ActiveCampaign vs GetResponse: Which Automation Platform Fits in 2026?

Both platforms advertise “advanced automation,” and both start at a similar entry price. That is where the similarity ends. One is a CRM-first automation engine. The other is an all-in-one toolbox that happens to include webinars, a course builder and a website builder. Choose on the headline price and you will likely pay for features you never open, or hit a wall six months in.

This comparison covers pricing, automation, CRM, extras and free options, so you can pick the platform that matches how you actually sell.

The Short Version

ActiveCampaign is built around contact data and sales activity. Its automations react to deal stages, lead scores, site visits and purchase history. It has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. The main weakness is cost creep: SMS, extra users and custom reporting are separate line items, and the entry tier limits how many actions an automation can hold.

GetResponse bundles email with landing pages, funnels, webinars and, on higher plans, a course creator. It has a free plan (500 contacts, 2,500 emails per month per our last verification). The main weakness is that its automation builder and CRM are shallower than ActiveCampaign’s, and the Starter plan allows just one automation workflow.

Pricing at 1,000 Contacts

Both vendors scale price by contact count, so treat the figures below as a starting point. Both pricing pages hide or localize some numbers (ActiveCampaign puts per-contact prices behind a calculator, and GetResponse serves euro prices to European visitors), so the USD figures come from our weekly verification run, last confirmed 2026-09-22. ActiveCampaign’s page shows no prices without its calculator, so we list only the annual-billing rates for its paid tiers. GetResponse says annual billing saves an additional 18% on top of the monthly rate. We do not list GetResponse annual prices because the vendor publishes them as calculated monthly rates that vary by region.

Plan level	ActiveCampaign	GetResponse
Free	None (14-day trial)	500 contacts, 2,500 emails/mo
Entry paid	Starter, $15/mo billed annually	Starter, $19/mo monthly
Mid tier	Plus, $49/mo billed annually	Marketer, $59/mo monthly
Upper tier	Pro, $79/mo billed annually	Creator, $69/mo monthly

The table mixes billing bases (ActiveCampaign annual, GetResponse monthly), so do not compare cell to cell. Both lineups sit in the same price range at 1,000 contacts, and GetResponse’s monthly Creator plan ($69) is a course-and-newsletter tier rather than an equivalent of ActiveCampaign’s Pro. The difference is what each tier contains. GetResponse’s Starter plan includes landing pages, forms and unlimited email sends, but limits you to one automation workflow. ActiveCampaign’s Starter allows multiple automations, but caps each one at 5 actions. Plus removes that cap.

For the current numbers at your list size, use ActiveCampaign’s pricing page and GetResponse’s pricing page.

Automation Depth

ActiveCampaign wins this section. Its visual builder supports branching on almost any data point: tags, custom fields, deal stage, engagement, site tracking events and lead score. You can update CRM records, create tasks and adjust scores from inside a flow. Standard segmentation arrives on Plus and advanced segmentation on Pro.

The cost is learning time. A 12-step nurture flow with three branches is easy to build and easy to break. Expect to spend a few evenings with the documentation.

GetResponse’s builder is friendlier. You get conditions, filters, tags and actions on a clean canvas, and most people ship a working welcome series on day one. Unlimited workflows, advanced segmentation, abandoned cart recovery and web push arrive with the Marketer plan. Contact tagging and scoring also require Marketer or higher. The limit is the data model: GetResponse has less to branch on when your logic depends on sales pipeline state.

CRM and Sales Features

ActiveCampaign includes a built-in sales CRM with pipelines, deal stages and task automation. On some plans it is limited or extra, so confirm what your tier includes before you rely on it. The value is that a deal moving from “demo booked” to “proposal sent” can trigger an email flow without a third-party connector.

GetResponse has a lighter contact database and relies on integrations for serious pipeline work. That works for a creator selling a course. It works less well for a sales team tracking twenty open deals.

Extras: Webinars, Funnels, Courses

This is GetResponse’s strongest section. Marketer adds sales funnels, promo codes and web push. Creator adds a website builder, a course creator (up to 40,000 students, per GetResponse’s pricing page) and premium newsletter subscriptions. Webinars also sit in the upper GetResponse tiers. If you run webinars and want the registration, reminder emails and replay follow-up in one place, this saves a separate tool and a monthly bill.

ActiveCampaign does not try to replace these tools. It integrates with more than 1,000 apps, according to its pricing page, so you can connect a webinar or course platform of your choice. The trade-off is one more subscription and one more integration to maintain. ActiveCampaign has also been pushing its AI features, including an assistant that carries out tasks rather than only summarising data, but these extend automation and reporting rather than adding a webinar or course product.

Deliverability and Support

We do not have independently verified inbox placement data for either platform, so we will not rank them here. Both publish authentication guidance, and both let you set up a dedicated sending domain. Whichever you pick, follow our email deliverability guide and set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC before your first campaign.

Support is a clearer difference. ActiveCampaign lists chat support and free migration and onboarding help across plans, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. On GetResponse, phone and Slack support with a dedicated account manager appear only on the Enterprise tier. Smaller accounts rely on chat and email.

Ease of Setup and Migration

Both vendors offer help moving from another platform, but the effort differs. ActiveCampaign advertises free migration and onboarding on its pricing page, which matters because its automations take longer to rebuild. Budget a full week if you are moving more than five active flows. GetResponse setups are quicker: a welcome series, a landing page and a signup form fit into an afternoon for most small lists.

Plan the switch carefully in either direction. Export your contacts with their tags and consent dates, keep your sending domain the same, and warm up gradually. Our guide to switching email platforms walks through the order of operations.

Who Should Choose ActiveCampaign

Pick ActiveCampaign if any of these describe you:

• You run a sales-assisted business where email follows pipeline stages, such as agencies, B2B services and software with a trial-to-paid path.
• You need lead scoring and branching flows and are willing to pay for Plus or Pro.
• You already use several tools for webinars or courses and do not want to replace them.

Its weaknesses are real. There is no free plan, the entry tier limits automation actions, add-ons raise the bill, and new accounts pay for unsubscribed contacts. If you compare it against a broader field, our ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp comparison shows how it stacks up against another common rival.

Who Should Choose GetResponse

Pick GetResponse if these fit better:

• You sell courses, run webinars or build funnels and want those tools under one login.
• You want to test a free plan before paying.
• Your automations are welcome series, cart recovery and launch sequences, not pipeline logic.

Its weaknesses: one workflow on Starter, thinner CRM, and premium features that sit on the more expensive Marketer and Creator plans. If you are weighing it against other tools, read our GetResponse review or browse the best marketing automation tools.

The Bottom Line

At 1,000 contacts both lineups start in the same price range, so decide on the work you need done. If your revenue depends on sales stages and behavior-based branching, ActiveCampaign earns its higher total cost. If you want email, landing pages, webinars and a course platform in one account, or you want a free plan to start, GetResponse is the better fit.

Still unsure? Run one real automation on each. ActiveCampaign gives you a 14-day trial, and GetResponse gives you a free plan. Build your most complex flow and see which one you would rather maintain.

Sources

1. ActiveCampaign: Pricing — accessed 2026-09-30
2. GetResponse: Pricing — accessed 2026-09-30
3. ActiveCampaign: Blog — accessed 2026-09-30