You might have heard the rumor that email marketing is dead but don’t be fooled because it can still do wonders for your business. Email marketing allows you to connect with your target audience on a different level, build their trust, and eventually reap greater returns for your business. So which email marketing platform should you be using? Two platforms you can look into are GetResponse and ActiveCampaign, both of which are trusted in the industry. They have their own pros and cons though so it’s important to determine which one is better suited to your business. To help you choose wisely, here’s an in-depth comparison of GetResponse and ActiveCampaign, taking their email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM capabilities as well as pricing into consideration.
Table of Contents
GetResponse vs ActiveCampaign Comparison Chart
| Model | GetResponse | ActiveCampaign |
 |  | |
| Price | Check Price at GetResponse | Check Price at ActiveCampaign |
| Lead Scoring | Yes | Yes |
| Lead Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Web Activity Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | No | Yes |
| Bi-Directional CRM Syncing | No | Yes |
| Split Testing | Yes | Yes |
| Event Management | No | Yes |
| Bulk Social Media Posting | No | Yes |
| Real-Time Sales Alerts | No | Yes |
| Mobile App | Yes | No |
Email Marketing
GetResponse and ActiveCampaign are similar when it comes to email marketing.
ActiveCampaign makes it easy for users to create stunning email campaigns.
Even if you’re a newbie to the world of email marketing, you don’t have to worry because ActiveCampaign makes it pretty easy to get started. Its email builder comes in the form of a drag-and-drop editor, allowing you to create eye-catching emails in a jiffy. If you don’t want to start from zero, however, you can always choose from its range of pre-designed templates. What’s good about the templates is that they’re mobile-friendly and you can customize them however you want to, whether by adding images, changing up the colors, or choosing a different font. If you want to know how your email campaigns are doing, that won’t be a problem because ActiveCampaign has reporting features. It also has A/B split testing so that you can keep on optimizing your emails and gain more clicks and purchases each time.
One of the best things about GetResponse is its Perfect Timing and Time Travel delivery tools. They make sure that your emails not only land in the right inboxes, but that they get there at the perfect time as well. GetResponse is proven to have a 99.9% delivery rate so you can be sure that your emails won’t get lost in the shuffle. Similarly to ActiveCampaign, GetResponse makes it easy to create an email from scratch because it has a drag-and-drop builder as well. All you have to do is choose the elements that you think are appropriate and place them in their respective spots. Alternatively, you can just customize any of the existing pre-made templates if you don’t want to start from nothing. GetResponse also makes it easy to track your campaign’s performance, providing users with advanced email analytics as well as A/B split testing.
Marketing Automation
GetResponse and ActiveCampaign have similar marketing automation capabilities.
Automation might seem like an intimidating thing but ActiveCampaign makes it less so. With its drag-and-drop automation builder, you can easily create your own workflows with just a few clicks. It’s a very visual editor and so you can see exactly which stage you’re in as you go along. It also has a segmentation feature that allows you to send emails that are relevant to each and every customer. This way, your audience is more likely to respond the way you want them to. You can, for example, send a follow-up email whenever a customer performs a certain action such as making a purchase. If you’re still unsure of the whole automation process, you can always refer to the training guides or turn to the platform’s one-on-one live support for help.
With GetResponse, you can create simple automation workflows as well as more complex ones. They have a visual drag-and-drop builder as well so the creation process is quite similar to ActiveCampaign’s. You get to look at your workflows from a bird’s-eye view and so it’s easy for you to see exactly what should be added or removed. Its automation builder is complete with ready-made blocks so all you have to do is pick out the ones that are relevant to you and place them where you’d like them to go. You also get to choose from a range of actions, conditions, and filters, allowing you to customize your workflows exactly the way you want to. Not only that but you also have access to tools that will help you score your contacts based on their actions, allowing you to see which leads are the most and least likely to convert into customers.
Sales Automation and CRM
Both ActiveCampaign and GetReponse make it easy to keep tabs on your leads.
With ActiveCampaign’s built-in sales features, you can easily keep an eye on your leads and customers as well as use automation to streamline your sales process. This means that you don’t have to bend over backwards anymore because you can simply let automation do the work for you. It will identify new leads for you and nurture your existing customers, allowing you and your team to focus on other aspects of the business. When a lead signs up, for example, they’ll immediately be welcomed with an email campaign and their actions will be monitored so that they can be followed-up in the correct way. Every customer’s action triggers a corresponding response and so you can be sure that everyone’s specific needs are catered to. As for ActiveCampaign’s CRM, it puts all of your contacts and their information in one place, allowing you to see exactly where they stand in the sales funnel.
Similarly to ActiveCampaign, GetResponse’s CRM allows you to manage your contacts and sales funnel in one place. This makes it extra easy for you to see exactly where your leads are in the pipeline and make sure that no one is forgotten. It’s easy to update the status of your leads because all you have to do is drag and drop them onto the next stage once they’ve made progress. You can even add notes under each lead so that you can be reminded of what has previously been talked about and agreed upon. This is a very helpful feature especially if you’re working with a team. It allows all team members to stay in the loop and because everyone is updated, anyone can assist any given lead or customer.
Additional Features
GetResponse has landing pages and webinars while ActiveCampaign has SMS and site messaging.
One thing that GetResponse has that ActiveCampaign doesn’t is a landing page builder. With this tool, you can create stunning and effective landing pages that will help convert leads to customers. There are tons of landing page templates for you to choose from, all of which you can customize to suit your branding. Some examples of the types of landing pages you can create are downloads, sales pages, and email opt-in pages. You can then track the performance of your landing pages via GetResponse’s analytics and you can further optimize them by using the A/B split tracker. Another feature that GetReponse has that ActiveCampaign is lacking are built-in webinars. While webinars are ongoing, you can engage and interact with your customers through screen sharing, polls, and live chat.
While ActiveCampaign doesn’t have a landing page builder or built-in webinars, it does have something that GetResponse doesn’t. While GetResponse only lets users reach their leads and customers via email, ActiveCampaign allows you to connect with your contact base through SMS and site messaging as well. This feature is pretty useful because you can communicate with your audience wherever they are and whenever you want to. You can send them reminders and notifications via text messages, you can reach them via Facebook ads, and you can even chat with them while they’re browsing on your site. You have the option to customize your site messages and change them up according to your segmentation.
Pricing
You get to save a bit more with GetResponse.
Both ActiveCampaign and GetResponse have four pricing tiers to choose from. The former has the Lite ($9/month), Plus ($49/month), Professional ($129/month), and Enterprise ($229/month) plans while the latter has the Basic ($15/month), Plus ($49/month), Professional ($99/month), and Max (custom pricing) plans. It looks like you get to save with GetResponse because if you were to compare its Professional plan to that of ActiveCampaign’s, it’s cheaper by $30. And yet both plans offer the same number of contacts. As for free trials, both platforms allow users to test the waters although GetReponse has a longer trial period of 30 days. ActiveCampaign’s free trial is only for 14 days.
Verdict
It all boils down to their additional features and pricing plans.
GetResponse and ActiveCampaign are quite similar when it comes to email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM. Both platforms will be able to help you out if you want to impress your customers with beautiful email campaigns, create complex automation workflows, and keep tabs on all your leads. So how do you choose between the two? It all boils down to their additional features and their pricing plans. GetResponse is great if you want to enjoy features such as landing pages and webinars and save some money at the same time. As for ActiveCampaign, you might have to shell out a bit more although you get to reap the benefits of SMS and site messaging.
