MailChimp Vs GetResponse – Battle of the Email Marketing Platforms

GetResponse is touted as the world’s easiest email marketing solution. MailChimp, on the other hand, claims that it allows you to send better marketing email. Which one should you use? Which one is the better option for your email marketing needs? Go over this simplified but insightful comparison to make a more informed choice.

GetResponse vs. MailChimp

GetResponse and MailChimp are two compelling competitors in the field of email marketing. They offer similar features especially in the following aspects:

  • Importing and hosting of mailing lists
  • Automation of emails (both have autoresponders)
  • Customization, particularly in the designing of HTML newsletters
  • Statistics reporting or campaign performance monitoring

Basically, both are good options. They provide enough of the functions and features an email marketer would need. However, you can’t expect either to be able to meet your needs and preferences. This comparison aims to help you decide better by focus on the following aspects: pricing, interface, customization, reporting, integration, and extra features.

Pricing

Many will likely think that MailChimp offers cheaper rates because it offers a free account for up to 2,000 subscribers. GetResponse’s price for 1,000 subscribers is pegged at $15. The catch, however, is that this free account from MailChimp is only for 12,000 emails per month whereas all of GetResponse’s plans provide an unlimited number of emails per month. Other prices for GetResponse are as follows: $25 for 2,500, $45 for 5,000, $65 for 10,000, $250 for 50,000, and $450 for 100,000. MailChimp, on the other hand, prices its 501-1,000 plan at $15, 1,001-1,500 at $20, and 1,500-2,000 at $25. All of which already provide unlimited emails per month.

Basically, not accounting MailChimp’s free but limited 2,000-subscriber plan, it is actually GetResponse that offers the cheaper prices. It even offers annual price discounts that can reduce the base prices by 17% to 18%. The limited free service from MailChimp for up to 2,000 subscribers also does not include the autoresponder function.

Interface

It’s traditional versus minimalistic when it comes comparing the GetResponse and MailChimp interfaces. GetResponse relies on the usual dropdown menus with the easy-on-the-eyes appeal. MailChimp comes with big fonts typical of modern web designs. Both of them are easy to use. New users shouldn’t find it difficult finding their way around either of these email marketing services. However, GetResponse slightly takes the upper hand as it sports a familiar way of handling things. There’s also less scrolling involved with the GetResponse interface, something desktop and laptop users will most likely appreciate. Additionally, when creating emails, GetResponse provides a preview of the smartphone email version in real time.

Customization

GetResponse and MailChimp both allow the editing of email designs through their convenient drag-and-drop editors, which mostly look similar and have comparable functions. Both allow users to create mobile-friendly emails, something very important as more people nowadays check their emails with their smartphones and other web-enabled mobile devices. Also, both offer a variety of templates that can be tweaked. When it comes to adding a sign-up form on a website, GetResponse has a slight advantage in providing more flexibility as it offers “lightbox,” “pop over,” and standard embedded forms. MailChimp only offers the latter two. Both of them, however, allow you to customize the forms and simply get the code that will be embedded on a site.

Reporting

These two email marketing solutions offer comprehensive reporting functions. They present details on clickthroughs, open rates, subscriptions, unsubscriptions, subscriber location, IP address, emails previously opened, and various other details useful in understanding subscribers to adjust current and plan future email marketing efforts. GetResponse, however, has an edge in being able to automatically create “emailable” groups after a mailshot is sent. These “emailable” groups are those segments of contacts who had certain reactions to the emails sent. GetResponse’s reporting system shows the target recipients who opened the emails they received, who did not, who clicked on the email, and other specific actions that can guide you in your next actions.

Overview of the GetResponse Report Interface:

GetResponse screenshot
Image credit: GetResponse.com

MailChimp has a slightly comparable feature – its “member rating” system, which assigns a score to contacts on a mailing list so you can easily distinguish those that can be considered as potentially good leads. Additionally, MailChimp can track and store replies to your campaigns, something useful if you regularly have contact with your leads and clients. Still, GetResponse overall has a marginally better reporting system.

Overview of the MailChimp Report Interface

MailChimp screenshot
Image credit: MailChimp.com

Integration

Integrating GetResponse and MailChimp with other services is possible. They can be used with BigCommerce, Facebook, Paypal, and the Magento content management system. The setting up process is rather straightforward for both although GetResponse requires a third party tool when setting up integrations with non-major online services. For most users, this should not be an issue. It’s worth noting, though, “integration” as used by most email marketing service providers simply means the adding of sign-up forms on websites. There’s nothing significantly different for GetResponse and MailChimp on this front.

Unique Features

Both email marketing solutions sport an extensive range of features. There are features in GetResponse that are not present in MailChimp in the same way there are features in MailChimp that are not present in GetResponse. Both offer A/B testing although GetResponse has more testable areas, sales and goal tracking, detailed analytics, list segmentation, email reports, social media integration, and RSS to email support. The major feature that distinguishes GetResponse from MailChimp, though, is its landing page creator. You will have to pay $15 monthly if you want to enjoy its full set of features but the basic functions (1 landing page and 1,000 max per month) may already be enough for your needs. MailChimp, on the other hand, sports a translation function not found in GetResponse.

Conclusion

If you are simply trying out an email marketing service for the very first time using MailChimp might be the better option since it offers a limited free account for up to 2,000 subscribers. GetResponse is much more advanced in its featured and capabilities, and also offers a 30-day trial period with most of the functions available and there’s no need to insert a credit card.

Price-wise, the latest prices of GetResponse are generally cheaper. In terms of interface, integration, reporting, and distinct features, GetResponse is slightly better than MailChimp. Overall, you won’t go wrong choosing MailChimp if you’re a newbie but GetResponse may be better for your email marketing needs in the long run. It’s exciting to see what 2016 will bring when these two giants take another step to marketing automation and what MailChimp plans to do to catch up to GetResponse.