- What are you planning to sell through your list?
- Six points, row by row
- Reaching people outside the inbox
- Timing, writing help and audience smarts
- Getting help when you're stuck
- Where each product is heading
- Verdict for creators, shops and small firms
- Three more email tools on the shortlist
- Frequently asked questions
Choose GetResponse if you sell knowledge, such as courses, webinars or premium newsletters, and want funnels and email under one login. Choose Mailchimp if you run a shop, a local firm or a non-profit and care most about connecting email and SMS to the apps you already use. Neither vendor's site shows an outright winner, so let what you sell decide.
Your answer here depends far less on the email editor than on the thing you're trying to sell. A coach with a course, a webinar series and a waiting list has very different needs from a shop owner who wants abandoned-basket emails wired into their store. Both tools send good-looking campaigns and run automations. Where they split is everything around the email.
So before you open a single comparison chart, write down the two or three things your email list exists to sell. Keep that list next to you as you read.
What are you planning to sell through your list?
If the answer is knowledge, the first platform has a clear pull. Its features page lists webinars, an AI course creator, premium newsletters and a creator profile under content monetisation. That means you can host a live session, sell the course that follows it and email the people who signed up, all without leaving the tool. For a one-person business, that's fewer logins and fewer systems talking to each other.
If the answer is physical products, services or donations, the picture changes. The other tool's features page groups its tools under essentials, content creation, audience management, automation and reporting. Webinars and courses don't appear in that list. What it does lean on is reach into other software, with 300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Wix, Squarespace, Stripe and Salesforce.
Neither approach is better in the abstract. One puts more of your business inside the email tool. The other assumes the business lives elsewhere and the email tool should plug into it.
Six points, row by row
| Point | GetResponse | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Webinars and courses | Webinars, an AI course creator, premium newsletters and a creator profile built in | Not listed among its feature groups |
| Who the homepage speaks to | Entrepreneurs, ecommerce stores and global brands, framed around the journey from first visit to repeat buyer | Split by audience: ecommerce, small business, non-profit, professional services and content creators |
| Integrations | 150+ on the homepage, 170+ in the menu | 300+, with store, design, payments and CRM apps named |
| Channels beyond email | SMS, web push, popups, live chat and ads tools | SMS, plus social media marketing and retargeting ads in its solutions |
| Send-time and AI tools | Perfect Timing, Time Travel, plus AI email, campaign and writing tools it says run on OpenAI technology | Send time optimisation, a subject line helper, generative AI, predictive demographics and smart recommendations |
| Support and onboarding | 24/7 support from a customer success team, plus dedicated migration and onboarding | Help Center, personalised onboarding, a hire-an-expert service and a sales phone line |
Reaching people outside the inbox
Both tools have moved well past plain email. The first lists SMS, web push notifications, popups, live chat and ad tools next to its email builder. If you want a visitor who ignores your popup to get a browser notification instead, that's on the menu.
The second calls itself an email and SMS platform first, and lists social media marketing and retargeting ads in its solutions. It's a slightly narrower set of channels, but the ones it has are tied closely to its store and app connections, which is often where a shop owner wants them.
Timing, writing help and audience smarts
Send timing is where the two sound most alike. The first offers two send-time tools, Perfect Timing and Time Travel. It also has an AI email generator, an AI campaign generator and an AI writing assistant, which it says are powered by OpenAI technology.
The second lists send time optimisation, a subject line helper and generative AI, then adds predictive demographics and smart recommendations. That last pair is about understanding who's on your list, not just writing to them. If you've got a large list and little idea who's on it, that's worth a look during the trial.
Getting help when you're stuck
Support is easy to overlook until a campaign won't send. The first states 24/7 support from a customer success team, plus dedicated migration and onboarding, which matters if you're moving a list across from another tool.
The second lists a Help Center, personalised onboarding, a hire-an-expert service and a sales phone line. The expert option suits owners who'd rather hand the build of their flows to someone else than learn the builder themselves. Both say they offer a free trial, so you can judge the help desk before you commit.
Where each product is heading
This is the part that should shape a long-term choice. Mailchimp's homepage now ties its AI to Intuit Intelligence, which it says can surface openings such as winning back customers who've gone quiet. That points to a product being shaped around a wider set of business tools, rather than standing alone as an email service. If you already run your books and customer records in that world, it could be a plus.
GetResponse goes the other way. It bundles things many people buy separately: webinars, a course creator, premium newsletters and a funnel builder. If you only send a weekly newsletter, those extras are noise you'll scroll past. If you sell knowledge, they may replace two or three other subscriptions you're juggling now.
If you're weighing more creator-led tools before you decide, our round-up of other platforms like GetResponse is a good next stop, and consultants can compare options in our guide to the best email marketing tools for consultants.
Verdict for creators, shops and small firms
If your income comes from courses, webinars or premium newsletters, the bundled platform is the stronger fit, because it keeps the selling, the hosting and the emailing in one place. If you run an online store, a service firm or a charity and your tools already live in other apps, the platform with the bigger integration list and audience-led starting points is the safer pick. If you're not sure yet, list your three most important apps and check both integration pages for them before you sign up for either trial.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Three more email tools on the shortlist
Brevo
Best for: Multichannel marketing and CRM in one platform, covering email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, live chat and loyalty, with Aura AI agents.
ActiveCampaign
Best for: Marketing automation for teams who want depth in their flows, with a free trial and a demo-led plan by contact count.
MailerLite
Best for: A lighter email tool with landing pages, a blog, forms and booking, plus selling e-books, digital products and newsletter subscriptions from inside it.
Do you make email marketing software for creators or small businesses? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this page.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Related: best ai consultants for small business owners.
Related: best ai consultants in the us.
Related: should you hire an ai consultant what they do.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run webinars in Mailchimp?
Webinars don't appear in the feature groups on its features page. If live sessions are part of how you sell, the other platform lists webinars as a built-in feature.
Which one connects to more apps?
Mailchimp says it has 300+ integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe and Salesforce. GetResponse mentions 150+ on its homepage and 170+ in its menu.
Do both offer a free trial?
Yes, both sites state a free trial, so you can try the builder, automations and support before choosing.
Which is better for selling an online course?
The platform with an AI course creator, webinars and premium newsletters built in is the more direct fit, since you won't need a separate course host to start.
Is moving my list across difficult?
That depends on your list, but one vendor states dedicated migration and onboarding, and the other offers personalised onboarding and a hire-an-expert service.
