ActiveCampaign vs GetResponse
Both are email marketing tools aimed at creators, coaches and small businesses. They differ most on value for money, automation and breadth of features.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | GetResponse | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 60/100 | 67/100 Higher |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Paid from | $15/mo (about £11.35) per month, billed annually | £13/mo (about $17.19) monthly; £10.66/mo billed annually |
| Positioning | automation platform | all in one |
| Launched | — | 1998 |
| Best for | Businesses whose email depends on detailed automation and segmentation, and that expect to grow into a CRM. | Businesses that want webinars and courses in the same tool as the email list. |
Where each one leads
| Dimension | ActiveCampaign | GetResponse | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 1/5 | 1/5 | Tie |
| Ease of use | 3/5 | 3/5 | Tie |
| Breadth of features | 3/5 | 4/5 | GetResponse |
| Value for money | 3/5 | 4/5 | GetResponse |
| Email deliverability | 4/5 | 4/5 | Tie |
| Selling products | 2/5 | 3/5 | GetResponse |
| Course hosting | 1/5 | 3/5 | GetResponse |
| Automation | 5/5 | 4/5 | ActiveCampaign |
| Support | 3/5 | 4/5 | GetResponse |
Scores are 1–5 per dimension. ActiveCampaign leads on 1 dimension, GetResponse on 5. The overall figure weights these for email marketing generally — see methodology.
Pricing
Plans are listed per tool rather than paired row by row — tiers rarely line up, and putting one vendor's second plan beside another's implies an equivalence that is not there.
| Tool | Plan | Per month | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | Starter | $15 | per month, billed annually |
| Plus | $49 | per month, billed annually | |
| Pro | $79 | per month, billed annually | |
| Enterprise | $145 | per month, billed annually | |
| GetResponse | Starter | £13 | monthly; £10.66/mo billed annually |
| Marketer | £44 | monthly; £36.08/mo billed annually | |
| Creator | £51 | monthly; £41.82/mo billed annually |
Pricing checked 24 September 2026 and 23 September 2026 against each vendor's own pricing page. ActiveCampaign: Billed in USD. Prices are for 1,000 contacts on annual billing; the pricing page does not show monthly-billing prices. GetResponse: Shown to UK visitors in GBP, excluding VAT. Prices are for a 1,000-contact list; annual billing saves 18%. Where the two bill in different currencies, conversions use the European Central Bank reference rate.
Verdict
ActiveCampaign
- +Unlimited automation actions from the Plus plan, with more than 950 ready-made automation recipes.
- +Plus adds landing pages, at $49 a month for 1,000 contacts on annual billing.
- +A 14-day free trial, and a promise of your money back if you see no results in 30 days.
- −No free plan, and published prices are for annual billing only.
- −Starter limits each automation to 5 actions and one user.
GetResponse
- +The cheapest paid entry point here — Starter is £13 a month with unlimited sends.
- +The Creator plan adds webinars, a website builder and courses for up to 500 students.
- +Nearly three decades of deliverability infrastructure behind it.
- −No free plan — only a 14-day trial.
- −Starter allows just one custom automation workflow; unlimited automation starts at £44 a month.
Common questions
Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than GetResponse?
ActiveCampaign starts at $15/mo (about £11.35; per month, billed annually), and GetResponse starts at £13/mo (about $17.19; monthly; £10.66/mo billed annually) — so ActiveCampaign is the cheaper entry point. Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate. Compare what each includes at that tier, and what it renews at, rather than the headline figure alone.
Which is better, ActiveCampaign or GetResponse?
On our weighted scoring across the use cases in this category, GetResponse comes out ahead overall. The honest answer is that it depends on the use case — the tables above break the score down by dimension so you can weight it to your own priorities.
Other comparisons
Sources & verification
- api.frankfurter.app — checked 24 September 2026European Central Bank reference rate, published via Frankfurter.
- activecampaign.com — checked 24 September 2026No free plan; a 14-day free trial.
- getresponse.com — checked 23 September 2026The pricing page offers a 14-day free trial of premium features and lists no free plan.