in, and email is the only job.
- Pick GetResponse if: you need landing pages, funnels or webinars, you email your list often, or you are already paying for a separate landing page tool.
- Pick neither yet if: you have fewer than a hundred subscribers. Neither tool is the reason your list is small. Write more and choose later.
Frequently asked questions
Is GetResponse cheaper than Mailchimp?
Not at the entry tier. Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13/month against GetResponse’s $19. GetResponse becomes cheaper once you count the tools it replaces, because a separate landing page or webinar tool costs more than the $6 difference.
Does Mailchimp still have a free plan?
Yes, with a contact cap and a send limit. It is the strongest argument for choosing Mailchimp when you are starting out. Its limits have been tightened before, so treat the current allowance as today’s terms rather than a guarantee.
Does GetResponse have a free plan?
It has a free account rather than a free plan in the sense people usually mean. You get full premium features for 14 days, then the account continues with limits, and a GetResponse badge is added to every message you send.
Which is better for automation?
GetResponse at the lower tiers, because its automation builder is available earlier. Mailchimp’s stronger automation sits on Standard and above, so compare tier for tier rather than product to product.
Can I move from Mailchimp to GetResponse later?
Your contacts will move without much trouble. Automations, templates and forms get rebuilt by hand, which is the real cost of switching and the reason to think about where you will be in a year rather than next month.
Which one do you use?
We are not going to claim a stack we do not run. This comparison is built from each vendor’s published pricing, documentation and feature set, and from aggregated user feedback, not from a testing programme we did not do.
Affiliate disclosure: we earn a commission if you subscribe to GetResponse through the link on this page. We have no affiliate relationship with Mailchimp and earn nothing if you choose it, which is worth knowing given that this comparison recommends Mailchimp for anyone starting out. Prices were checked against each vendor’s own pricing page in August 2026 and change without notice.
